3 suggestions for apple education

1. Get iBooks Author online and collaborative
Brilliant software! Never been easier for teachers and students to create amazing multi-touch iBooks and publish them to a global audience. The massive task of creating online software with sharing options would allow teachers to collaborate on books together in real time.

2. Get iTunes course manager mobile
iTunes U course manager can only be accessed currently through laptop and desktop. A mobile App would allow teachers to create on the go.

3. Promote iBook Store more
Some amazing resources being created by amazing teachers but still harder to reach going through the iBook App. Extra step makes it difficult and out of sight. Many teachers using the Apple ecosystem don't even know these valuable resources exist. Shame, as with new widgets being created daily the multi-loutch experience continues to improve.

The reflective student

As a teacher what do you notice when you hand a test back? Do students look straight for the Grade (letter) or do they look through mistakes, reflecting on what went wrong and what they need to do better next time?

I think you would all agree we would prefer students to do the latter, but experience tells us they do the first option.

So how do we get students reflecting on learning experiences? With mobile technology there has never been a better time to foster a culture of analysis and reflection.

Here are 2 quick tutorials using the Book Creator App and the Explain Everything App for iPad to encourage more reflective students in your class.

Reflective student - Explain Everything tutorial:

http://youtu.be/sBKjMF-4_oc

Reflective student - Book Creator tutorial:

http://youtu.be/lS4uq1Ir9Q8

About Paul:

2013 Finalist - International EdTech Digest Awards Recognition Program honoring tools, trendsetters and leaders in the education and technology sector. The distinguished awards program recognizes outstanding solutions―and the best and brightest minds―in education and technology.

2013 Nominee - EduBlogs Life Time achievement award.

Apple Distinguished Educator Class of 2013. Paul is a leader in the implementation of Augmented Reality in schools to improve learning outcomes, Professional Development of staff with integration of ICTs, and has expertise in the implementation of mobile devices into pedagogical frameworks.

Creator
The Tellagami Project (Presentation)
Teaching students to code on the iPad (iBook)
Augmented Reality in Education (iBook)
10 Amazing lessons for the iPad Classroom (iBook)
Formative Feedback for Learning and Science AR (Apps)

"Paul, you are a real Leader" - Dr Heidi Hayes Jacobs, author and internationally recognized education leader known for her work in curriculum mapping, curriculum integration and developing 21st century approaches to teaching and learning.
"Paul we designed iBooks Author to be a tool that teachers could use to create content that they develop for the classroom and can share with the world. It is great Paul that you have been using it that way to great success." - Philip Schiller - Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

PUBLIC SPEAKING EXPERIENCE

Guest Speaker - Best Apps for Kids - State Library Queensland 2013
National Leading a Digital School Conference - 2013 (Melbourne)
Augmented Reality in Education
21st Century Skills v Technology

IWB Interactive Teaching and Learning Conference - Sydney 2012
The benefits of teaching game design and strategy.
Technology and Formative Assessment strategies.

3 iPad/iPod Christmas activities for kids

How do we want students using iPads during the Christmas holidays?

How about creating, collaborating and communicating with Project based activities that will both engage, foster and develop 21st century skills whilst having an awesome time!

1. Create on comic/iBook on their favourite holiday moments
Incorporating the camera and Apps like Comic Life and Book Creator, our kids become authors at the same time. It also encourages kids to work together and involve the whole family.
Tutorials Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znrlTHDzr6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic5a2-qavFA

2. Time Lapse Photography iMovie
My girls are currently doing this as I write this Blog. The set up their iPod and use the App iMotion HD to take photos at 20 second intervals of the kids putting up the Christmas tree. They then drop into iMovie and add text and music to create an amazing time Lapse movie. Very cool.
Tutorials Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNU6JYW0tI0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGnIMp43fdU

3. Create a digital Video Game
Using iPad Apps like Hopscotch and GamePress students can immerse themselves into the world of video games. But there is a difference! The kids can create their own, test, evaluate, work together and learn how to code at the same time. A really worthwhile activity!
Tutorials Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8-y0nIhmbY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SuFr_MUPUU

iPad Teacher Tutorial June Newsletter

What's the secret to an effective 1:1 program in schools? Devices? Infrastructure? User agreement? Whilst all of these areas play a role, the classroom TEACHER is the most important and significant ingredient in an effective 1:1 program. Let me be a little more specific. The teachers imagination and creativity, their ability to make connections with the device and applications, their knowledge of the curriculum and the 21st century students who sit in their class. See it is the teachers who see the hidden wonders/magic of an App like iMovie or a web2 tool like Todays Meet. This edition of the appsbypaulhamilton newsletter pays tribute to the creative and innovative teachers in our schools and the impact they are having on young minds across the globe.

Using iMovie in the classroom:

What better way to grab the attention of our students than with a movie trailer. Even better, get students creating narratives through iMovie. This tutorial looks at creating a Narrative using iMovie on an iPad.

Just recently I discovered the world of Podcasting and thought I would use it as a way of discovering great Apps that are out there. I plan to interview Teachers, App Developers and Parents but thought I would start by asking our target audience in this entire discussion: THE KIDS! As Dan Pink suggests we should talk with our students more about what they require/need at school. Here is the Talking Apps with Paul Hamilton first episode. In the first episode, I chat with my 8 year old daughter on her favourite Apps and how they could used at school. Email me if you would like to be on the next show.  

Teachers please take a listen HERE.

Utilizing screen recording animations within an Augmented Reality environment:

Augmented Reality is starting to filter into classrooms across the globe. The Horizon Report is a yearly publication that highlights, analyzes and predicts the ways in which technological advances will change teaching, learning and creative inquiry. The 2013 report describes how and why augmented reality will play an important role in teaching and learning over the next two to three years. Luckily for educators Augmented Reality is available. Using 2 Apps (Aurasma and Explain Everything) you can create your own Augmented Reality experience for your students.

Interesting Observation:

I often get frustrated with those who continue to see the iPad as a solely consuming device. We want our students creating and the iPad delivers creativity and content creation in spades. Our students are using technology differently than we did (and more of it). Anyone who has kids will notice this on a regular basis. As Sir Ken Robinson observes:

“When my son, James, was doing homework for school, he would have five or six windows open on his computer, Instant Messenger was flashing continuously, his cell phone was constantly ringing, and he was downloading music and watching the TV over his shoulder. I don’t know if he was doing any homework, but he was running an empire as far as I could see, so I didn’t really care.” 

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything

Students viewing Movies and posing questions:

I have no doubt that students viewing videos adds worth to the educational experience. However, how do we optimise the students experience so that we go further once the video is finished. Traditional note taking is limited. In my experience it is the posing of questions that we want our students to do so that they build a deeper understanding of the concepts. Also, allowing students to find and add content to the lesson needs to be encouraged. Using Today's Meet allows for this. Can students watch media and pose questions at the same time? Absolutely.

Using Video to give Formative Feedback:

Giving effective feedback to students has one of the highest impacts on student learning. As Professor John Hattie states: “Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement” and “This evidence shows that although feedback is among the major influences, the type of feedback and the way it is given can be differentially effective.”

In my experiences video feedback is one of these highly effective methods. Using video as a form of feedback allows: student-student feedback, teacher-student feedback and self feedback.

Upcoming Professional Development for School Leaders:

Looking forward to presenting at the Leading a Digital School conference at Crown Casino in Melbourne next term. My 2 sessions will be on Augmented Reality in Education and 21st Century Skills V Technology. Those who have a leadership position in schools should definitely attend!
For registration details visit:
The IWBNet website HERE

Free teacher tutorials.

Don't forget to check out my free teacher tutorial channel on youtube. It is approaching 40000 views and has plenty of useful and practical tutorials for teachers.

About Paul:

Author of the iBook Augmented Reality in Education, creator of the Science AR App, the critically acclaimed educational app Formative Feedback for Learning and the revolutionary iBook series My Prep Year, Paul is changing the way digital content is being delivered in schools. Apple Distinguished Educator Class of 2013. Paul is a leader in the implementation of Augmented Reality in schools to improve learning outcomes, Professional Development of staff with integration of ICTs, and has expertise in the implementation of mobile devices into pedagogical frameworks.

Apps and iBooks by Paul Hamilton

    

appsbypaulhamilton@gmail.com
http://www.appsbypaulhamilton.com
twitter: @PaulHamilton8

Parents we have an iPad problem

Sat down in a funky little cafe in St Kilda this morning (for breakfast) reflecting on a wonderful teaching and learning conference I had just attended over the past 3 days. A young family joined us at the table next to us. The father began analysing the menu whilst the Mum reached into her oversized handbag and pulled out the child's pacifier. The pacifier was a little larger than the normal one. The pacifier was an iPad, an amazing tool that I use on a daily basis with my students and the staff I mentor.

We use the iPad in a plethora of ways from digital storytelling, world building, multimedia presentations, Augmented Reality, student feedback giving, observational record keeping.......I could go on and on.

Not a doubt in my mind the iPad is tool, that when used by motivated students and innovative educators, learning is both enhanced and engaged in.

Back to the family sitting next to me. Mum and Dad converse openly. Child does not make a sound for the entire meal.

Time to fly back to Queensland, family sits a couple of rows in front of me. This time Mum and Dad and 2 children. The first, a boy 4 years of age and the second, a young female toddler. Both parents hand over an iPad each to their children. Over the course of the flight both children say very little, but I watch closely. Both are watching movies and using coloring in Apps.

So what's the problem?

Our world is changing, and the world our children will enter into during and after school is much different to that of our generation. Firstly, we passively consumed Media. We watched TV and later consumed the Internet by browsing websites. Secondly, the work place required a different set of skills to that our children will require.

We are entering a time in history where creativity and divergent thinking is what our children will require in the work place. As Dan Pink states:

"The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers-creative and holistic "right-brain" thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn't."

I recently viewed a concert on Youtube. The concert was a little different.

This needs a little explaining. 

1. This is a real audience. 
2. The singer is completely virtual.
3. The concert was sold out in 3 countries.

and

A team of individuals created this character collaboratively using completely open source and free software. No ones owns this character. Anyone, or more likely group, can create a concert using this free software. 

I could give more examples. Wikipedia. Who would of thought the largest resource site would be created and fed by us, hobbyists and enthusiasts who don't look for payment or recognition. Wikipedia succeeded because we are changing and the world is changing. Microsofts plans for a CD encyclopedia (ENCARTA), hiring the best academics and writers in the world, was blown out of the water because it didn't involve us. We are creators and collaborators and we own the Internet.

So why do I have a problem with iPads. Young children are being kept quite by iPads. Young students are being kept quite using iPads in a passive and extremely unnatural way. This is the problem Parents need to address. We are fostering an environment that is completely foreign to the generation coming through. We are fostering skills that will be (currently are) obsolete.

I see greatness with tools like the iPad. I see naturally innovative and creatively blessed minds using iPads in creative and innovative ways.

Unfortunately I also see something else and it worries me.

Paul