I used to have no clue on the use of technology but it is really so simple. And leaving the PC world and entering the MacBook Air world has reaffirmed my faith in the promises of technology. In the same way I spent those 24 years teaching in the old way, I spent too many years on a PC. I know it’s all individual preference but for me in my CI world I am just blown away by what I have here in this fully Mac school.
That the kids all have iPads is creative and wonderful on the level of homework. In class, if there is only one iPad in the class, using Notability, the class artist is able to play a much more expanded role than in the old days. The drawings are fun, I don’t put in captions or record my voice much just because the kids are able to read the written story and hear it so much in class anyway. The captioning and voice recording features are best used when the kids have the iPad at home.
The buy in from parents is just incredible. When they see their child happily creating and captioning and recording their own voices, busily wanting to share their creation with others, it puts homework in an entirely new light as celebration. There is a recent post on that topic. Tolstoy once described school (here paraphrased) as “an endless series of boring, mind-numbing tasks.” But with the iPad so much celebration of what was learned is possible.
I am very happy to no longer be an iPad iDiot. If you haven’t explored this magical device, don’t delay in doing so if you can. Just one iPad will make your artist shine in new ways in the classroom, and if you are lucky enough to have all your students with iPads, the homework possibilities are great. Whether we assign homework or not may not be a big deal in terms of language gains, but it plays a role in shaping public opinion about us as teachers. relative to the culture of the school.