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Is Anyone Teaching Class With iPad

J

jtwanabe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 23, 2006
14
0
Is it better or just cool. I was given a Kindle for xmas. I like the feel of a book to read. But I teach a class every week. I put the class together on word and then print it out. If could email it to an ipad that might be a real step forward.

I've heard you can't multi-task with ipad. Does that mean I could be in the class room searched the net for a reference and then insert it into my class notes?

Please advise

Thanks
 
Well, I'm a student, and my high school (which is private) gave all the department heads iPads to test teaching apps.

And if all goes well, every student will get an iPad, with their books and and class apps pre-loaded, to keep. (price will be included in tuition).

Sadly I'm a senior, so it won't effect me, but I already have an iPad. :p
 
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Is Anyone Teaching Class With iPad

Your right I am behind the times. I'm a newbie. Is there a good sight that can
walk me through what the iPad can do. The Apple commercials are short on info and long on glitz.

Still if it's not really suitable for teaching than that would more or nullify the need for the expense.

JT:eek:
 
If I am not mistaken there is one school system doing a pilot program to put an iPad in every students hands .....

Here you go .....

http://www.wtsp.com/news/watercooler/story.aspx?storyid=129814&catid=58

Minnesota school replacing textbooks with iPad

Winthrop, MN -- The latest Apple sensation, the iPad, has been in stores for a little more than a week. But already the consolidated school in Winthrop is set to put one in the hands of every student.

"They're so savvy with computer technology, it doesn't take much to get going," said Principal Jeff Bertrang, as he watched a group of his students tap out a test drive on the new iPad.
Click to expand...


Also Text Book Publishers are working to get their Text Books digital and ready for the iPad .....

Here you go ......

http://www.labnol.org/tech/school-textbooks-for-ipad/12689/

School Textbooks for the Apple iPad

Book publishers are working hard to get their digital editions of school textbook ready for the Apple iPad since the price of that device is reasonable enough to appeal to the student community.

Software developer ScrollMotion, that has previously converted children’s books, novels, and magazines to the ebook format is now working on convert textbooks into the iPad format.
Click to expand...

Another good article ....

http://mashable.com/2010/02/03/textbook-publishers-embrace-ipad/




.
 
jtwanabe said:
I put the class together on Word and then print it out. If could email it to an ipad that might be a real step forward.
Click to expand...
You could put the class together entirely on the iPad, no need to use word on your laptop/desktop at all! Apples word-processor app for iPad (Pages) really is very good. I would recommend a physical, blue-tooth keyboard for prolonged use though.
 
For me, the iPad is nearly the perfect teaching tool. I use it for nearly everything: class handouts, assignments and tests (with Pages); scheduling (via Google Calendar); quick web research (with the iCab browser, which is better than built-in Safari); e-mail; and playing music and video to enliven and broaden the classroom experience. I've been using it daily since release day last April, and it keeps getting better and more useful as new apps continue to appear.

The only missing feature, for me, is the ability to print to the school's networked printers, which aren't yet compatible with AirPrint. I'm hopeful this will change soon.

The killer thing, though, is that you have all this tucked away in a handy, lightweight device that sits unobtrusively in front of you like an old-fashioned paper notebook. You can quickly look things up without erecting a visual barrier between you and the students. If you want to show them something, you can either hold up the iPad or just pass it around. Students think it's cool, so they pay attention.

Really it's a no-regret purchase, in or out of the classroom.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

The school I teach at is getting 60 iPads to act as a mobile lab. I am so beyond stoked for this. I was on the committee that made the decision and I will be one of the first to test them out.
 
jtwanabe said:
Your right I am behind the times. I'm a newbie. Is there a good sight that can
walk me through what the iPad can do. The Apple commercials are short on info and long on glitz.

Still if it's not really suitable for teaching than that would more or nullify the need for the expense.

JT:eek:
Click to expand...
Taking a visit to Apple's site would help. Click on the iPad tab on the top and have fun exploring!
 
wyneken said:
The only missing feature, for me, is the ability to print to the school's networked printers, which aren't yet compatible with AirPrint.
Click to expand...
There are 'hacks' you can do to make AirPrint compatible with any printer. Whilst your school probably wouldn't let you do this, it is easy (and safe) to do your own computer & printer.

wyneken said:
If you want to show them something, you can either hold up the iPad or just pass it around. Students think it's cool, so they pay attention.
Click to expand...
Don't forget that some apps (e.g. Keynote) allow you to output to an external display/projector. If your iPad is jailbroken, there is also a Cydia app that lets you simply mirror the iPad screen to an external display.
 
iPad + cable + keynote = a lot easier way to give presentations for lectures. Sadly my wife has the iPad most of the time. Maybe I can get version two for my classes.....
 
I had my Philosophy professor use his iPad to give a lecture. He topped #1 on cool professor lists after that lol.
 
I teach using Keynote Remote

Rather than have a cable dangling off the iPad to a projector, I teach in a room that has a projector ceiling mounted and a Macbook in the back of the room. I control the Macbook (and advance the slides and read my notes) from my iPad. Unfortunately there isn't a native iPad app yet (big oversight) so text isn't super crisp, but this is a pretty sweet solution for me. I see my teaching notes (built-in to my Keynote slides) and flick back and forth between slides/builds easily. A Wifi network is required, although you can create a network from the Macbook if there isn't one already set up.

Hope that's helpful.
 
SaMaster14 said:
Well, I'm a student, and my high school (which is private) gave all the department heads iPads to test teaching apps.

And if all goes well, every student will get an iPad, with their books and and class apps pre-loaded, to keep. (price will be included in tuition).

Sadly I'm a senior, so it won't effect me, but I already have an iPad. :p
Click to expand...

What is your school? It seems like your school is taking advantage of the latest technology to improve the teachers teaching strategies sounds like a good plan
 
After reading the replies, I hope the iPad helps everyone's grammar skills.

But, seriously, I am hoping to pick up the next generation iPad this year to assist in teaching middle school students.
 
A lot of people are answering the question of whether an iPad CAN be used for lectures. However, there is the question of whether an iPad SHOULD be used to teach lectures. I'm not a teacher myself, but I can speak of my fiance's experience as a college professor. She tried being tech savvy by embedding video clips into her PowerPoint slides. She got bad evaluations from the students because they wanted to just watch movies and you tube the entire time. She took the videos out and she still got bad evaluations because the students demanded she provide them print outs of the slides instead of taking notes themselves. All this time their grades were poor. Then she stopped doing PowerPoint and went back to writing notes on the board. This forced the students to take notes. Their grades went up, as did her evaluations.

Please don't take me to be a Luddite, I do think there is plenty of room for technology in the class room. I just think it's too distracting in the lecture hall. Your students need to be focusing on the material you're presenting, not the tools you're using to present it. If you think they are capable of doing that, then by all means use the iPad. But if they're not, then you need to leave it in your office while you teach. At the very least, I suggest you teach your class the way you normally would for the first few weeks of the semester. This will allow you to set the proper expectations, as well as get a feel for this set of students. Then start using the iPad and see how they respond, watching to see whether they're actually paying attention to you or just your iPad.
 
parseckadet said:
A lot of people are answering the question of whether an iPad CAN be used for lectures. However, there is the question of whether an iPad SHOULD be used to teach lectures. I'm not a teacher myself, but I can speak of my fiance's experience as a college professor. She tried being tech savvy by embedding video clips into her PowerPoint slides. She got bad evaluations from the students because they wanted to just watch movies and you tube the entire time. She took the videos out and she still got bad evaluations because the students demanded she provide them print outs of the slides instead of taking notes themselves. All this time their grades were poor. Then she stopped doing PowerPoint and went back to writing notes on the board. This forced the students to take notes. Their grades went up, as did her evaluations.

Please don't take me to be a Luddite, I do think there is plenty of room for technology in the class room. I just think it's too distracting in the lecture hall. Your students need to be focusing on the material you're presenting, not the tools you're using to present it. If you think they are capable of doing that, then by all means use the iPad. But if they're not, then you need to leave it in your office while you teach. At the very least, I suggest you teach your class the way you normally would for the first few weeks of the semester. This will allow you to set the proper expectations, as well as get a feel for this set of students. Then start using the iPad and see how they respond, watching to see whether they're actually paying attention to you or just your iPad.
Click to expand...

This is an important point, but one that has be looked at case by case. I use keynote about 50% of the time and add video clips and audio about 15% of the time and it works really well. However, it is a discussion class, and my teaching style fits in with the tech usage. I also vary the style a lot. Sometimes the entire discussion is written on the board, sometimes it is all verbal, sometimes keynote. Hell when i teach the "analogy of the cave" i use the white board but never write a single word. i only draw pictures.

The subject and teaching style are very important, but the iPad is not a should or not issue. It is a can. It can be used if it fits your style/class/content/students. If not, it can't.
 
im my school the teachers only use the black board or a smart board, the laptops are provided by NYCDOE. It would be awesome to hook up an ipad to one, but for things like keynote u don't have to because it has a presentation mode or something. just imagine tho having the text book on the board, or showing the web. we can do this with laptops but obviously an iPad is much cooler:D
 
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