My iPad Adventure

First semester has just ended and I am finally taking a breath and a moment to blog. I know it has been forever. I've been in the thick of teaching 7th grade English and setting up an iPad pilot for our school. Both have been extremely time consuming.  In this post, I'll focus on my iPad adventure and save my 7th grade English stories for another day.

The Plan:
We purchased 30 iPads this fall and have disseminated them to one faculty member in each department. In addition, we will be piloting 2 iPad classes starting in the second semester (next week). We have chosen a geometry class and an art history class for our pilots, primarily because those teachers volunteered to give it a go (and their class sizes worked with our numbers).

Figuring out the set up process and actually setting up the iPads has taken an enormous amount of time. We are using the Apple Store Volume Purchasing Program to pay for our Apps. In order for the school to own the Apps, I had to create separate Apple IDs for each of our faculty members and students. I also had to set up email addresses for each Apple ID and separate email addresses/Apple IDs for the VPP program. Getting my head around all of the steps in this process was exhausting. I think I have finally figured it out.

We also had to work out an iPad agreement and an iPad insurance plan for parents and students. Thanks to all of you who sent me prototypes. I used a little bit of everyone's agreements. Thanks especially to Patrick Larkin, principal of Burlington High School and to Scott Reisinger, headmaster of Bancroft School who have helped clear the path to make this easier for the rest of us.

My Progress
At this point all of piloting faculty members have received their iPads (right before winter break). I have met with them as a group once to show them how to purchase Apps. I am planning to meet with each of them one-on-one in the next two weeks and we are meeting as a group at the end of the month. I have to finish setting up student iPads this week and will hand them out next week at the start of the new semester.

The Future
It is hard to budget for a future iPad program when you aren't sure you really want one. The difficulty is that this is all based on the success of the program. It may be that we don't think iPads are right for us or there may be some newer technology that we think is even better.  At this point I'm taking this journey one step at a time. I can't quite see the end of the road, but I'm confident each step will bring me closer.

Have you tried piloting iPads? Do you have any wisdom to share? Are you thinking of trying out your own pilot? I welcome your comments, questions, and suggestion!

5 Things I hate about the Kindle Fire

I was ready to love it. I put my name on the list the day it was announced. I waited and waited. When it finally shipped, I tracked that shipment like a hawk. Then it arrived.

My school has recently decided to do an iPad pilot. We are deploying 30 iPads and budgeting for more next year. I thought the Kindle fire might just be a cheaper alternative. Well it's not and this is why.

1. Boy is it heavy! It is supposedly lighter than an iPad, but if you held one in each hand you wouldn't think so. It is shaped like a brick and feels like one too. I tried reading a book on it and my arms felt like falling off.

2. The App store is lame. I admit I am not used to an android device, but I looked for several apps that I use on my iPhone and my iPad and couldn't find them in the Kindle App store.

3. No fetch feature. There doesn't seem to be a way for the Fire to let you know when you have new mail or it is your turn to update your Words With Friends. You have to manually check for all updates. I also can't figure out how to add multiple e-mail accounts to the mail feature. Maybe that is just me being obtuse, but I have looked everywhere for a way to add an additional account.

4. Not so fast. I haven't noticed that the new "silk" browser is particularly fast. Supposedly it is super speedy. It isn't slow, but it doesn't seem much faster than my phone (and I have an iPhone 3GS).

5. It is neither here nor there. It is a smaller heavier feeling iPad and a bigger much heavier iPhone and an eReader with a lot of glare. If I want to type something, or check out some cool Apps, I'll use the iPad. If I want something small to check in on my email, my Twitter feed and my Words with Friends I will use my phone. If I want to read a book, I will use a traditional Kindle. I haven't figured out when or where I would use the Fire.

OK. I know I am privileged to have so many devices to choose from. I know it is a cheaper alternative to the iPad. I know the video streaming is cool. It just doesn't do it for me. And did I mention is is heavy like a brick?

I wanted to like it. I really did. It just doesn't live up. Do you have one? Do you agree? I'm interested in your opinion. Please let me know what you think.

P.S. My fall has been crazy at school so I haven't been blogging, but I have lots of things to share - some cool video projects and some iPad deployment advice, so stay tuned.

Marching Backward into the Future

“We look at the present through a rear-view mirror. We march backwards into the future.” 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/derbaum/14504516/

- The Media is the Massage. An Inventory of Effects. McLuhan & Fiore. p74

Everything we look at is shaped by our experiences. We come from a 20th century perspective and it is incredibly difficult to imagine what the 21st century will bring. When I started teaching 20 years ago, could I have envisioned an iPod, a netbook, a Kindle? We had the beginnings of an Internet, but nothing like the global interactions of today. And yet it was my job to prepare those 6th graders for their future.

Those 6th graders are now about 32 years old. Do we feel the 32 year olds of today are not productive? Are they not capable of doing the jobs we need them to do? If I taught them to think and to write and to question and to explore, did I not prepare them for their future?

And what of my students of today? How are they prepared to meet their destiny? We live in this moment and our vision is shaped by what came before us. We can imagine what will be next, but all of of our imaginings are seen through the lens of our own histories. And each of us brings a different history to our predictions.

In the field of education there is much anxiety about the future. These anxieties are only compounded by the downturn in our economy. Is this because we didn’t prepare our students for what was to come? How can we make sure that our country will be led by a knowledgeable and capable workforce? Is technology the answer?

How do the innovators of today come up with these inventions? Where do they get the ideas that transform our world? Someone invented the iPod, the Kindle, the iPad. Where did they go to school? Who were their teachers? Did they march backward into the future or were they somehow turned around?