Intro Activity for the kids

I think this is what I will end up going with for an introductory activity.  It should allow me to accomplish pretty much what I need to do in the near future and give them some good exposure to the iPads.  If they can walk away from this activity and be able to find and navigate through apps then I will have accomplished what I needed.  I am also hoping to get some good Dropbox exposure which is primarily where I will have them save their work too.  Let me know what you think.

Using Socrative in your class

It looks like Socrative could be pretty handy to use in class. If you need to find the app, don't forget about using the search feature on the iPad. After you have set up your account, you should be able to start setting up your quizzes.



When you have entered the app, you can start tweaking some of the features. The My Room Number is pretty important since you will be sharing this with the students. The good news is you can change your room number. You can also clear the room and select different quizzes on this screen. If you click on MY PROFILE and it will take you to a number of other options.




On this screen you can change the room number and change your password if you want.

Back on the previous screen you can make your single question or multi-question quizzes.

But perhaps the greatest feature is that you can make your own quizzes in MS Excel. There isn't a way to do it on the iPad that I have found yet BUT it was very easy to do on the computer. I navigated to their website, www.socrative.com, and logged in. Under their manage quiz section, you are able to find the excel template under the import quiz section.



I was able to save the template and I plan to make a bunch of quizzes and upload them at a later date. That way I can keep copies of the quizzes and modify them at a later date if I want to make changes.


That's all for now.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Eliminating potential discipline problems with iPads

My team and I discussed the best way to reduce or eliminate student created problems from the iPads.  We decided that by assigning students their own iPad (we added a number on the back of each iPad) for the duration of the year, we would be able to more efficiently backtrack any problems. 

I created a signout sheet from my class lists and I plan on posting it in the beginning of the class before the kids take the iPads.  I also am not letting the kids plug the iPads back in to the chargers - I would hate for any of the pins to break.  They also don't need to be plugged in everytime they get replaced into the cabinet so I am really just saving myself some time.  I am trying to get a couple of days (at least) out of iPads before we plug them back in to charge.

I am planning on starting to post some documents and resources on my website.  If you are interested, you can check there later this week.

Saving to Dropbox

So this seems to be a topic of interest during today's presentation so I thought I would make a step by step in case we have questions later.

So...I have found some pictures and added them to my camera roll. If I would like to add these to a folder in Dropbox for students to access in class. In order to do that, I will need to go through these steps.

Open Dropbox

Make sure that I am logged into the shared high school account.



The default home screen will have the teacher folders listed. Please remember that this is a shared account. KIDS CAN ADD AND DELETE FILES so you might want to explain to them that this is a shared resource. Once something is deleted - it is gone...or needs to be reloaded.

If I needed to upload a picture, l would select the third button on the lower left hand menu.


The window in the left will open and prompt you for access to the camera roll. Once you allow this, it will allow you to upload photos. When you are ready, click the plus.



Select each of the images you want uploaded. If you wish to change your folder, click on the choose an upload destination (bottom of page) and click upload.

Hope this helps.......

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

First week blues...

Our team has been anxiously awaiting the iPads and are thrilled that we can now use them.  Now we are faced with trying to make the most out of what we have and get the greatest benefit for our students. 
One of our first hurdles was avoiding conflicts - an easy solution was  shared calendar which allows us to coordinate with each other.
The next hurdle was more complicated.  After a few days of student use, I noticed that, as usual, the kids are great at pushing boundaries...it's what they do best.
So I started to think that perhaps the best way to deal with this is to establish some ground rules.
First off, I would make sure that the kids understand how to logout of twitter. If you open settings and swipe down and click on Twitter. In the right hand column, you will see the list of accounts that are logged in.




Click on the account and in the bottom of the right hand window you will see a choice to delete the account on the iPad.




You might also want to have the students check the photo library before they finish for the day. If they have taken any photos, they should probably delete these so they don't give people personal images which could be used in appropriately.
Kids might also decide that they would like to set a new background or lock screen image. This can be reset in the settings as well under brightness and wallpaper.




Click wallpaper twice and select the new wallpaper you would like to set.




You can then set both the lock screen and the wallpaper simultaneously. The button to set this is located in the upper right corner.



That's all for now.

Do I really need to set everything back up again???

So the question of the day was "Do I need to set everything back up again after the district restored (repaired) my iPad?"

Sadly, the answer is yes. Basically, the district is resetting (restoring) the iPad to their district image. Any customization that you have done...setting up our email, iMessage, reorganizing your apps, or adding apps from your own personal iTunes account are wiped off and it is if the iPad is just out of the box again. You will probably need to set your pass code again too.

The good news is that if anything happens to the apps on your iPad then it is a simple restore for the district and you are on your feet again.

Other minor questions for the day include how to move apps or clean up the home screen. All your need to do is hold down any app on your screen. When it begins to shake then you can press on any app and drag it to a folder or the edge off screen and move it to a different home screen. I typically put apps I won't be using often into folders (especially since I can't delete them).


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Setting up Imessage

Today's post is on setting up iMessage. 

Go back to your settings app and select Messages (left column about half way down).  You will need to enter an Apple ID - this can be your own personal account and sign in.  You will be shown which emails (and possibly phone numbers) will be linked to iMessage.  If you have some personal emails or phone numbers that you don't want linked to your work iPad...feel free to uncheck those.  If you want to add your work email, click on the "send and receive" choice and add another email (I am using my school email).  You will be prompted for your Apple ID password.  Once this is verified, you will be sent an email to the account you are adding...click on the verify link and you will be prompted once more to enter your Apple ID and password. 

Note: There is a small chance that you will you open Message in settings that you will forced to readd your new email.  Once this has been done, you should be all set.

Enjoy iMessages.