Proposed Peripherals

I spoke to my principal today about the expected roll-out of the Technology Infusion tools. They should be here next week, but we will probably wait until I return to work after Thanksgiving (Yikes! Just over three weeks of my maternity leave left!) so that I can take the lead.

Then I asked the right or the wrong question, depending on your perspective. I asked about the peripherals. If you remember my proposal, it included 4 digital cameras and 4 digital audio recorders per class of 24 students. The policy here is that the school board supplies the laptops, Netbooks, iPads, what-have-you, but the school is responsible for all peripherals. When he got behind e pilot project in June, my principal way very supportive and promised to supply these. Now that September is here, reality has set in.

So I must now search flyers for good deals that we will not be able to purchase. I must use the best numbers I can find to write up a request for the money to be allocated. My principal will bring the request to the governing board for approval in early October. Once approved, I will be allowed to search the flyers again until I find a good deal and make the purchase.

Arg! These tools were on sale in August as we went back to school!

Oh well, I guess I should just think of it as shopping on someone else's dime!

Google App for Ed. Concerns

In the beginning, I was just happy when our pilot project was accepted. I didn't worry about the hurdles and all the hoops we would have to jump through. As the school year approaches, some of the things I had pushed aside are beginning to haunt me.

The head tech guy was very down on Google Apps. He cites legal concerns and says they are not reliable. I wonder if he has taken the time to really use them, I have always found them very reliable. Apparently the legal issues relate to student data on U.S. servers. Since I don't plan to have any data related to grading or personal info of the kids in Google Apps, I am not worrying. I hardly think the 10 year-old's zombie story is going to be a big concern.

The question I am wondering about is whether the technician will have set up Google Apps for Education for us or not. If not, I guess I'll have to figure out how. If I end up doing it myself, will he give me access to the school board domain? In the worst of cases, will he block the use to Google Apps at the last minute?

I guess only time will tell. Either way, I am determine to use Google Apps this coming year!

App Anxiety

As the school year approaches, I am beginning to realize how many details I may have left out of my technology infusion proposal. The document was 6 pages long but was full of pedagogical arguments to convince people that it was a good idea. It didn't necessarily detail the how-to aspects.

Today I am wondering about what apps will be loaded on the iPads and iPod Touches. Who will choose which ones, and on what basis? Will anyone contact me about what I want? I saw a tweet fly by on Twitter yesterday about someone who had iPads with a static image - no apps could be added onsite. They would not be updated until the end of the school year. The impact of this did not hit me until today. Surely we will be able to sync in order to get content off the iOS devices. Shouldn't we also be able to add apps? At least free ones?

I am sure that it will all work out. I think the anticipation of trying something new is just finding stuff to worry about.

I do hope we can add apps, though...

Technology Infusion Accepted!

I just got the news today that our proposal to pilot a varied approach to technology in the classroom has been approved. I am very happy, but also a little nervous.

It seems that the principal did not discuss the plan with my cycle team (the other grades three and four teachers). They were hoping for 1:1. I think they will come around, but I have a feeling that I will be jumping into a big support role as I return to school in October after my maternity leave.

I am also nevous because I have been teaching with 1:1 for so many years, it will be a big change. I think it will be a good thing though. I often had diffrent students using laptops for different tasks at one time. I think the new tools will be especially great for Daily 5!

Well, I proposed it, now I get to implement. I want to try to blog to document my process for the coming year.

Technology Infusion Proposal

My "Technology Infusion" Proposal

So, here is what I have proposed:

Per class of 24 students (pro-rated)
??Laptops (whatever leftover older machines we are allocated)
6 Netbooks
6 iPads
6 iPod Touch's
4 digital audio recorders
4 digital cameras.

Google Apps for Education so students can work on any machine interchangeably.

The reason I have set it up this way is that several machines cross-over and share jobs. I can send out the cameras, iPods, and even iPads to collect photos. Recorders, iPods and iPads can collect audio. Netbooks and iPads (and iPods in a pinch) can type and do web stuff. The iOS devices an run apps. I am convinced that, used properly, the iPad can be used to create great stuff, not just be a passive, viewing machine as some people suggest.

I think that, if the pilot project gets approved, I will be able to do some fantastic, creative projects with these tools. What's more, I hope that I can support other teachers in doing the same.

Fingers crossed!

Beyond 1:1 - A Scary Leap

I have been doing some thinking over the past several months about how technology can be integrated in my classroom in a meaningful way.

Our school board is in a transition period. We have had 1:1 laptops for seven years. The machines are getting old, and it is time to buy new ones. There is a push to replace the machines with mainly Netbooks at this point as they are so much less expensive. Since the transition was left too late, many machines need to be replaced at once and we cannot afford to replace all the laptops at once with new laptops. I pointed out that we would not be able to do the same kind of multi-media stuff with the Netbooks as with the laptops. I was told that most teachers use the machines for web-viewing and typing, so we can at least maintain that with the Netbooks, then look at buying more machines to try to move things further.

While I understand that there are financial constraints, I don't believe that we should be buying for the lowest common denominator. I think that there are other teachers like me who want to do more. I began thinking about the tools that I would want to be using with students. I considered whether 1:1 was perhaps less important than being able to really create some neat stuff. What if I could trade 2 Netbooks in for an iPad? I could probably do some cool stuff with a few iPod Touch's for similar prices to Netbooks. What about the peripheral tools we never think to buy?

So I came up with a "Technology Infusion" plan that I think would be a whole lot more creative and useful than 1:1 Netbooks. My principal thinks it is fantastic and is proposing it as a pilot project for our cycle 2 (grades 3-4) students. It is kind of scary - seven years of 1:1 is a long time, habits form - but I am excited.