All Blog Posts (153)

It’s April and despite T.S. Eliot's declaration of this being the cruelest month, it has been shaping up to be anything but.  Here is where we stand.  370 days ago we didn't "know from iPads."  Now Xaverian is moving in to the 1st year of a 2 year roll out.  Here are a couple of the issues we are tackling.

We have been able to get iPads in the hands of about 1/2 our faculty with the rest getting them within the month.  The buzz is GREAT!

- This has…

Our two iPad2s head out on their first field test this coming Friday.  We have been planning, plotting, purchasing, prepping, and now we are running them through the last of their paces before they head out on a pair of field trips that will span five days (1 one-day, 1 four-day).  We've outfitted them with rugged cases, screen protectors, mobile hotspots, car chargers, solar chargers, and what seems like a gazillion apps - including Google Earth, Topo maps, GigaPan, and Rocks.  We expect…

I've written in the past about the fact that one of the most underrated educational benefits of the iPad lies in it's ability to connect people. Whether through Facebook, Twitter, Facetime or others, mobile devices allow us to develop "learning communities" beyond the boundaries of any physical location. In giving workshops to educators and parents, I often highlight the concept of learning community as one of the most important advances of a 21st century education.

There are…

I am very interested to hear how educators are using i-Pads in class.  I posted to my blog site earlier this evening asking the same question and stated how I am currently using my classroom set of them.  Please check it out and leave a comment.

how are i-Pads being used in your classroom?

Can any one help with the pros/cons of implementing, (from scratch), Ipads in a school next year vs. waiting for some of the less expensive Droid tablets to catch up.

Let me tell you a story.  Last year I envisioned a classroom where I could make a difference to my students. i have a classroom of students with disabilities, most of whom have Autism.  My instincts told me that technology could make a difference, but I found pcs or laptops difficult because of they way they were set up ...mostly they face a wall, or with laptops, students are hidden behind them.  I then heard about the new…

Quia

Whatever your philosophy regarding frontal teaching methods and the uses of Smartboards, there’s no denying two facts:

1. Smartboards have become extremely popular tools in educational institutions
2. Smartboards are relatively expensive and eat major portions out of our shrinking school budgets

What if you could create a parallel experience using nothing more than an iPad and a $50 piece of software? One software product with a matching iPad app claims that it…

http://bit.ly/gMyuJi

This is on the Bklyn Diocesan Station showing the work we are doing at the school

We are the only Catholic school, that I know of, in the NY area that is aggressively moving to a One to One computing platform, using the iPad.  The more we move in this area - the more I am sure we are (to use the parlance of the kids) sooooo doing the right thing!

This week we have Fraser Speirs coming to…

Planning is imperative for any technology initiative - iPad or otherwise. You need to ensure that you clearly understand and communicate how the technology integrates with your overall pedagogical objectives. Too many institutions purchase technology and then search for ways to utilize it ... or leave it collecting dust on the shelf.



Planning needs to consider both infrastructure needs and the educational applications of the new technology. Without the proper…

Interesting...

Aricle: Geek Dad - Is an iPad education the death of creation?

By Andy Robertson - 07 February 11

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2011-02/07/ipads-in-schools?p=2

Response to article:

My response to @WiredUK post on iPad being the death of creation in schools…

http://nydn.us/hzinvA

Xaverian Freshmen to get iPads

In Today's NY Daily news our school, Xaverian, highlighted.  Denis Hammil spoke of the School's commitment to cutting edge technology.   As I posted earlier, my school is getting ready for the first step of One to One computing with the iPad at the center of this.  

We chose the ipad because of several factors:

1.…

I,together with a successful head teacher, created the Online Governor Meeting Management and Information website designed specifically for school governing bodies/boards. While our system,recognised by the UK School Inspectorate as 'highly effective....' the resistance by governors to a paper free system (which ours is based) and using 'white board to conduct meetings stems from a belief that you cannot " hold a meeting without paper", irrespective of the financial costs schools in…

It's almost a year since the iPad was first released and we have been using them in a high school pilot program since September. Our intent was to explore different ways that the iPad could be used by students and the hope was that we could also transition to using e-Books instead of paper textbooks during the course of the year.

The pilot has been a source of observational and anecdotal information. After four months I felt we should get a more precise evaluation of how students…