For those that don't already know, Dropbox is a free online service, that allows you to save and share files. The standard Dropbox account, which is free, gives you 2GB of online storage. You can go to www.Dropbox.com to view more details or to download the application. If you are interested, here is a referral link, https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTY4MDgyNDI5?src=global0(If you are trying to download or install Dropbox on a BPS owned device, please contact your building tech person)
Three months have now past since I first brought our school’s fifteen student iPads to a class. They have been used for all but three school days since then.
In my role as media specialist at Marshall Simonds, I have been involved in the introduction of many new devices and products to our staff.We have added all the things that educators now believe are vital pieces of technology in the classroom. We have added lots of stuff including SMART Boards, Eno Boards, LCD projectors, laptops, netbooks, FlipVideo cameras, iPod Touches, Mimios, eInstruction systems, Elmos, Discovery Education Streaming, and much more…
I have written on this blog before about how proud I am our staff.The teachers at MSMS have always been willing to try new things. Some of our teachers are very tech savvy and new devices like the iPad are an easy fit into their practices. However, just like in most schools today, many of our teachers are not as comfortable with technology. The great thing about teachers at MSMS is that they always seem willing to try and learn about new things. The staff response to the iPads has been great.
Along with our outstanding classroom use, we have five iPads that we sign out to teachers. Teachers are able to take an iPad for an entire month and explore however they want. We started this in September and the five teacher iPads are now scheduled through April.
Not too long ago, both Bob Cunha and I wrote posts here on the IT Blog about what we hoped would be the potential of iPads in schools.So far, after three months of implementation and use, I am convinced more than ever that iPads are exceeding my expectations.
Since I have worked as the media specialist, nothing we have done has come close to the response for the iPads.They are used everyday, often in different classes throughout the day, and for many different tasks. They have been used in science, social studies, math, and English language arts classes as well as some of our exploratory subjects like music and health. They have been used after school during the Math Olympiad program with Ms. Arcabascio (grade 6 math teacher). We even have a new Activity Block set up by Mrs. DiSipio (grade 8 history teacher) and Ms. Phillips (art teacher) that features the iPads.
I have asked students and teachers what they like and don’t like about the iPads. Many of the concerns often revolve around limitations solved by the recent iOS update. Some other issues are usually more about personal taste. People also often mention concerns that are easily solved or actually just potential problems.
“It can break so easily.”
“I need a keyboard.”
“What if it gets stolen?”
The things people like about the iPads are almost too numerous to write about in this post. For me, what stands out the most is how people constantly mention the simplicity of the iPad and the way that it quickly gets students on task whether they are working on a specific app or online.
“It’s easy to get started with the class.”
“The kids are so excited to use them.”
“The apps are great.”
“They are wicked fun.”
Of course, the kids also say they the iPads are “cool.” I have heard that before from students. Many of our kids think SMART Boards are cool, FlipVideo cameras are pretty cool, even regular iPods are still cool. But this is different…
When was the last time you brought a cart of devices into a classroom and actually heard kids clap?When was the last time your students displayed uncontrollable excitement for the chance to use a device for educational purposes?
Anyone who has taught with iPads knows that they provide fast and easy access to the Internet, great apps that can often be tied directly into the curriculum, and a truly hands-on approach to learning. The iPads have proven to be simple to introduce, simple to teach people about, and easy to explore. I also don’t think there is anything wrong with incorporating a device that gets kids excited to learn partially because it’s so cool.
So what’s my favorite thing about the iPads?The kids using the iPads are excited about and engaged in learning. I have never had students so engaged using a technology product in class. Nothing even comes close.
I've just installed the Bloggr app on my Droid. I cant go anywhere without my phone, so now I will have no excuse not to contribute a little more to this blog.
The following is a reposting of information about our Aspen system. Please use the included training guides and tips for help while you use Aspen:
Burlington Public Schools has begun to use a new student information system from X2 Development called Aspen. Aspen is currently used in many districts throughout Massachusetts and is highly regarded as one of the premier data management systems available to public schools.
Aspen will help update all information services for BPS. All student and staff data will be held within the system. Over time, Aspen will significantly streamline data entry, help improve communication, reduce paper usage in every building, and allow better parent access to student progress.
Thanks to the efforts of Josh Murphy, Burlington High School teacher and BPS Aspen Conversion Coordinator, the X2 Aspen Student Information System training began at BHS this week. Josh's extensive planning and coordination enabled an Aspen trainer, Josh, and myself to train BPS administrative, guidance, and secretarial staff throughout the week on the new system. BHS teachers were also prepared for the February transition to attendance recording through Aspen.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the training sessions. It was clear that BPS staff members are excited to learn about the new system. Josh and I hope that the participants in the training found the sessions to be productive.
Please contact us with any questions and we will try to provide a quick response. We look forward to working with MSMS and elementary staff in the coming months on training for Aspen. It is very important to us that the transition to Aspen will be as positive as possible for everyone in Burlington.
Josh Murphy:jpmurphy@burlington.mec.edu
Dennis Villano:villano@burlington.mec.edu
Below is a collection of notes and important reminders for staff. I created a short list of training tips and shortcuts for Aspen. Also included are documents provided by X2 on how best to use the system with your computer.
Part of the information describes how to disable pop-up blockers in your web browser when using Aspen. Aspen uses pop-ups for many important menus and lists.
Click on Fullscreen to expand and zoom in or out with the buttons at the bottom. You can also print:
As promised, here are just some of the many projects that we have been working on during the summer. Teacher 1:1 at the High School, Bob Carts, and a new Mac lab in the Library.
Hope everyone is enjoying their summer.. Things are getting a bit hectic for us in the IT department with all of the new equipment starting to arrive, and new technology planned for the upcoming year. Look forward to many pictures and updates throughout the summer.
Recently we welcomed some new editions to the district... Yep, you guessed it, IPADS!!!!! They will be rotated amongst teachers in the district to help us get a grip on just how powerful and useful they can be in education. Besides just looking cool, these new devices can take advantage of the thousands of apps that are available from the ITunes apps store. Ipads, just like iPod touches, allow users to carry their multimedia with them such as music and videos, but new to the Ipad is the bookstore. This feature allows the user to view free or purchased ebooks in either portrait or landscape view. Besides best sellers and novels, the future will bringIPad users the ability to purchase educational textbooks in the epub format. It is very possible that within a few years(or less), students would only need to carry 1 single device around school. No more backpacks,no more pencils, what about lockers??? Sorry, Im getting ahead of myself. For now we'll just continue with the evaluations and collect as many opinions as possible.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
The final session of the year of How Do I Do That will be held on Tuesday, May 18 in the Media Center at Marshall Simonds Middle School. The session will be open from 2-4pm.
The May session will focus on the exciting changes in technology and new products being used in Burlington Public Schools. Many of these changes began this year, however, most will be noticed moving forward into the 2010-2011 school year. The introduction of more mini laptops, portable Internet devices, a new network system, and the new student information system will provide a significantly improved technology infrastructure for our schools.
The session will also feature Apple's new iPad and some of the best apps available for education.
Contact Dennis Villano for more information:
villano@burlington.mec.edu
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
The April session of How Do I Do That will feature Google Docs and Sites. Google Docs are a great free alternative to the Microsoft Office Suite. The web based programs provide greater collaborative opportunities for teachers and students. The April session will also explore Google Sites. Google Sites provide a simple way to create websites and blogs.
The session will be open from 2-4pm in the B10 Computer Lab at Marshall Simonds.
For more information or questions please email me:
villano@burlington.mec.edu
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
As I have written on this blog before, I love working with technology at MSMS. However, I am sometimes frustrated by factors that can make the process more difficult.Some of these frustrations are:
1.The fact that we need to use so many different devices to accomplish collaborative projects in the classroom.
2.Not having enough devices, especially Internet connected devices, for each student to use.
3.Trying to use software that really doesn’t fit the project, curriculum, or collaborative needs of the students and teachers.
4.Trying to use devices and software that can be difficult to use with kids.
5.Spending too much time talking about all the devices.
These frustrations are not, in any way, isolated to the Burlington Public Schools.These are the frustrations that many educators in our country share.In most school systems, budgets or the lack of vision cause these frustrations to intensify.Although budgets can be an issue for us as well, we are lucky to have people in place with the right kind of vision for growth in technology in our school system.
I suppose it’s a bit of a dream and based somewhat on my preference for Apple products, but I think that the new iPad could be a solution to many of the frustrations I described. In fact, I think that the iPad could be a revolutionary device for education. I do think that laptops or minis are a great way to engage students using technology but I believe that the iPad will be more powerful in the classroom.
The iPad would allow our students to have ONE device for almost everything that they need for day-to-day lessons and activities in the classroom.The iPad could also allow us to expand the classroom and continue the education anywhere by having students use an Internet connected device that can tap into the cloud based resources we are implementing here in Burlington.
Here is a breakdown of some the positives and negatives about the iPad:
Digital textbooks on the iPad will provide a drastic change in how teachers can use their curriculum area books for classroom lessons and projects.Almost every major textbook publishing company, including all those that we use here in Burlington, are spending vast research and development money on the production of books specifically geared towards use on the iPad.These textbooks will be fully interactive and include embedded video, audio, web links, assessment opportunities, and discussion portals.
The iPad textbooks could also save money.Traditional textbooks average between $70 and $100.The iPad textbooks will cost less to buy and require less to maintain.As a Library Media Specialist, I am often rebinding, sending books out for rebinding, or purchasing replacements.The iPad will end this practice and provide schools with the opportunity to update all the time.Instead of purchasing new sets every few years, these new digital books will update information as needed, and many publishing companies have already stated that these updates will be free.
Another growing concern in public education has been the problems associated with students carrying books back and forth from school.While I understand that having students carry a device like the iPad back an forth could create some new concerns, it seems more productive than worrying about what books and how many books are in a student’s backpack everyday.
Collaborative education is more critical than ever in our schools.I know we have all heard it before - we must prepare our students for the global economy – we must prepare them for jobs that will require 21st century skills. But how often do we really spend time preparing students for these needs? How often do we really incorporate lessons that do this? And aren’t those 21st century skills that we haven’t completely taught yet going to be outdated soon?While I do think that having our students work with any Internet based device can help with these needs, I believe that the iPad could be the best choice yet.
Imagine a classroom where all the students are connected to the Wi-Fi on a device that has their textbook, access to all those embedded resources, and can be used to take notes, save Internet content, and most importantly share information with the teacher and other students instantly.Yes, these things can be done on a laptop or mini, but I don’t think they can be done nearly as easily or as efficiently.
Purchasing digital ebooks as textbooks may be the biggest downfall for a laptop in the classroom.These textbooks rarely have the kinds of embedded resources that the iPad books will contain.While the iPad reading experience may never be as good as traditional books, it appears to be a much better device for reading than a laptop or mini.
Student interest is also an important positive for me.I taught geography and history classes before I moved to the media position I have know.I always felt that if I could make the subject material more interesting, students would learn the material more effectively.Students truly learn when they are doing things that they enjoy.The use of technology like the iPad can often make students forget that they are even doing some of the things they often shut down with during more traditional instruction.I think most educators believe the same thing but not enough use the kinds of technology that kids care about in their curriculum as a way to accomplish this. I found that by using technology (that kids don’t even see as technology – things they see as just normal daily practice) students were more engaged.When I added new technology to classroom activities, the coolness factor also raised engagement.I think iPads will do some of both.Kids are connected all the time to Internet based digital devices like the iPod Touch. The iPad could help make their transition to educational use of technology easy and fun.Incorporating the iPad may help with this more than a laptop could.
The iPad may also allow us, as educators, to take a big step towards accepting digital resources in the classroom and help us prepare students for the potentially dangerous uses of technology.We can work on educating students more about the Internet, teach them how to be savvy about putting out personal information, try to stop them from using technology for bullying, and prepare them for a society in which the Internet will be included in nearly every activity they will face as an adult.
If we allow our students to use the iPad in class, it can reduce the stigmatism associated with kids using devices like cell phones while in school.Yes, students will find a way to use the iPad to communicate with each other about topics far more important to them than math class, but they will also communicate about topics from math class.
Paper consumption may be considered a less important detail, but having students perform educational tasks on an iPad could significantly reduce the need for paper in our classrooms. Obviously, we could purchase less paper products by moving away from traditional textbooks. Teachers and students can set up blogs, Nings, or wikis to share documents.The use of cloud based services like Google Docs or our new BLINK system will also help.I realize that this kind of change takes time and that our teachers will need to work on the implementation.I also realize that many teachers need help with this, but having a paperless classroom, or at least one that significantly reduces the amount of paper being used, really isn't that difficult to accomplish.
I have found that even though most of the world is trying to communicate digitally, schools are the by far the worst at this practice and drastically behind the business world. We spend too much time, effort, and money, creating materials digitally that just get copied on a Riso or Xerox machine.Whether the materials are for classroom use or public communication, we need to look at better ways to restrain paper consumption in our schools.
The lack of some features will make the iPad, at least the first generation version, less powerful in the classroom.The lack of Flash support while using the iPad’s web browser will be an issue when trying to access many educational websites. The lack of a camera will also mean that my frustration with multiple devices won’t completely go away. The lack of a dedicated USB port will be an inconvenience but something that can be overcome with additional accessories.The possibility of damage and theft will also be a potential issue but so will having our students use laptops or minis.
The verdict on the iPad is still a long way away.The first generation of the device is scheduled to ship in early April, so we have a lot of time to see if the iPad will revolutionize anything. I am betting it will.I believe it could be the best technology tool for education that I have seen in my lifetime.Ultimately, I think that the iPad could solve many of my biggest frustrations and help us to stop taking about all the devices and get to work with our students.
Click below to watch a video from Penguin Publishing about some of their upcoming content for the iPad:
Tomorrow, weather permitting of course, we should be delivering the rest of the "Bob carts". All of the elementary schools have received at least 2 carts by now, and have already put them to use. By the end of tomorrow, each school will have 5. The main idea behind these carts was to provide the convenience of mobile computing, with the stability of a wired connection. By using an NComputing solution, on a wheeled table, we can provide 4 usable terminals, in a small portable footprint. The computers were setup with elementary children in mind. They are loaded with reading, math, and other educational applications. Also included is a web browser, for accessing websites like BLink, as well as an office suite for word processing and spreadsheets. I'm sure the students are going to wear the letters off of the keyboards with all the use these carts will see. Please let us know of anything that could help improve these carts for the next go-around. Hopefully we will be able purchase more setups similar to this in the future. P.S. Special thanks to the maintenance guys for helping with the building and delivery.
The February session of How Do I Do That has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 23. The session will be held in the Marshall Simonds Media Center located on the second floor at MSMS. The session will be open from 2-4:30pm. Teachers are invited to bring their school or personal laptop computers with them.
The February and March sessions of How Do I Do That will focus on the Burlington Public Schools BLINK system and the X2 Aspen Student Information System. These two new tools will be a vital part of teacher communication, collaboration, and access to student information.
Teachers in each school will receive specific training for Aspen in the coming months. The How Do I Do That sessions in February and March will serve as additional resources for teachers learning about the new system.
The sessions will help teachers with the transition to full time daily use of BLINK and Aspen.
As always, teachers may also join the sessions with specific questions about the use of technology in the classroom.
Please email me with any questions: villano@burlington.mec.edu
Friday was the kind of day that wears me out but also reminds me why I love helping with technology at Marshall Simonds as the Media Specialist. Technology is always an important part of the school day at MSMS. Overall, this past week was one of the busiest technology weeks I have ever had at our school. Everyday I assisted teachers and students with all kinds of technology. Each day, I scrambled to get minis or cameras or LCD projectors to teachers and students who needed them for class.
On Friday, however, technology integration was more active than I had ever seen it before at our school. Technology was being used in nearly every area of MSMS. Teachers and students were using many different forms of technology in many different ways. Lessons featured SMART Boards and LCD projection of material. Collaborative projects were completed using minis, iPod Touches, and cameras. Students were focused on creating and sharing content using various forms of media and presentation. Students and teachers all over MSMS used school technology equipment along with many of their own devices from home.
I am so proud of the teachers at MSMS for what they have tried to integrate into their daily activities over the past several years. Teachers have continuously updated their curriculum to include technology and have been open to new things each year. MSMS teachers are always ready to use the technology available to them at our school.
The inclusion of technology is not always easy. It takes time to plan lessons and projects and teachers often have to learn new skills just to carry out their ideas. Technology also doesn't always behave and, at times, it can be very frustrating to use new things in your classroom, but the teachers at MSMS have continued to confront the challenges and move forward.
I am more excited than ever about the way we use technology at Marshall Simonds. I believe that the efforts of our teachers to incorporate technology into the curriculum will continue to be a powerful tool in helping our students achieve more in both their academic and professional life.
Here is list of some of the technology, including BPS, teacher, and student equipment, being used at MSMS on Friday alone:
The January session of How Do I Do That? will be held on Tuesday, January 12 in the B10 Computer Lab at Marshall Simonds. The session will be open from 2-4:30pm.
This month's session will feature an introduction to iTunes U. iTunes U is part of the Apple iTunes Store. iTunes U contains over 200,000 educational videos, documents, and audio from podcasts. The material is usually free to download and can be shared to iPods. Some content has been created to work with the iTouch as a tool in the classroom. iTunes U features lessons from some of the world's best colleges and universities as well as K-12 public schools throughout the US.
