Why iPads? Personal Learning System

Students who use technology to access information while using digital "tools" to support their learning develop a personalized set of resources for learning... a "go-to" technology toolbox. We call such a collection of tools and resources one's Personal Learning System (PLS). Students use devices, apps and Web tools to help with small assignments. They also need to be project managers who engage their PLS as they plan for long term assignments while often working as member of a team. Finding and using tools to be organized and collaborative is key to managing one's individual and group learning projects.   

A “personal learning system” can include support tools in a variety of categories. The following are just a handful of options among many.

• Communication- We use e-mail, phones, and social networks to connect with others. Examples: Gmail, texting, phone calls, Skype
• Collaboration- Communicating to share ideas, work on projects and innovate draws upon and develops skills for 21st century learning and the workplace.  Technology facilitates the process of developing, organizing and sharing those ideas. Examples: Google Apps, Moodle (LMS), Mindmeister
• Curation of Information- Personal Learning Systems are more effective with a place to store, organize, and share the information we consume and create. Examples: Google Drive, Dropbox, Diigo, Pocket
• Documentation of Information- We need places and modalities (i.e., voice to text) to record and responsibly cite the ideas we gather from others as well as to make our thinking visible. Examples: Noodle Tools, Evernote, Notability, Siri, Google Now, PaperPort Notes, Google Docs, Audioboo,
• Reference and General Information Gathering- Remember the day when we had a dictionary, thesaurus, calculator and maybe an encyclopedia within easy reach of our workspace? Today we have online versions of each, along with a rich variety of apps on our devices. Examples: language translators, Britannica, iTunes for Podcasts, Chrome Browser with Extensions, one's school library Web site (e.g.,WIS PS Library Web site).
• Task and Time Management- The paper planner and calendar do not provide all the services offered by a web-based event and task management calendar. We can now easily access our time management systems across our computing platforms and integrate appointments and tasks into our e-mail. Examples: Google Calendar, Todoist, Wunderlist
• Tutorials- Developing lifelong learners who know how to learn independently is one of our primary goals. Knowing where to go to not only gather information but to also learn specific skills via online tutorials is so important. Examples: Vimeo Education, Khan Academy

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Why iPads? Communication and Collaboration

The iPad Weekly email/newsletter will be sent out on Thursdays to share focused information on using the iPads. The first several newsletters will provide answers to the question of “why iPads?”.

Help Desk is busy preparing the new iPads for your use. I will be setting up grade level and single subject teacher meetings to talk about how the iPads and apps can support your teaching and our POI.

Let’s get started with reasons why iPads can be so helpful. This first entry is a little long but hopefully helpful. And thanks to Becky for offering one example of how iPads can be used to communicate and collaborate.

There are a great many apps that help us communicate and collaborate when using the iPad. Here are just a few to get you started.

Padlet is a Web application that acts like a virtual bulletin board, allowing students to engage easily in responsive class discussions. Students "stick" their notes, questions, images or observations about the discussion onto a virtual bulletin board. Instantly review and collaborate or display students' responses on a projection screen via another iPad or laptop. Add multimedia to enhance your students' learning in class or save it to continue the conversation later.

Another option for communication and collaboration is the Google Drive app through which students can share their ideas by uploading their documents, slideshows, videos, images, etc. to the cloud. Students also can use the Pages and Keynote apps for creating outside the cloud to then share their work through Drive. Students can easily access and build upon these digital creations while also giving their parents access to their learning throughout the school year. The archived learning artifacts also help with student-parent conferences especially if students use eFolios to reflect about their learning as the year progresses.

For support with the research process, NoodleTools helps students collaborate in inquiry projects. Students can take notes, outline, create citations, and annotate their findings. There is also an option for students to save their work to Google Docs as they reflect and create.

Many apps give students the opportunity to communicate their understanding through multimedia presentations. Some are web-based so that they can be shared with an online audience, and others, like Keynote, are local just to the iPad. As noted, these local files can be uploaded to Google Drive or they can be inserted into a presentation Web site like Slideshare. At WIS, we provide the Presentation Tool Matrix for students and teachers to apply their technology literacy to the task of choosing the right tool for their presentation.

iPads also can support teacher to students and student to student communication while reading. Think about how you could support literacy by being able to highlight text, insert questions, add links and embed videos into digital text to then share it out to your students. Subtext is an app that adds theses functions while enabling groups and/or whole classes to share ideas while reading on their iPads. Take a look at a video for more information on Subtext.