The Challenges

Now we are into Week 7 of our BYOD journey we have ironed out many teething issues and have learnt a lot from each other along the way (I'm arguing who has learnt the most, me or the kids).  However as usual with most technologies interacting with each other there are a few challenging issues we are yet to overcome - currently looking for assistance/advice so feel free to lend a voice.

• Google Drive App VS Drive via Google Chrome
• Drive App supports easy editing, easy sharing, easy viewing etc
• Drive App does not support text to speak (built in iPad function) or spell check
• Drive via Chrome supports text to speak & spell check
• Drive via Chrome is a bit trickier to share and edit docs especially when collaborating live.

• Blogger App and via Browser
• App doesn't allow for easy addition and resizing of images. (Must change default size in settings)
• Browser often freezes when commenting (keyboard freezes) &  deletes comment drafts.

• iPad and Ultranet
• There seems to be a few issues with editing content using the iPad.  This should be solved shortly thou as we had no problem doing the same last year using school iPads.

• Sharing content (teacher-students & student-student)
• Ultranet has been great for teacher uploading and student downloading.
• Hapara dashboard is a godsend for keeping track or students google docs.  Some choose to write in their books this week - I forgot how time consuming marking these is!
• How to share photos, videos, projects etc
• Emailing can get overwhelming to manage.
• Yes we could upload to drive - but are they still editable then? & are all file formats compatible?
• Thinking a class dropbox account might be the go here. That way we can retrieve when required etc.  Any thoughts on this?
• Anyone used Showbie App?  Looks like this could work also and allows for ongoing commenting (text and sound) to be linked to each file.  Appears to be only between teacher and student however.

Off to do some more goggling !   "Google three before me" - Thanks Kate @ Bamford for my new favourite saying.

The Unexpected

WOW! I am overwhelmed with how easily and enthusiastically these learners have taken to digital learning. The things I have been amazed with the most are not the things that I planned or expected (although these things have gone well also). The things that have given me the "wow" moments are the things that my learners have done on their own accord as a result of having ongoing access to their iPad device.

• Timers - simple but so useful.  Reading for 20minutes has never been so accurate.  Seeing this tool spread throughout the class with no input from me has made we really believe that these learners can manage their own learning if they just have the tools to do so.  No more reading reminders! They simply see they need to read and before I know it, its done.

• Before School Learning.  Gone are the days where my learners arrive at 8.30 and head straight out to play.  I now have a classroom full of learners who check their emails, read the notices, check what their Must Do learning tasks are for the day and get started with their learning.  Yes thats right - GET STARTED - BEFORE THE BELL.  The flipped classroom approach has helped immensely here as learners can learn without the need for the teacher telling them where to start.

• Wanting to Write - no this is not a typo!   Our first blog posts were written in record time and I struggled to get children to head out for lunch as they wanted to keep writing!  Yes we still use our books just not all of the time.  These are becoming more of a planning and note space so we can have them on hold when we type. This week many learners discovered how to share a google doc with a buddy so they could both work on it from opposite sides of the classroom.  They are still working together but have time to both contribute before they discuss their ideas in person.  Text to Speak and spell check are allowing children to have full control over their writing while the comment feature in docs and teacher dashboard allows me to quickly leave feedback and next learning steps.

There have been far more WOW moments than this!  More in time, off to plan some more learning as they are getting through it so fast. In the meantime these are some shots from before the morning bell.

The fun has started

6 days in to the new school year and what an absolutely brilliant start !  The children have been amazing and are really thriving in this environment.  Room 1 is just a buzz every morning as learners check their email, read the notice and begin learning - yes begin learning - before the bell!

We experienced a minor authentication issue with the wireless where children needed to re authenticate as soon as their iPad went to sleep. This meant they where needing to do this numerous times throughout the day.  With help from Ruckus Wireless this issues seems to have been resolved.  Besides this we haven't really had any issues, we have learnt that viewing and editing some google spreadsheets are quite different on the iPad than a PC/Mac but once someone is in the know it doesn't take long for tips to spread.

A lot of learning time has been allocated to slowly introduce different apps and features, i.e: email, calendar, google drive etc.  I have found the fastest and easiest way for introducing something new is to model (using Apple TV) and as soon as a couple have caught on ask them to show a neighbour.  This has proved far more successful than me attempting to get everyone on the same page at the same time.  When it comes to different apps, I set an initial task of creating a presentation "About Me" to introduce the themselves to the class.  Enthusiasm was huge from start to end with learners finishing days before the due date (apparently it was fun to do it at home - no way!).  The peer teaching was a huge aspect and i found myself redundant.  I am excited about using this extra time for quality 1 on 1 or small group teaching in the future.  The standard of work was high and many produced presentations using skills and functions that i had never used before just from exploring and helping each other.

A lot of time spent on digital citizenship also as i believe it is highly important for these learners to create a positive and respectful digital footprint right from the word go!  More on this later.

This week is all about using google docs and blogging.  Check out our classroom below