Tool #8: Taking a Look at the Tools

I know I am very late in posting this as it's the end of the year but the 11 Tools took a backseat in everything that went on this year. Interestingly enough, I used most of them during the year. I had seen many of them in college in my technology class. Although, I didn't know I could sync the iPad to my computer - I wish I had known that! Oh well, now I know for next year...

Seeing the videos was a good conclusion to everything that went on. Although, watching the videos at the beginning of the year would have been great! For example, I discovered pretty late in the year that I could connect the Netbooks to the ActivBoard. Sometimes I needed to use the computer but I couldn't because the kids were using the ActivBoard or watching a video and I was limited.

The iPads were pretty easy to use. The kids knew a lot more than me and they showed me the ins and outs and all the little tricks. They are naturals! Using them in the classroom was a huge privilege. We usually only used them for research. I found some nice educational games browsing through the app store. The kids would complain because I wouldn't allow them to download anything that wasn't educational. Oh, how they moaned and groaned about that! It was beautiful ;)

I did have strict rules concerning the iPads and netbooks. They knew that they were only to use them for the task presented to them. If they deviated from that, they lost the privilege. There were times when I had to do just that. They got better after the first few times. They got over the excitement of using technology and realized that they could be taken away.


11 Tools for the 21st Century Learner: Tool #8: Taking a Look at the Tools: … Learning about the classroom devices By the Fall of 2012, every classroom in Spring Branch will have classroom-based devices. The curre...