#iPad Time Warp
In October, the Instructional Technology Coordinator approached Erin (the Library Media Specialist) and I about creating a course for the teachers of our district. Each school had just received a new iPad cart and teachers needed to be trained in the possibilities.
We didn't have a lot of time. Seriously. The carts arrived in mid-October and our course was slated for the first week of November. Erin and I are both HUGE fans of google docs so we immediately began collaborating on a few documents to organize the course.
We ran two courses in November: the first a 3-hour introduction to the iPad for serious beginners; and the second, a 15 our institute that really explored the instructional possibilities of several apps. I'm not sure we were completely cognizant of the goal of this institute from the start but as I reflect on the work we did and the people we met I realize the goal of this course was simply to inspire and encourage. It was a space for educators to play and laugh and try things out.
Things in the course weren't always perfect. Apps were missing that we had planned to use and we didn't have the Apple TV until after I had demonstrated stop motion animation (and if you have used the software to animate paper you can imagine how difficult this was). The course was open to k-12 educators but we were using elementary iPads. You can just imagine my horror when 4 high school math teachers enrolled (thank god they were so funny or I would have cried myself to sleep each night after class).
At the closure of the course Erin and I didn't feel as if it was a complete success. Anytime someone would compliment us on the course we would laugh if off. Things went wrong and it wasn't exactly what we had imagined but, then again, people seemed to enjoy it. I wrestled a lot with our performance in the weeks to follow. Recently, however, I did get to see how a librarian at the middle school level had app smashed several of the apps we had introduced (Chatterpix, Stop Motion Studio, iMovie, Doceri) to create a hilarious video about returning books to the library. I've heard that more students than ever have are returning overdue books! So I guess we did do some good (smiling).
Below you will find the syllabus Erin and I created via Google Docs for the IPad Institute I. The course is set to run again in March and April and hopefully some participants will allow me to upload their creativity to this site. Stay tuned!
We ran two courses in November: the first a 3-hour introduction to the iPad for serious beginners; and the second, a 15 our institute that really explored the instructional possibilities of several apps. I'm not sure we were completely cognizant of the goal of this institute from the start but as I reflect on the work we did and the people we met I realize the goal of this course was simply to inspire and encourage. It was a space for educators to play and laugh and try things out.
Things in the course weren't always perfect. Apps were missing that we had planned to use and we didn't have the Apple TV until after I had demonstrated stop motion animation (and if you have used the software to animate paper you can imagine how difficult this was). The course was open to k-12 educators but we were using elementary iPads. You can just imagine my horror when 4 high school math teachers enrolled (thank god they were so funny or I would have cried myself to sleep each night after class).
At the closure of the course Erin and I didn't feel as if it was a complete success. Anytime someone would compliment us on the course we would laugh if off. Things went wrong and it wasn't exactly what we had imagined but, then again, people seemed to enjoy it. I wrestled a lot with our performance in the weeks to follow. Recently, however, I did get to see how a librarian at the middle school level had app smashed several of the apps we had introduced (Chatterpix, Stop Motion Studio, iMovie, Doceri) to create a hilarious video about returning books to the library. I've heard that more students than ever have are returning overdue books! So I guess we did do some good (smiling).
Below you will find the syllabus Erin and I created via Google Docs for the IPad Institute I. The course is set to run again in March and April and hopefully some participants will allow me to upload their creativity to this site. Stay tuned!
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