GO C A N A D A!

Congratulations to the Canadian Women's National Soccer team on securing a birth in the 2012 London Olympics.  Way to go!

Post technology reflections

WOW! What a week of i-exploring we've had! How has this learning experience been for you? In what ways has technology helped you explore some of our essential questions in socials studies? What frustrations have you encountered along the way? How did what you experience match (or not) with what you had anticipated about using technology in our class? Please complete a second PMI reflection about your experience and post it as a comment on our blog.

Here are some other general comments you made about the Positives, Minuses, and Interestings

P - interactive, easy to use search system to find apps,I thought it was a great way of learning. It was really fun and a great experience. I think we could use these in other classes as well,a great way of accumulating knowledge and displaying it as well, using the iPad for class experience was really putting it to the test to how an iPad used for recreational purposes most of the time can be used for education through apps, saves a lot of time, doesn't take long to operate, you could be very creative on the iPad, easy to share info with other classmates and see what others came up with for their presentations, I can create anything I desire,

M - the apps aren't very specific to certain Socials topics, no Flash, it freezes a lot when
Everyone is trying to email/blog at the same time, you can not save some things on the iPad and some apps you can not email, sometimes it can be hard to transfer something from one place to another, frustrating when all the work gets deleted, limited as to what apps you can use, not all apps let you save work and some work doesn't actually get saved or could be deleted by other people if not careful, not worth the money-just use lap tops (gets work done faster and better), can't refund bad apps, quite fragile, limited time to use them, takes time and effort to learn how to use all the functions,

I - easier and a different way to learn instead of using worksheets, taking notes, etc,
Different types of apps, Google earth!, animation apps, the school isn't ready for new technology, they are most useful for research, getting textbooks on the iPads, I like the independence, you can do almost anything on the iPad, there were so many ways to visualize the project such as making a mind map, making a quiz, or making an animation,

Block Rotation tomorrow - TUESDAY

Just a reminder that block occurs tomorrow - Tuesday the 24th .
 This means it will be

Block 1.3, then 1..4, then break, then 1.1 then 1.2.

 See you then

Wikipedia

Imagine a world . . .

After day one . . . iexplore

Whew! What an exciting day exploring the use of iPads in our learning. It wasn't without a few hiccups, but overall, most of you felt really excited and engaged in your learning during class. Here's just a sample of the feedback you provided in your PMI on iPads in the classroom.

P (positive)
trying out the apps
It was really easy and fun to use
It is intellectual and features useful apps that can help us study
You can have access to the Internet for any question you may have
The iPad itself was great-easy to use, fast, has lots of useful tools
Lots of colors, pictures, and shapes
Website and Internet speed was satisfactory-excellent; faster Internet speed than the
computers at school
Using the iPad itself was great. It was fun and there was some really good information
that could be found
Easier to learn about historical events
It was fun to use because we don't do this often, or at all
There's a lot of interesting apps we can use to create projects
Intuitive OS
Good resolution
Lots of apps to explore and use
It was a good way for alternative learning

M (minus)
Not enough time in class to check out all the apps I wanted to
Some apps were slow to download
It can be distracting
Some apps are pointless and don't relate to socials
There's no background information before we get into the app
iPad occasionally crashed; the app store wouldn't let me click on any apps
The screen was not really clean
App searching is annoying
It wasn't as great as I had hoped
Couldn't find any apps that helped
Not all the apps i wanted to check out were working
There are some apps that are fun, but not good for learning
Some apps were pricey

I (interesting)
Learning shortcuts, like the four finger swipe or closing an app
I learned how to search in the app store
There's so much to use, and so many different things you can do, and different ways to do them
Can learn history without having to write it down
The app I found didn't teach me anything but it could be used for learning
I got to use an electronic iPad in class and the teacher allowed it
It was interesting to just use the iPads in class. I'm excited to see how this will work
Lots of functions on the iPad
I thought it was cool because it was so fast and resourceful

Thank you for your honest feed back. I'm looking forward to next class . . . icreate!

Tackling technology

Here we go . . .our journey into technology will begin shortly! It is a very exciting, and somewhat scary, adventure. Sometimes . . . I get a good feeling!

Here is what some of you think about using technology and how it may help you in class . . . we'll see.

research done immediately, in class

easier to research multiple things at a way faster speed

learning how to find and assess good resources on the internet

view any notes or information found in class, at home

apps to make things interesting

we can visualize certain events and watch short clips

more hands on learning

it can help me learn in different ways; visual and interactive learning styles

I can get a definite answer to my questions

it can help me verify anything I am not clear about (although the teacher can as well :))

notes will take less space and be less messy: be faster and more organized

find cool websites or apps

getting different types of media (music, videos, pictures, etc)

it is easier to learn when  you're having fun and technology is more fun than a textbook

playing games makes you want to know the answers

learn things faster

greater depth of understanding

access to more, specific information