Changing Culture

So we're about one full month into this experiment - and for the most part things are going well. We haven't 'lost' any, they're all working properly, and there are fewer student complaints than usual about our technology. However, things are not going as well as some may have expected.

To be honest, I am experiencing a little difficulty simply getting some students to use the iPads! I know - it's strange. I assumed I'd need to entice students off of them to allow others to use them, but rarely do we have more than 4-6 out at one time. I think there are a few reasons for this.

For one, the iPads (and all of the technology we're using this year) is a pretty large step from where we were last year. For some context, Turning Point is an alternative program designed to help early leavers graduate - we employ self-paced learning and are very flexible, allowing students to complete assignments around their job/family commitments. A common question is "do you use booklets"? - these are a staple of the self-paced educator as they allow students to come and go and provide a unified platform for credit delivery. Our students don't necessarily like them, but they know them (most have been in alternative education programs for some time) - and I think it is this familiarity that is keeping them from embracing the tablets completely.

Other reasons why students may not be embracing the tablets right away likely has to do with their inability to take them home (they'd rather start an assignment that they can take home) or they are not confident generating their work on the tablets (they'd rather use paper or the desktops - again, it's a known technology). I will deal with how we are hoping to tackle these dilemmas in later posts.

Also, in an effort to help expedite this slow uptake we are working to put more and more high-interest content on the iPads as well as assuring that each course has enough assignments to work on with the iPads. A "The Walking Dead" assignment using the first volume of the e-graphic novel was just added to the senior English courses and it has been very popular!

Hopefully, with time, these devices will become part of our school environment, like the pencil sharpener and the desktop computer.

Any tips on changing a culture?

Graphic Novels, In App Purchases and The Walking Dead

So I think I've figured this out, and it should be no problem but I had an issue today with some purchases and I wanted to share. 

One of the main uses for the iPads at Turning Point is as an eReader. The pads hold many more books than we can fit on our tiny bookshelf, they are current and shiny to our readers, and because we can share one iBooks account library among 10 (maybe more) iPads it is more cost-effective than buying a class set of books. 

However, that last bit of math only works if you can actually share your library. It took us a little while to figure out how to share the libary across a class set of pads, but I think we've done it. So wasn't I surprised when I stumbled upon a different way many companies are choosing to sell their eBooks. 

Now I should briefly explain - I've been a proponent of graphic novels in the classroom for some time. I think they're interesting for some reluctant readers, but also think that they're simply a new part of the canon that deserves to be discussed in a classroom much in the same way we study poetry, drama and the novel.

Knowing that, it is no great surprise that I investigated options for graphic novels. Now you can buy graphic novels at the iBooks store, and I did that first. But some of the most current material is published by more independent book sellers - companies like Dark Horse press, and IDW publishing - as well as comiclogix, the publisher of the eComic "The Walking Dead". Now these companies, for whatever reason, don't sell their books via the iBook store. Instead, they each develop their own app, or potentially, for a serial like The Walking Dead, they develop the series its own app - the Walking Dead app looks like this...

You download the app (no problem for us - download it to the account at iTunes and it pushes the app to the class set of apps) - and then you download the books inside the app, for a few dollars an issue (like a comic book) or a few more for a collected set (a volume). Originally I was worried about this because I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to share these books. Unlike iBooks the comiclogix app is a little more secure and passwords and accounts can be cumbersome at best. Nevertheless, so far it is working out well. I have successfully logged onto the same account on two different pads with no problems - the purchases volume was waiting for me when I opened the new pad. I will now try to install it on all of the pads. 

I will let you all know how it goes. Does anyone else have any experience with the in app purchase option presenting a problem to their classroom? Any benefits? 

Turning Point Blogs!

BLOGGING - Makes me feel like I'm on the Bridge of the Enterprise!

While it is much more nerdy and C21 I can't help but feel like a pirate radio privateer from 40 years ago. While this job is done with much more assistance (most bloggers don't codde - we don't even know how to spell it!) I still love the idea that like a pirate radio station what we create will be appreciated by our select audience, and that it could potentially help any number of people who happen by the blogs. I admit  it, I may be stretching it.

Nevertheless, Turning Point now have a couple of blogs! In addition to this one dedicated to the TLLP process, I mean. As of last week every assignment currently available for grade 11 and grade 12 college level English (ENG3C and ENG4C) can be accessed via our new English blog - TurningPointEnglish@blogspot.com. As many of our students are also working full time hours, an ability to access their assignments remotely is a major boon. Moreover, students can use the iPads (or the computers) to access their electronic assignments while at school - replacing the dated filing cabinet and photo copier methods.

The online format also provides a very user friendly platform for sharing assignments with other teachers. Keep in mind that Turning Point runs as part of the alternative education umbrella at the HWDSB. We are a ram-shackle crew of 30-40 dedicated teachers spread out over a dozen sites all trying to deliver every credit with some modicum of credit integrity, standardization, and differentiation. The blog platform can be accessed by anyone - and we are already making connections with other alt. ed. teachers out there who need resources and who have resources to share. Our teaching world is unique, but that doesn't mean that we all need to reinvent the wheel.

So I know we're slow learners, and I know that educators have been blogging since the early days - but I'm still proud of myself for learning another way to connect with my students. This isn't a game changer, and it isn't even really that tied-in with the iPads, but it's still development, still progress, and it needs to be celebrated and encouraged.

Check out our first curriculum blog TurningPointEnglish@blogspot.com and let us know what you think. Also keep checking for new subject specific blogs, we'll continue to work on it, but we're very open to suggestions/tips.

Early (Modest) Success

(Photo/Flickr Flickingerbrad) 

Well the fun has really begun at Turning Point. A few weeks ago we started encouraging students to use the class iPads using some of the new lessons/assignments we've developed. For the most part, the feedback has been positive. Everyone says they're 'neat' and they paw at them like groggy eyed kids on Christmas morning - and while they do get a little disappointed when they realize they aren't set up for gaming or social media-ing, no one has turned one down yet. 

For the most part students are using them as an updated library (books and videos) as well as a curriculum resource - completing assignments created in educreations, utilizing educational apps, and via the net on our new blogs (more to come on these soon). Which is pretty much what we had intended when pitching the project.

So far it's working out well. The library is more secure (they don't take them home the way they did books) but more interesting (newer titles, hook-y ebook format), it contains a much more streamlined media library (our computer population is pretty tired) and they don't complain when they get a new assignment (not right away, anyways).

We still are interested in what we can do with these in regards to assessment and student creation - we've asked them to explain their learning with an eductreation - but it's not perfected yet and we're still playing around with ways and means.

Ultimately the iPads do something that we expected but are still pleased with - the iPads make our students excited about being at school, maybe for the first time in a decade. These learners, our students, have, for whatever reason, not had success at some point in school. When they realize that they still have a chance to graduate with a meaningful diploma, they get excited. And when they learn that they also get to work with advanced, premium quality resources, they come back. It isn't a panacea by any accounts, but it doesn't hurt to remind students that learning should be interesting, even fun. The iPads will no doubt continue to be used in more innovative and enriching ways, but already they are helping our learners get the job done.

Progress Report Season

I had a lot of hope during this progress-report season.  The iPad has been a versatile, portable device allowing me to take pictures of student work, take video of their presentations, and record audio of conferences.  I think this three months has seen me procure way more assessment information than I normally would.  My thought back in October was, "This is going to be great; I can show parents EVERYTHING their child is doing."


Ah, then there's the "IF." If I only had more memory space.  If I didn't have to export files to my personal laptop.  If I could find an app that could manage all of the data.  What was originally going to be me opening up each student's Evernote "note" to show to parents became the traditional "this is what is happening in our class, this is what your child is doing."  Actually, this was the year that students directed their own interview, but that's another story.  Back to my wishes and reality, part of the issue is Evernote.  It's a good app.  However, when I learned that it couldn't hold video, I needed a resource for storing video to include with Evernote.  Another teacher informed me about Vimeo.  It is a web portal for storing video which you can access through an http address.  Upside?  I have a place to store all that video instead of my own laptop.  Downside?  Unless one decides to pay to upgrade their user status, they're limited to uploading only 5GB per week.  With recording presentations and evidence of collaborative problem-solving, I could bump up against that barrier in one day...easily.

I am leaning toward purchasing the annual Vimeo upgrade.

Conferences did go well.  Parents enjoyed listening to their child talk about their learning, their strengths, and their chosen areas to improve in.  They also appreciated watching and listening to recorded evidence of their learning.  It wasn't as "tablet-based" as I would have wanted, but it was the best set of progress report interviews I've ever had.

Syncing and Growing Pains

The learning curve in this project is quite exciting, if frustrating. We now have most of our hardware in place - the most exciting of which, at least for this avid typer, are the various bluetooth keyboards we are trying out with the pads.

We only have a few different kinds - one that is also a case, one made by HipStreet that the pad sits in, and two wireless apple keyboards. We're testing them out to see which we prefer, in different applications, in case we decide we would like more. And so far they are working well. Or, should I say, well-ish. One issue we're starting to realize is not uncommon is syncability (I make up words all the time, it's a condition) - the ability for disparate software and hardware to work together with the iPad.

For instance - we are using the Cloudon app as a cloud based storage space and document generator. We like Cloudon because it not only allows you to view .doc/.ppt/.xls files, but you can create them as well (you can't do that with the pads while using Dropbox/Google Drive - so far as we can tell). However, the first time I tried to use the HipStreet keyboard with Cloudon - it was essentially a non-starter. After a while I realized that you need to be very particular with the order in which you do things for the keyboard to work - and the arrow keys (something I desperately miss on the touch pad keyboard) are always a little funky.

I'm sure this will improve - with lots of parties involved (Cloudon people, apple people, HipStreet people) there is sure to be some communication woes - but as the pads become more of a known commodity in our world, and as accessory companies have longer to play with them, I am sure these inks will get ironed out. In the mean time we're finding the best combinations and running with them.

The BIG news is that our pads are now in the hands of our students - which will speed up this whole learning curve in a big way as well, I am sure. Wish us luck!

Has anybody experienced any "syncing" problems with other apps/accessories? Just curious. 

Blogging away

One thing that has been a nice addition for us. Is the integration of blogs based on our subjects. These blogs are led by the teachers and contain assignments for the students to work on. As a background many of our students do not have the ability to come to school everyday. The reasons could vary from parenting duties, employment to mental health issues. These subject based blogs allow for students in those situations to keep up with their studies. It also lets students work ahead if they choose or catch up if they miss school for various reasons.