Assignment+1

__**Article Summaries- Assignment #1**__
 * When exploring the use of iPads in the 21st Century classroom "change" and "potential" immediately come to the forefront. Change is inevitable as education makes a paradigm shift in order to truly engage technology native students in their learning. Embracing technology such as the iPad will help facilitate such change and offers great creative potential. The articles, __How Will the iPad Change Education?__ and __Measuring the iPad's Potential for Education,__ outline the changes educators will have to make and the limitless potential for technology use in the classroom.**
 * Both articles state that the use of iPads will revolutionize education. "The ipad is productive, convergent, mobile, affordable and community based." (PBS Teacher Line//, 2010, p.1 )// IPads allow students to learn in and out of the classroom as well as providing many functions such as internet use, iBooks etc. Ipads are affordable and allow teachers to connect with students and students to connect with others. Educators, students and analyists are interested in the interactive, applications that will provide** **mobility, as well as dynamic publications that include multimedia.**
 * As I strive to differentiate for the specific learning needs of my math intervention students, I am drawn to the potential technology has to offer, particularly the iPad. This of course requires a departure from traditional methods of sit and get teaching. My intervention sessions with students require me to deliver specific, targeted instruction in a short period of time with the hopes of "closing the gap" for my at-risk math learners. Bell-to-Bell instruction is a must and not always easy as students come from different classrooms. I feel the use of the iPad can help me begin instruction for each student in an immediate, targeted fashion. The multi-media capabilities of iPad Applications could provide real-world problem solving opportunities that my intervention students desperately need. These opportunities would help my students see the relevence of their math learning and understand that math is all around us! With the help of the App Store, I am excited to research applications that can help me deliver the kind of meaningful instruction that my intervention students deserve. Bring on Assignment #2!**

Reynolds, R. (2011, January 27). How will the iPad change education? In //PBS Teacherline//. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from [] and McCrea, B. (2010, January 27). Measuring the iPad's potential for education. In //The Journal//. Retrieved May 12, 2010, from []

__//**Five Ways Readers are using iPads in the classroom**//__ //**This article highlights five key uses for the ipad in today's classroom as documented by enews readers. The first use is in the Intervention/RTI arena. Gabriella Smith, fifth-grade teacher from Etna Elementary School uses many apps that are available to help students practice concepts that have not been mastered to improve understanding. These apps offer practice opportunities at a very engaging level as well as progress monitoring capabilities for students and teachers.**// //**Helping provide enrichment opportunities for gifted/talented students is a second use for the ipad in Smith's classroom. When Smith's gifted students are really challenged they must work harder to complete a task or project. The iPad helps facilitate this type of deeper level thinking through the use of web-based applications that truly engage her gifted learners at their level. Smith also uses the ipad to help monitor RtI groups. "Apps like Penultimate allow me to organize my RtI groups." (Five Ways Readers are using iPads in the Classroom, 2011, p. 2.) "An app called Teacher's Assistant helps my students on behavior plans mark their own progress as they meet their goals." (Five Ways Readers are using iPads in the Classroom, 2011, p. 3 )**// //**A third use for the iPad is in the area of Assistive Technology. Eva, an enews reader, uses the iPad to help one of her autistic students engage with his speech thereapist. "We love it so much that his mother, with the help of a therapist, wrote a mini-grant to one of the local organizations so that he could have one of his own." (Five Ways Readers are using iPads in the Classroom, 2011 p. 4)**// //**A fourth use for the iPad is to help students develop Digital Literacy. Students at Master's Academy in Oviedo, Fla. will each receive a school issued iPad next year. High school principal, Mitchel Salerno, hopes this will strengthen the skills that will be expected of students in college and in the workplace. "Kids have grown up their whole lives with computers, but they need to be taught how to harness the technology for education, says Salerno." (Five ways readers are using iPads in the classroom, 2011, p. 5) Beau Barrett, a teacher from Crestview Elementary School highlights the fifth use for iPads in the classroom - organizing resources and reading. "The way I create folders on my classroom iPad is by organizing them with a student focus in mind." (Five Ways Readers are using iPads in the Classroom, 2011, p. 7) Barrett creates a specific folder for each unit of study. The folder labeled "Earth" on his classroom iPad was created for small group work. The apps in the "Earth" folder are used to help his students find answers to questions. On the bar of the classroom iPad, Barrett places iBooks, Kindle and USA Today so students can easily access these resources for reading purposes.**//

eSchool News Staff. (2012). Five Ways Readers are using iPads in the Classroom. eSchool News, p.5. []

__//**Ipad More Than a Gadget**//__ __//**Education Professors research iPad use in K-12 clasrooms**//__
 * Wake Forest teachers-in-training are integrating iPads into their lesson plans and they don't feel daunted by the technology at all. If the lesson boosts student achievement and helps teachers be more productive, it is added to a "Best Practices Data Base" for all teachers to use. Education professor, Kristen Redington Bennet and her collegue, Adam Friedman, assocoiate professor of social studies education, are working to help make sure the iPad isn't just used as a new gadget, but that it "enhances the actual learning of content." They want to prepare a model that helps teachers use iPads more meaningfully in their classrooms. "At this time there is no teacher training that provides experience in developing instruction that integrates mobile technology devices." (iPad More Than a Gadget, 2010 p. 1) By creating a "Best Practices Data Base" as well as providing time for their teachers-in-training to research a wide variety of applications, they hope to bridge the gaps that remain in the school environment with regard to mobile technology devises.**

Roberts, A. (2010). iPad More Than a Gadget, Wake Forest News Center, p.1. []

__**//Mobile Learning: Not Just Laptops Anymore//**__


 * //This article clearly delineates the term "mobile learning device". It is not just laptop computers on mobile carts, but students carrying tablets, Smart Phones or other mobile devices that connect effortlessly to the internet. This change is causing a shift in educational technology. Mark Anderson of Strategic News Devices states that there are three categories of today's computing devices - the laptop, the carry along i.e iPads etc. and the mobile. (Mobile Learning: Not Just Laptops Anymore, 2011, p. )//**
 * //Smart Phones provide anytime, anywhere use and are more affordable than laptops. Students can use mobile devices to do homework on the bus or at a sibling's game or practice or get a quick answer to a question in the lunch line. Many schools that have given all students a mobile device have documented an increase in students turning in their homework assignments. Increases in classroom achievement have also been documented in these schools. One school in North Carolina gave every student a Smart Phone equipped with Algebra 1 content. This project called K-Nect, increased Algebra scores by 30%. As the use of mobile devices takes off, changing classroom pedagogy must be addressed. (Mobile Learning: Not Just Laptops Anymore, 2011, p. 8)//**
 * //Simply integrating moble devices into exsisiting curriculum is not enough. Strong curriculum must be built around the use of mobile devices. Ed Tech companies are also beginning to respond to the demand for more content on mobile devices. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt will release a Skills Tutor version of software for the iPhone and Ipad. There are many benefits for student use of mobile devices. More time can be spent on learning without more cost. Thus students can take more ownership of their learning as information is at their fingertips no matter where they are. Minuses include inability to compose longer dissertations and the fact that not all platforms are easily completed on mobile devices. Whichever way you look at it, today's students are technology natives and expect that technology is part of their learning process. Educators must be willing to make the changes necessary to facilitate the use of mobile devices as they guide their students and help them be prepared for their future educational endeavors and the workforce.//**

Natsu, J. (2011). Mobile Learning: Not Just Laptops Anymore, eSchool News, p.11. []

__**//IPads Take Place Next To Crayons in Kindergarten//**__
 * //This fall, kindergartners in Auburn, Maine will be provided with an iPad touch tablet to learn the basics af reading and math. Superintendant Tom Morill believes that the iPad and its applications provide a powerful education tool that can keep kids engaged in their learning. Kindergarten teachers in Auburn are impressed with the phonics, building words and letter recognition and formation apps, but believe the more training teachers have using these tools the better equipped they will be to enhance student learning and achievement. On the flipside, some parents feel kindergarten students are to young to receive the full benefit of these expensive tools. Some education professors say there is no evidence that computers in classrooms will improve student achievementt. Whatever the opinion, iPads and other mobile devices will be part of the future fabric of education.//**

Canfield, C. (2011). iPads Take Place Next to Crayons in Kindergarten, Associated Press, p.1. []

__**//Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad//**__
 * //The use of iPads in schools at all grade levels across the country has grown and many districts are providing them for all of their students. Districts adopting iPad use in their schools include Chicago, New Jersey, Virginia, San Francisco and Arizona. At Roslyn High School on Long Island, two humanities classes were given iPads to be used in class and at home in lieu of textbooks. Students use their iPad to correspond with their teachers as well as turn in papers and homework assignments. The district would like to preserve a digitial portfolio of students. Other uses for the iPad include Algebra iPad courses, studying maps, playing games and utilizing a multitude of educational applications. Many educators praise the physical attributes of the iPad including the large touch screen and flat, lightweight design which make it very mobile for students.//**
 * //The use of iPads in classrooms does not come without its critics. "There is very little evidence that kids learn more, faster or better b//****//y using these machines," says Larry Cuban, professor emetrius at Stanford University. (Math that moves: Schools Embrace the iPad, 2011, p.2) Some parents and scholors are concerned that schools are investing in iPads before research has proven their worth. Despite nay-sayers, use of technology such as the iPad will prove to be a very exciting as we strive to educate students in the 21st century.//**

Hu, W. (2011). Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad, New York Times, p. 2. []