Teaching With Ipads

[sensei]

My school bought 18 iPads. My boss wanted more but the Director didn't allow anything more than that. They also bought two iMacs and Macbook Pros are on its way.

I'd say that it's a joy to use use but such a pain to maintain.

A Joy to use...

I only have 30 students in each class so two students share an iPad in class. This is actually a good thing because it allows the students to monitor each other. This minimizes the cases of students doing other things or opening other apps or websites unless they both agree on breaking the rules I've set. If the students are really prone on wandering around, I can use Guided Access that limits the students to only ONE APP. They won't be able to use another app so there won't be any problems with enraged birds trying to kill those thieving pigs.

In my experience, I have see the iPads increase my student's interest in the subject that I teach. The students love swiping on the screen, swiping to see more pictures, and clicking to watch an embedded video.

I have searched for content that fits my lessons but the books that can be bought online is based on a different curriculum. My only option is to make iBooks that are parallel with what I teach.

I make the iBooks using Apple's free app called iBooks Author then I upload the finished product on the school's website that I maintain. iBooks present the students with swipe-able galleries instead of just static pictures; educational videos instead of just boring text.

My students can also download the iBooks to their iPads at home.

I also use Prezi, the online zooming interactive presentation program and I create my lessons there. A Prezi app shows my Prezi on the iPads.

Some lessons that I use are typed on MSWord and saved as a pdf file that can be sent from my Mac through iMessage to the iPads.

iBooks or Prezis are accompanied by study sheets with activities or questions that are based on the contents on the iPads. The students can work in pairs or individually to accomplish the task in the accompanying study sheets.

I can connect the iPad that I use to the overhead projector via cable and everything on the iPad shows up on the big screen.

A pain to maintain…

Thank goodness the director did not allow the purchase of 30+ iPads. As I have mentioned, I have 18 iPads as of the moment, charging the iPads has already posed a challenge.

I can barely use my desk when I am charging the iPads. I have to do it with their covers open so that I can see which one is charging and which one is not. This is due to the extremely loose round prongs on the chargers that plugs into the extension wires. It can be right in there but there's no current flowing. Jiggling it a bit does the job sometimes but thrusting it in at an angle works better. I can literally feel the heat coming off the iPads when they are all charging.

I am saving the worst for last.

Two words…

BAD INTERNET

It is actually an understatement

Imagine downloading the 4GB+/- update to the current iOS. Imagine doing that to 18 iPads. One iPad showed it would take 12 hours to complete the download. Imagine doing it to 18.

I had to take it home because the school's internet connection is an embarrassment to say the least. My connection at home struggled having so many connected at once but it did the job.

Imagine having to upload the 100MB to the school's website and downloading that to the iPads.

Imagine having to carry around 18 iPads in a luggage from the teacher's room on the second floor to the student's room on the 5th floor because we still don't have a room dedicated for this.

On hindsight, the joy of using it greatly surpasses the pain.

I have never seen my students happier and more quiet. It works for me.

Did I regret coming up with this idea? No.

I just want to let everyone know…

Thanks for all your replies

See the pics below and here is a sample of a PREZI

http://prezi.com/bqpmrqsve0mg/plants/

Edited December 7, 2012 by sensei

[Phatcharanan]

@Sensei...................Your school could not buy the Apple Learning Lab?

Would have solved your charging and movement problems.

[otherstuff1957]

Excellent post Sensei! You've really summed up the pros and the cons of using tablets in a Thai classroom.

I do expect that we will see more and more usage of tablets in our classrooms, but I don't see them becoming the main teaching tools or replacing books any time in the near future.

[sensei]

@Phatcharanan:

We are in the process of acquiring a room for these devices where I can put the iMacs, Mac Pros, and the iPad 3s. From what I've been told, the room will be available next year. That room will be equipped with its own high speed internet.

@Otherstuff1957:

Thank you for the kind words. I understand what you are saying.

I've been dangling these iPads to the other foreign teachers who can use it in teaching but none of them would touch it with a ten foot pole. As of the moment, I am the only one using it in teaching science.

Edited December 8, 2012 by sensei

[JohnBetong]

@sensei Assume you are teaching in Thailand. What subject(s) and at what level? I may be able to recommend an existing solution to your problem.

[Scott]

"I actually teach Science and I can see a huge potential in using iPads to helps students visualize static text and diagrams."

I believe he teaches Science.

Edited December 9, 2012 by Scott

[John_Betong]

"I actually teach Science and I can see a huge potential in using iPads to helps students visualize static text and diagrams."

I believe he teaches Science.

Hi Scott,

Thank you for the clarification.

I read and poked the reply on my Nexus 7 but today followed the links on my PC...

it appears as though Prezi is designed specifically for Apple and mostly for overhead projectors?

I had English Language courses in mind that use off-line applications for PCs and iPads. Internet access is only required to transfer lesson results and for receiving emailed reports.

As far as teaching science is concerned there is an Authoring Tool available which was used to write the multi-media courses.

Edited December 12, 2012 by John_Betong

[sensei]

I teach basic and supplementary Science to Matthayom 1 and 2 students.

Prezi is an online editor for zooming presentations. It can be downloaded and presented offline on both Windows and Macs.

I can send small files and other documents from the iMacs to the iPads through iMessage.

I upload the bigger files to the school's website. I can open the page on the iPads and download it from there.

I am currently looking at using NAS for easier file transfer.

As I have mentioned, I use iBooks Author as my primary authoring tool.

[John_Betong]

I teach basic and supplementary Science to Matthayom 1 and 2 students.

Prezi is an online editor for zooming presentations. It can be downloaded and presented offline on both Windows and Macs.

I can send small files and other documents from the iMacs to the iPads through iMessage.

I upload the bigger files to the school's website. I can open the page on the iPads and download it from there.

I am currently looking at using NAS for easier file transfer.

As I have mentioned, I use iBooks Author as my primary authoring tool.

The software I had in mind is designed for personal learning and reports ideal for tutors to monitor progress. It is used by numerous large Thai corporations.

Currently only English Language courses are available but the online Authoring Tool can be used to create any type of course. Simply login, click 'Add/edit a Course' and start creating. Once done, click 'Build', the course is created/updated in seconds and is ready to run on both Windows and iPad platforms.

Sampe course screenshots:

[DaBloodyMess]

As an educator I do find Tablets exciting, not just iPads.

The emergence of quality windows tablets with a tablet oriented OS is actually a bit of a game changer. If any of you have run a course using computers in a school environment, it can be a challenge to monitor students internet usage even with the filtering options available.

To overcome this most serious computer labs will have a teacher console with a monitoring program installed which gives the teacher a much higher degree of control. I personally use LANSchool for example (http://www.lanschool.com/).

Now you can use LANSchool with iPads, but it isnt as well developed and supported (imo) as the Windows and Linux versions of the software.

With quality Win8 tabets you can use an effective program like LANSchool to control the tablets from a windows based teacher console. In my oinion The windows option for tablets in education will eventually emerge as a much better choice due to the factors of price and an easier integration with a wider windows based system.

But lets face it, iPads are 'cool' and 'trendy' thats where the money will go whether it is the best choice or not.

Edited January 8, 2013 by DaBloodyMess

[Africanteacher]

I sometimes use iPads when teaching .

They are a great resource, if you have the correct apps that would facilitate meeting your learning objectives.

[John_Betong]

I sometimes use iPads when teaching .

They are a great resource, if you have the correct apps that would facilitate meeting your learning objectives.

There is a new iPad free speech recognition app' recently released in the Apple web store:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/connect-learning-english/id635588329

The app' manages to understand my Geordie accent and curious to know if the Thai accent is easily recognised.