Last week we took our first assessment (scored or graded) quiz on Socrative. Things went well. We had used the app several times, so the kids were comfortable with the software. I was comfortable with the software as we had no glitches thus far. This time I did not project the results on screen, just on my computer (see video clip below). I kept the quiz short, about 10 questions (8 multiple choice, and 2 short answer). Students logged in to my “room” (a number I gave out when prompted by the app). For this first try I made the quiz teacher-paced.
Students answered questions easily, and we finished in about 12 minutes. When it was over, I asked for some feedback. Most of the students said it was a positive experience-that they preferred this to a paper quiz.
The positives were:
1. Immediate feedback (at least on multiple choice)
2. Ease of use
The negatives were
1. Waiting on other students to finish a question
2. Typing on the iPad (a few students still hate it)
3. You can’t go back to a question and change your answer (rethink)
Only a few kids expressed the negatives. I could easily address #1 and #2. Next time I will make the quiz student-paced. I can also pull out a keyboard dock or two for my slowest typing students.
The quiz results were emailed to me in an Excel Spreadsheet (click on screen shot to enlarge). All answers are easily organized by student name (always the first question on the quiz). The only thing I had to do was count up correct multiple choice answers and grade written responses.
Socrative Quiz Results
Once I finished grading the quizzes, we reviewed the answers in class. I projected the spreadsheet (names hidden) and we discussed correct answers. I guess one final drawback is there was no piece of paper to hand back to the kids for them to study. Perhaps I could print something (as a pdf) for each and email it to them in the future?
Overall, I think this is a solid app for quizzing students–much easier to use and much more robust (typing) than using Senteo clicker systems or using student phones for Poll Everywhere.Check out the 1 minute video clip of my class using the app below. What do you think?
Two recent releases for the iPad2 just shifted my environmental science class a bit more towards being a paperless course. If you are here for the first time, note that I this is the second iPad pilot class I’ve run for my school-a travel-study course in Costa Rica this past summer and my current environmental science class. I had found plenty of apps that replace most tools in a student’s backpack (notebook paper, pens, calculator, etc…). But, the two pieces that were missing were apps to replace our printed texts and printed tests. Two weeks ago, I found those two pieces:
Paperless assessment: Socrative
Socrative is a FREE app that does a nice job allowing teachers to host quizzes or tests using iPads as “smart response systems.” I’ve tried to get eClicker and other “smart response” apps setup, but kept having issues connectivity. Socrative was simply and easy to set up. There is a teacher app (or you can run the assessments from a laptop) and a student response app. Last week I used the app for a preassessment quiz (formative assessment) on toxicity. It was a great tool for figuring out what my students already knew, and it also stimulated great discussionas we took the quiz. It was fabulous-no student could hide or had to wait (with hand raised) to be called on by me. My favorite feature is that Socrative puts the responses by student and question into an excel spreadsheet file and emails the results to you! So, I have yet to use the app for a graded (summative) quiz or test, but I can see the potential.
Paperless texts (digital texts): iBooks 2 for iPad
On January 19th, Apple launched the first interactive digital texts for high school/college students with the release of iBooks version 2.0.1. Until that day, I had issued a printed environmental science text with the iPad2 tablets early in the semester. My goal was to switch to the first truly digital text, Our Choice, for second semester. This innovative app/digital text was first released in April of 2011 and showcased in this 5 minute TedTalk by Mike Matas (Push Pop Press). The only issues I had with Our Choice was that it was not specifically written as a text for students, and that some students might consider it biased due to the book’s publisher, Al Gore. When Apple launched iBooks 2 recently, I decided to go with the environmental science text they offered (see Apple Store for more math and science options). While not as quite as interactive as Our Choice, the book is a decent first cut at a digital text for education. Students can easily manipulate chapters and pages and images. Vocabulary is hyperlinked to definitions. Students can highlight texts, and even type “sticky notes” within the pages. There are even multiple choice questions preloaded at the end of sections and chapters for kids to self-quiz. I can see how the second generation of these texts will quickly come closer to Our Choice (more embedded video content and interactive graphs).
So, what does all this mean for my class, my school, my profession, my planet?
*For my class, we are moving closer to having everything traditionally associated with a backpack inside an iPad2.
*For my school, this is one of several pilot projects at various grades to test the waters of a 1:1 tablet environment that is bound to arrive on our shores in the next few years.
*For my profession, I’m not sure….are we all bound to be slaves of Apple? Will other options appear soon? What do you think? I know there are already critics of the new digital texts. I think many of them are focusing on what the current version is, not what it can be. What is more powerful is that Apple release iBooks Author, and now teachers can become textbook publishers!
*For me, I am excited–particularly for our planet. Trees provide so many critical services for the planet like biodiversity, habitat, oxygen, carbon storage, soil protection, cooling….Why do we want to continue to ruin perfectly good trees by printing paper books?
We are about 12 weeks into the school year, and about 9 weeks into an iPad pilot with my environmental science students. I’ve been trying to shift to a paperless classroom, allowing students to use iPads as “digital backpacks” for all their school needs. Here are some highlights and Apps used thus far:
1. Productivity. The kids have been using GeeWhiz! to mange our suite of Google Docs applications. This seems to be going fairly smooth, but there are a few glitches (see collaboration below also). One glitch is students cannot open attachments from mail in Google Docs, so they have to do that in Apple’s Mail application. This app makes it easy for me to distribute the syllabus, project instructions, and supplemental notes. With the exception of tests, I have pretty much gotten rid of paper in this class for this semester!
2. Presentation. I’ve issued several “mini-projects” where kids have to prepare short presentations to help teach topics or review content. The students have used Keynote, Explain Everything, and Pages with little to no training to prepare 3-5 slide presentations that require some research. Here is a short post showing a student projecting from his iPad2 using an interactive whiteboard (Explain Everything). With a iPad VGA adaptor any student can hook up to the projector and share their work!
3. Publishing. One year-long project for this environmental science class is raised rainbow trout for release in a local stream. Students are taking turns writing updates using the WordPress app at our class blog. The WordPress app has been pretty easy to use, but we have been disappointed to learn that we cannot upload video taken with the iPad2 directly into a blog post authored on the iPad2. Maybe future updates of the apps will allow us to do more than just upload images and text. Since we use the tank to teach a 1st grade class on campus about stages of animal development, the blog is one way for that class to stay abreast of changes between their visits. Please check out the blog and give them a few more hits on their ClustrMap.
3. Collaboration. We’ve been using collaborative spreadsheets in Google Docs (via G-Whizz!) to enter water quality data and observations during a ten-week artificial ecosystem experiment. Unfortunately, the mobile version of the Google Spreadsheet is limited in that it only allows one member (has to designed “owner”) of the team to enter data from an iPad. Occasionally, for no obvious reason, the owner of the spreadsheet gets locked out on the iPad also! This does not seem to be an issue with the desktop version.
4. Science Stuff. I have been researching science apps all fall, and have amassed quite a list. Several folks have Google Docs lists going out there and are soliciting app recommendations via Twitter. I’ve only used a few thus far. First, we used the Owl Pellet Activity app from Carolina Biological Supply Company for background info/videos on the owl pellets were were dissecting. After the dissection activity, students used the iAnnotate PDF app to write up their lab findings and analysis questions. Second, we used the Google Earth app to examine the concept of “ecological islands” (fragmented and isolated habitats) within our school grounds and surrounding area. Third, we used the LeafSnap app to attempt to identify some native tree species on campus. This app uses facial recognition software to compare pictures of leaves taken by students to a known database (see below). Neat idea, but students really need some basic training on tree identification and leaf anatomy before using the app. Just like with a Google search, students are apt to go with the first few search results!
Student using LeafSnap to ID a tree
5. Assessment. Thus far, this is a fail for me. I’ve found eClicker and Clicker School apps that could give me the ability to use the iPads as interactive response devices and perhaps for formal assessment. I tried eClicker, but realized too late all iPads needed to be on the same wifi network. Since faculty have a separate wifi network from students, I need to drop to the student mobile network and try again. More on that subject later. If I can find a solid assessment app that lets me have individual student accounts, I might yet eliminate paper from my class.
Of course, I would love to hear from other teachers (esp. science types) on useful apps…
…I wanted to quiz the kids on biogeochemical cycles this week. I absentmindedly printed out a quiz for them to take. The day I gave them back, I caught one kid leaving the room without his quiz. When I asked him if he wanted it, he aked “where am I gonna keep that?” Good point. Gotta figure out some assessment options on the iPad soon.
So….I had this neat realization today in my environmental science class. Yeah, the one using iPad2 only-no paper except for tests (haven’t figured that one out just yet). So, I did have to do a little bit of lecture today. The topic was The Theory of Plate Tectonics. A review of how the Earth moves giant sheets of rock around, resulting in earthquakes and volcanoes. After about 10 minutes, I noticed no one was writing a thing down. They were actually focused and engaged on the information on the screen and my explanations of geological processes. Hands were going up ever so often. No one was looking down at the iPads. No one was taking notes. When class was over, everyone got up, walked to the whiteboard and took pictures of the notes on the board. It only took them four weeks…
So, last week we learned a little more about the tools on our iPads. I graded lab reports students turned in using iAnnotate PDF-they marked them up using the app, and I made corrections using the same app and emailed them back to the students. We also practiced taking pictures of notes on the board and embedding the images in a unit notebook in the Noteshelf app. Our presentations went better than I expect. Students easily built 5-slide presentations in Keynote (one chose Explain Everything) and then hooked up to our class projector to share what they learned about symbiotic relationships. I have yet to collect some written feedback, but I plan to survey the kids after this unit test. The only paper they will write on this first unit with the iPad is our unit test tomorrow. I have found a new app called eClicker, but I’ve yet to test it. There are a few apps that may allow for testing on the iPad, but I am not trying those yet. We’ve yet to really get the class blog cranked up, but that should start this week. One of the students will author a post about the progress on our rainbow trout rearing project.
Well, I’m trying to reflect on our first week with iPad2 tablets. My environmental science students were thrilled to get them last week. I have not handed out a piece of paper since them. Students have been managing course information in Google Docs/Calenar via the G-Whizz! app.
Since these high school seniors have grown up with writing with pencils on paper, writing in note taking apps or in iAnnotatePDF has been slow with just fingertips. Some kids are already mentioning they might want a stylus. Thus far, I’ve had kids try to take notes, read pdfs, annotate pdfs, and and use a science app about owl pellets to prepare for a owl pellet dissection.
This week, they are trying to build their first presentations using their choice of presentation apps (Keynote, Explain Everything, or Reply Note). Tomorrow they will project those presentations from their iPads through our classroom projector. After our first unit, I hope to gather and share some feedback from the students.
The day has finally arrived. Today, my environmental science class received their new “digital backpacks.” They were shocked and excited-they had no clue! We are three weeks into school. I’m excited to see what students can do with the tools, and how it might change how I teach the course. Part of my goal is attempt to run a paperless class. Tomorrow I’ll orient them to our class blog, and the WordPress blogging app.
iPad Orientation
I’ll post our final list of apps soon, as well as lessons learned throughout the 2011-12 school year. Stay tuned!
I was recently reading a post by Ian Jukes, 5 Important Things Tablets Can’t Do. Without you having to read the full post, here is the gist of the list:
1. Typing is not easy on a touch screen.
2. Apps need frequent updates to work well.
3. You cannot print.
4. Tablets do not enhance productivity since apps only do basic tasks.
5. Multimedia is limited (no Flash support for iPad).
After watching high school students work off iPads during a summer school course in Costa Rica, I have some rebuttals to these arguments: 1. While typing is not as easy as using a keyboard, it is easy to get around. When students work in Google Docs, they can save large amounts of typing for when they are back at a laptop or desktop. Some of the cost savings from buying tablets can easily be used for a few keyboard docks for students to use if needed. And, while anecdotal, I’ve noticed kids who send tons of texts everyday on tiny phone touch keyboards do not seem to have much problem with the much larger iPad touch keyboard! 2. While apps do have glitches, rarely do they shut down. After having worked on an iPad2 for 3 months now, I have not found OS updates and app updates to be a hassle. The App Store pushes updates daily, and they are easy to install. I have only had one occasion when an update reduced functionality briefly. 3. While printing has been an issue, things seem to be changing rapidly. Apple recently developed Airprint so iPads can print directly to compatible printers. As the tablet market grows, I think we are going to see this capability become ubiquitous. 4. Tablets do enhance productivity due to their portability, long battery life, and growing market of increasingly robust apps. I have found that toting a tablet is much easier than lugging around my laptop. I can take the tablet almost anywhere. My tablet makes it easy to check email, write blog posts, manage my to do list, view my calendar, take notes…With Google Docs and an app that lets me work on docs offline, I edit docs when I am away from my laptop and they sync up with ease. Furthermore, my iPad2 has over twice the battery life of my MacBook Pro! 5. Do I really need Flash? For now, I do not feel that I am missing a great deal without Flash. Of course, many science simulations run off Flash and that is a problem. Some developers are already developing apps to “work around” this limitation. When I see the rich library of video content available, or recent digital texts like Our Choice, I do not feel like I am missing a great deal at the moment. Who knows what will happen in the future?
I think part of the premise behind Mr. Jukes’ post is that we expect tablets to function just like or replace laptops. Should we? When I watch my students work on the tablets, I do not feel they are handicapped by the tablet. The iPad2 gives them an amazing platform on which to capture, create, and publish almost anywhere! I am trying to run an environmental science class off the devices this year. I wonder how I will feel at the end of year…
I just spent the morning with our IT Head, Matt Scully, picking apps to load into iPad2 tablets for my environmental science class for this school year. In a previous post, I likened this to packing a digital backpack. The iPad (and other tablets) provide so much functionality that you don’t just replace a notebook by using it, you replace what might have filled a backpack–pencils, markers, highlighters, erasers, notebooks, dictionary, calculator, textbooks…
We spent a lot of time talking about student workflow, and the tools that would help facilitate that workflow best. So, here is a list of tasks and apps we selected thus far (too many for me to link to each app, but you can find them all at iTunes):
