Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Not 1:1? There's still hope in implementing iPads


Notes from Session at iPadpalooza 
#iPlza13

Presenter: Sandy Kendell, Educational Technology Specialist, Georgetown ISD

Session  Description: iPad infused and enriched teaching and learning can take place even if you can’t put an iPad into the hands of every teacher and student in your school. Kim and Sandy will share the organization and outcomes of various iPad implementation models that were piloted at campuses across Georgetown ISD during the 2012-2013 school year, including how we planned, provided professional development, managed iPads and iTunes accounts, and lessons learned from our experiences.

Session Website:

Resource Documents: 

Lessons Learned:

1. PD is necessary
·         Even for basics

2. iPads are hard to share - but it's doable
·         Think about how you are going to get images and files off the iPad.
·         Will you be using email, dropbox, etc?

3. Teachers need their own iPads
·         They need one they can experiment with and use personally.
·         They have to get used to the technology first and learn how to adapt it for themselves.

4. Follow up with teachers frequently
·         Plan for time to talk with the teachers and not just by phone

5. Space out implementations

6. Consistent iPad names are critical
·         If you haven't thought about a naming convention, you need to

7. Apple IDs can be messy
·         Teachers have an apple ID through their district email account.
·         Teachers can't use a personal apple ID on a district device.
·         Reason: If apps are purchased by the district, then they would be lost if downloaded on a personal account.

8. Think through distribution and pick-up

9. Clearly communicate the Why and the How

10. Major iOS updates are never convenient


Stages of Implementation at Georgetown ISD:

#1: Title I Schools
·         Each school gets 13 iPads each
·         Focused on reading and math intervention students and those were the teachers that were trained
·         This is where the first pd came in; 6 hours total; first 3 hours on basics
·         The team went out to see what the teachers were already doing in the classroom first
·         They picked some basic apps to set up on ipads for them
·         The teachers did not have their own ipad (they shared) and they were using their own personal apple id's

#2 Various Schools Purchase Small Sets
·         Usually between 5 to 15 iPads
·         Started with elementariness and middle schools

#3 An iPad for Every Teacher
·         The team met face to face with each teacher for at least an hour to show basics
·         All other training is online
·         If teacher is not comfortable with online, they could request face to face training
·         They don't have any carts to manage the iPads at the campus level
·         iPads must be dedicated and teacher must have dependable access to them

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