I was so excited to take the iPad home for the weekend! Before this weekend, I wasn't very familiar with the iPad, but after exploring it, I would love to purchase one in the future as well as use these in my classroom. I had fun exploring all of the applications. Here are a few of the applications that I thought would be beneficial for a teacher:
Google Maps - I enjoyed typing in directions while looking at this application. The teacher could give students a starting and an ending point and have them type it in on this Google Maps. Then, the students could zoom in and out, using their fingers, to create directions. When the students were finished, they or the teacher could click on driving directions to see how their directions compared to Google's directions.
Cyberbullying - I thought that this application would be an interesting way to talk to students about this issue. I liked how there was some assessment of this topic after the comic strip in which students would drag and drop answers to the questions about cyberbullying. This application could be used for upper elementary as well as middle school grades.
Dictionary - This would be an easy place for students to type in words for definitions, spelling, and a thesaurus for their writings.
Google Earth - This would be a great tool to help students get a visual of the world as well as be able to see things up close in different locations.
ToyStory - For the younger grades I enjoyed this application because I feel that students would be excited to read this book in class.
TeacherPal - I think this application is awesome! I loved that this one application would allow for a teacher to create a student list, record attendance as well as a place to keep a record of grades. This application would make it easier to create a seating chart. Also, I liked how there was a tab that would allow a teacher to send an e-mail to the parents.
Storyboards - I feel that with practice and knowledge of this application, the use of this application would allow for students to create their own digital stories. Students would have fun being the 'director' of their stories.
I could talk about more applications that I thought were interesting, but the list could go on forever. With my new knowledge of TPACK, I am going to look at applications in a different light to see how they can be innovated into a lesson.
I really enjoyed taking the iPad home as well! I that the storyboard application would be a interesting way for students to create storyboards for projects such as a digital story. I also like the Doodle Buddy app because I think that it would be fun for younger children. I think that the iPad could be used for TPACK lessons, but it would require creativity on the teacher's part.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the ipads. After talking today in class, I realized that it's important that the teacher take time to understand the application. Although, this may be time consuming I think it's important to help the students succeed. Even though I felt like I explored the apps, i realized in class today, there was a lot I missed.
ReplyDeleteI also thought that the Teacher Pal app was really cool. It would be fun to see how much more useful it would be after being in a classroom for awhile and using it in the setting that it's designed for. It would be fun to see how it would work out and how much more you would use it. I'm sure that with some students, just using the iPads would be motivating and fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your ideas for each of the apps! There are many possibilities - you can not believe how many apps are out there. I think if you keep TPACK in mind while reviewing them, the students would benefit from a tie to curricular objectives.
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