Module 6

Transformative Device
I couldn't agree more with this one.....it is revolutionising learning. and is quite scary when 18 months old can swipe and select activities they want to do from a selection of apps. It is the way of the future and requires a letting go of the traditional way of teaching. no longer are we imparting knowledge upon children but we are giving them a base to run with themselves. Using an iPad allows children to move aong at their own pace, to discuss and share ideas with others and become more in control and responsibile for their learning. The very nature of the iPad as a mobile, talking, music/video playing device creates curiosity and excitement not offered by a piece of paper and a pencil!!!

Camera Activity
The camera is such an easy tool to use and the children seem to use this more effectively than I do! Creating albums and naming them has been something I have been doing for a while and it was good to revisit this quickly to refresh my memory.


Annotating Activity
Skitch was a great app to use and with some fiddling around I worked out how to use it. However, I had difficulty saving my pictures and couldn't locate the home page or opening pages where I could perhaps access all annotations I had completed??  Perhaps I had missed a step!! Despite this I can see it uses for encouraging students to label pictures, explain what was happening in the photo or even documenting parts of an animal, person, scenery etc that may have been used in class or as part of an excursion. This would have been great after our term 3 excursion to the zoo!

Blogging Activity
Naturally the desktop / computer version offers more features but for convenience and ability to access it wherever you are, the iPad app Blogger is great. I have used it for Web 2.0 and now for this mobile devices course. I have switched between the laptop and the iPad for this course alone and find them both useful depending on the situation or my whereabouts at the time.

iMovie Activity
I have used iMovie in the past and have witnessed our Stage 3 students use it a lot better than I can! It would be great to record students participating in any activity in the classroom and to watch and reflect upon what they did. It could also be shared on the school website (or however the parents access information) for parents to watch and be part of what the children do during the day. This would also encourage a bit of communication between home and school.