An Educator's thoughts on using iOS 5 features in an iPad Classroom

A clear and concise review of using the new features of iOS 5 and the ramifications for the classroom teacher by Matthew Panzarino over at TheNextWeb. Enjoy!!!

Apple’s announcements at WWDC included a large array of improvements to iOS, including beefier AirPlay support, wireless syncing with iTunes and iCloud backups. Fraser Speirs, the Head of IT at Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock, Scotland, recently took a look at what those new features mean for an educator using iPads in the classroom.

Speirs and Greenock have been involved in an ongoing project to use the iPad extensively in classrooms since August of 2010, when it deployed 115 iPads to its students and teachers. Since then, Speirs has been documenting the many challenges and successes of the iPad project on his blog, Speirs.org.

A recent post, entitled “Thoughts from the Classroom on WWDC” details how Speirs thinks that some of the new features of iOS and Lion will fit in in the classroom. We thought that many of them were fantastic and worth mentioning again here to help get the word out about how cool teaching with iPads can be.

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2011/06/21/an-educators-thoughts-on-using-ios-5-features-in-an-ipad-classroom/

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iOS Devices in Education

Expand the learning outside the Classroom:
If you are in the process of developing a proposal for the inclusion of iOS devices in schools than this is an excellent PDF document. You might even be in a position where you now need to justify the purchase of existing machines and how they have enhanced your student's  learning. Here is some help, a good starting point at least. I know...I know -  it was produced by Apple but it does spell out a reasoned and well presented argument for the use of iOS devices in education. 

I also found this article interesting because it raises some issues that I had not previously considered in my own use of iOS devices in the classroom. So for a person already utilising idevices it was also a good reflection on existing practices.

It is a good read anyway. It might be something that you send on to colleagues who are using iOS devices in their school.

10 Reasons for iOS Devices in Education

Enhance your students’ academic success with innovative tools that personalize learning. iOS devices, such as iPad and iPod touch, support education in any subject area—whether your students are improving their reading fluency, building math skills, or pursuing information sources beyond the classroom. Thanks to these powerful devices, students can enjoy anytime learning with a growing wealth of educational content, Internet resources, digital books, and interactive applications. All at their fingertips.

1. Simple and intuitive 

What could be more natural for students than to interact with a mobile device? Because students are already intimately familiar with cell phones, iPod, and handheld gaming consoles, the learning curve is minimal when you introduce them to an iPad or iPod touch. The intuitive and responsive Multi-Touch screen allows students to read a book, interact with an app, and page through websites with just the touch of a finger. The best part? They focus on the content, instead of learning how to use the device.

• Learning on the spot....
• An engaging experience....
• Every student is unique....
• Connections are everything....
• Class is always in session....
• Tap into the App Store....
• Get down to work....
• It’s story time....
• Ready for every student....

iOS devices are uniquely equipped to let every student succeed.

Read the full document:

http://images.apple.com/education/docs/Apple-10ReasonsforiOSinEdu_20110418.pdf

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