Monday, January 28, 2019

Initial Testing & Results of Apple's Shared iPad Feature

A while back Apple announced a new feature called Shared iPad. This creates the ability for multiple students to share a single iPad yet have their own personalized environment on the it by logging in individually. When doing so students can each have their own content in the camera roll, different tabs open in the web browser, and unique content created in apps such as Book Creator or iMovie. Being able to share an iPad between multiple students yet individually store each students’ personal content allows us to use the full features of the iPad and have the time savings and efficiencies without the headache and hassle of helping  young students remember and enter usernames and passwords, plus the cost savings of not needing to buy a device for each student. 

 Recently we began testing this out in two first grade classrooms. (Starting in fourth through grade 12 each student is assigned her/his own iPad.) Using Shared iPad the teachers assign three to four students to an iPad. Students see their name and initials on the lock screen as pictured above. The teachers also added a photo of a different animal to the back of each iPad case for quicker identification. Students simply grab the correct iPad, tap their name, and after a few seconds their home screen appears with the apps and their screen background, personal camera roll and other content. 

After just over a week using it we saw some of the first grade students create multiple eBooks using Book Creator as pictured. The iPad remembers the websites and login information between uses and users so students (or the teacher) only has to log in to the Google Docs app, Schoology app, their iCloud account, etc. one time. This is a huge time saver and makes these tools much more likely to be used--the time it takes a kindergartner to log in and out of any of their accounts on a device prior to using Shared iPad was so labor intensive for a whole class that teachers simply didn’t have students do this. Now it’s automatically taken care of and they can take advantage of the extra time to have students use these personalized tools.

We use JAMF as our mobile device management system. Here is a video showing how Shared iPad works with JAMF. Initially we tested this on 32GB iPad Gen 6s, the newest iPads available. Login time was consistently less than 10 seconds. Since the storage space has to be shared by four students and the Shared iPad program and iOS takes takes up 16GB this only leaves each student with about 3.5GB of space which is not much room for many apps. We anticipate this not being enough space per user so in the second classroom we are testing Shared iPad on 64GB iPad Air 2s, which leaves about 7 GB per user. However, so far we have noticed that the login time takes about twice as long on the older iPads. We have heard from some reports that login time increases the longer the iPad is shared, so we will watch that carefully. 

 One other unforeseen issue the teachers realized once we started is that their options for grouping students are constrained by having three to four students assigned to a specific iPad. For example, during station rotation when the task requires the iPad to be used by individuals, the students assigned to the same iPad cannot be placed in the same group with one another. This creates some extra work for the teacher has to be more selective about how to group students ahead of time.

In the coming weeks we’ll have also the teachers try using Apple Classroom to manage, view, and push apps and content to the iPads as shown in this video to see how well these features work before we decide whether or not to expand the use of this tool. If you have experience using Shared iPad already, let me know.

Related Posts:
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , ,

Monday, January 21, 2019

Fourth Grade Student-led Virtual Field Trips with Google Tour Creator


A couple months ago I wrote about Fifth Graders Creating AR/VR Experiences to Enhance Learning in an after school club led by Joy Curran, Minnewashta Elementary Advanced Learning Coordinator. Recently these opportunities for students have expanded beyond the club to all grade four Spanish immersion social studies students. Teachers are very excited about further possibilities.

Fourth grade teacher Carolyn Suarez attended a social studies conference a few months ago and was excited to incorporate more virtual field trip experiences for her students. First, teachers started with Google Expeditions, exploring places around the world. If you haven’t seen this master list of over 900 Google VR Expeditions, take a look. There is now a second tab with over 100 AR Experiences, too. Here are some instructions for using Google Expeditions with iPads.

When the fourth grade teachers talked with Joy and heard that they could have students create their own tours they were even more excited. Students used Google Tour Creator as they were researching a Spanish speaking country. The teachers laid out the framework of the project, such as including the country’s flag and a stop at the capital city and include facts about each site shown on the tour. Students were very engaged and created some great tours, learning how to use the program and even add in additional embedded photos such as a dolphin jumping in the water within a beach scene. They even were able to use Merge VR Goggles and refurbished smartphones to view on another’s tours, too.

The teachers explained that this was a good way to get started with VR. Students were very motivated and some even continued to work on their projects at home. The teachers are anxious to try other more extensive projects, such as having the students include audio narration as well as use other VR/AR tools such as CoSpacesEdu with Merge Cubes. They plan to give students more voice and choice in future projects and will be including the option to create a VR/AR project for upcoming assignments. They also received some grant money to purchase more refurbished phones. It will be fun to see what the students create next!


Related posts:
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , ,

Monday, January 14, 2019

Minnetonka High School Students Design Apps in Introduction to Computer Science


Last week I was able to see five student groups present their app prototypes during their Introduction to Computer Science class at Minnetonka High School. It was fun to see the creative ideas they came up with as solutions to problems and needs for other students--including apps to deliver food to apps, apps to learn content like trivia and math facts, and an app to help new students navigate around the building. Intro to Computer Science is a semester long course offered at our high school either in person or online in the summer. The face to face class meets in The Loft, a beautifully newly remodeled space just opened up this school year.

Instructor Nick Bahr explained that students had two weeks for this app development unit. They use Code.org’s App Lab for the curriculum lessons and program to develop their prototypes. Students chose to work individually or in groups and began by selecting the need or problem for which to create an app. They did market research looking at existing products and brainstormed ideas for a possible app, working out prototypes first on paper that were shown to others to gather feedback. Then they built their app prototype, testing it out and debugging it along the way. Students also then solicited feedback from peers and/or individuals who would be potential users of their creation. At the end, they created a presentation about this whole process and gave this presentation to their classmates on the day I was there. They also reflected on their work with one another and answered questions from classmates.  

One example of this project and presentation is embedded above. Calista, Ella, and Angelina did an excellent job of describing each step of their process in their presentation. You can view their math facts app for elementary students called Math Popper, complete with 45 different screens and an interactive game at the end. The Trivia app created was called Turbo Falso. The two apps to order food from the school cafe (called The Cove) are B.A.B.A. and Cove Delivery. Finally,  Freshy Maps is the app to help newcomers at the school find their way around the building.

On the presentation slides for the B.A.B.A. app (Bread Acquisition Banana Associates), the students wrote the following comments in the notes section of the slides which give you more insight not only into their thought process but also how much learning took place for this project:

Market Research:
It’s pretty clear that there is no such system to deliver any food between classrooms, so the thought just inspired us to cook up such an idea, like an indoor delivery service. We discovered that it isn’t quite common to do something like it, and it would be a somewhat unique idea

Paper Prototype:
This is our paper prototype for our app. It starts with a screen that you enter in your school lunch pin and a room number. Then you are taken to the menu where you can select certain items and order them. This takes down your balance and if your balance goes below 0 after ordering something you are taken to the insufficient funds screen where you can add more to your balance or sign out. Otherwise if your balance is not below 0 you will be taken to the order success screen after ordering which would send us/the cove an email saying what has been ordered and you can continue on to the delivery time screen where it tells you if you delivery has been sent an how much time it will take for your delivery to arrive.

Digital Screen Designs:
All of us had to come with a design and order, then came together making our own individual screens and combining them together, making somewhat of a quilt of different art styles We had to make some adaptations to our screens and how they are ordered from our paper prototype, such as having to remove the email and time to delivery screen due to complications with coding them. In addition, we decided to make the insufficient funds and add to balance screens separate in order to allow for people without a negative balance to add funds to their account from the menu screen by clicking the Add to Funds button. Also we added to the menu screen by making it so that if you clicked the checkbox it shows an image of the selected food item.

User Feedback:
When we showed our app to others, people thought it would be helpful. One person said that he gets hungry during the day, but doesn’t want to leave class or get a tardy from trying to get to the cove and our app would fit that need perfectly. Even though he liked the concepts, he said that we should change the color and font because they were ugly.

Future Work:
A theme to sum this all up, is to give actual access to the school accounts, and the power to change the money of the students

Reflections:
What was hard? Getting the work done on time was a bit challenging. Keeping all group members on topic and focusing on producing the best work and making a functioning app that serves its intended purpose.
What we did to get around it? We, as a group used strong communication with each other to relay ideas and what works to each other. We also had good group chemistry so we could pull together to overcome anything one of us may have struggled with.
What We Learned? We learned programming in JavaScript. We learned that it is relatively easy with blocks, but importantly, we learned what the order of certain functions in JavaScript need to look like in order to work. A lot of times the program just follows a pattern and unlike humans follow exactly what you tell it.
What Is the next step? The next step is to (with permission granted) expand the Baba app to have more that just our id numbers, so having everyone in the school. All this would require is to add more lines of code for specific numbers, or a range of them.

More about this class
As described in the course catalog, the course takes a wide lens on computer science by covering topics such as programming, physical computing, HTML/CSS, and data. The course inspires students as they build their own websites, apps, games, and physical computing devices. The course focuses heavily on problem solving, web development, and JavaScript programming. The programming unit consists of an animations and games unit, as well as a final unit focusing on app development. Students will gain the necessary skills and knowledge to continue their computer science studies regardless of the path the student decides to take.

To learn more about coding in Minnetonka K-12, please see some of the related posts listed below:
      Posted by at No comments:
      Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

      Monday, January 7, 2019

      40+ Ideas for Coding Across the Curriculum in Middle School: Math, Band, Language Arts, Science, Spanish & More

      Back in December our elementary schools tracked over 7,300 hours of coding for the International Hour of Code. Our middle schools students also did a lot of coding in a wide variety of classes, too. Below is a list of the projects and work students at both of our middle schools did. Lisa Reed, middle school coding coach, asked teachers to post a short summary and some photos. Note that each of these listed below is in addition to the activities students did within specific coding classes like technology education, STEM classes, and elective coding courses:
      1. My 7th grade life science classes created mitosis animations using Scratch. For most of them this was their first time using the Scratch platform. They found it challenging, but fun!
      2. My LA classes did a shield design code activity. It enhanced their understanding of character traits related to their own family.  
      3. My Math 6 and Pre Alg 6 students worked on Khan Academy using JavaScript to create a drawing. I challenged them to “Meet or Beat the Teacher.” 
      4. My 7th grade Pre-Algebra class used Spheros to test different speeds and distances!
      5. My 6th Grade Comp Math class used the Sphero bots to compete in a 100cm Dash. They needed to use coding and subtraction of fractions and mixed numbers to get to exactly 100 cm. Once they completed this task they were tasked with creating code to maneuver the bots around the perimeter of the classroom without hitting any desks or chairs. 
      6. 8th Grade Global Studies used the Flag Coding on Grok Learning.  Students were able to do basic coding to create world flags and also had a chance to create their own.  Some students even continued to work on it over break! 
      7. 7th Grade Science students did an hour of code before break. I introduced it with talking about how coding relates to their lives whether they pursue science and coding directly or not, showed them a video about the Hour of Code and then gave them 4 choices of which coding apps to explore. Flappy bird was the favorite with many students. 
      8. The 6th grade science students were able to pick the lesson based on their comfort level. We encouraged type coding with Karel the Dog and Khan Academy lessons in web development and Javascript. Students also really enjoyed the lesson 'Code Machine' in Swift Playground. 
      9. My Comp math students did Learn to Code with Swift Playgrounds.  They enjoyed their time coding! We discussed how it relates to math and their daily lives! 
      10. My Pre-Algebra students explored the linear relationship between time, distance, and speed with the Spheros! It was a fun learning experience for all!
      11. My global studies classes at MMW are coding the flags of the world today! So far the students are enjoying the challenge and seeing different flags from countries around the world. 
      12. In Advisory, we did a quick tutorial on how to make a Pong Game. It was frustrating that students moaned and groaned when they learned they'd be coding, but I think that's because it's always so challenging! This tutorial had nice, easy, step by step instructions with many things being customizable, and after 26 minutes, several students commented how fun that was!
      13. In Comp Math, students were able to explore several different coding apps including swift playground, Tynker, and hopscotch. We talked about how coding relates to math and how they might use this in the future.
      14. My Global Studies classes coded “Flags of the World” with Grok Learning.  Not only was it fun to see flags from around the world, but it was a challenge to create the designs with code.  Students loved it.  They coded some common flags then designed their own! 
      15. For one day in math class we worked through the Khan Academy lesson on coding.  Students designed a snowman using Javascript.  They learned how to draw ellipses, rectangles and lines and to color it in and to make it move.  They felt very professional using Javascript.
      16. This week I did painting with Spheros for my hour of code. It was a lot of fun! In Social Skills we discuss a lot about the Zones of Regulation. Students needed to create a painting representing their zone by using the app to move the Sphero through the paint. The other activity we did was mini golf using the awesome course that the Hub Club created! It took a lot of collaboration and teamwork.
      17. Students used Scratch in Spanish to make short animations in Spanish related to the book we are reading in Spanish Immersion Culture.  There were varying skill levels and the more experienced students were great about helping others.
      18. My 6th grade students completed the online coding activity called "Karol the dog" and then had a choice of which coding activity they wanted to complete from code.org.
      19. My 7th grade students coded stop motion videos through BrainPOP to show their knowledge of organisms, cells, and chromosomes.
      20. Students in my science classes will spend two days on coding activities. Day 1: Choice of Swift Playground Code Machine, Microsoft Minecraft, or Tynker.  Day 2:  Olympic curling with the Sphero
      21. Today my class is working on solving a Breakout EDU using code. Although this is an unplugged activity, it will help to introduce how coding can be used in situations other than technology. We will also be working with Spheros tomorrow and completing our hour of code on Friday with The Incredible Code Machine challenge in Swift 
      22. Today we celebrated Code Week by creating solar system models using a Tynker Hour of Code tutorial! Students set initial positions of planets, then used loops to move planets in orbital patterns.  They followed up by setting the program to pop up the name of the planet when a user touched the planet.
      23. 6th graders programmed Spheros to communicate secret messages using Morse code!!
      24. In 6th Grade Language Arts my students spent time exploring and coding with the Tynker app!
      25. In 6th grade science, my students focussed on Javascript and HTML programming!
      26. Thursday in Global Studies we coded flags of the world through Grok Learning. Students successfully coded the flag of Libya and some attempted harder designs like Ukraine and the Bahamas.  They caught on pretty quickly and I even learned how to code.  Super fun! 
      27. My 7th grade science students participated in the Hour of Code. Students were tasked with making their own popular app games. Students created and made their own twists on Flappy Bird and Crossy Road!
      28. We're doing hour of code today in 6th grade science. Students were able to pick from a list of code options based on their skill level. The intro is Karel the Dog, intermediate is Java with Khan Academy, and some students were beyond these options and worked on their own projects.
      29. Yesterday, we did an Hour of Code in Algebra classes. The videos encouraging coding and computer science classes were excellent for the students to see! It got them engaged immediately, and they had the choice which modules to work on once they filtered their options on code.org. I also checked out laptops for more options, which many appreciated. Beginners created their own Google logo and games. Advanced students even ventured further!
      30. This past week, I did a 2 day lesson sequence about coding with my 6th grade science students. On the first day, I had a guest speaker from Microsoft who ended up introducing the technology and computer science field to my students. She showed them coding projects she has recently been working on, as well as some fun websites that the students could try out and then see the code behind them.
      31. I did hour of code with my Math Comp Students. They did an awesome job of coding on the Coordinate Plane with Codesters! It was so fun to see them finding success!
      32. 8th grade global studies students coded flags from all over the world! Then students were able to create and code their own personal flag using colors that represent and symbolize them! 
      33. My 6th graders spent Hour of Code with Karel the Dog.  The students also worked their way through other Hour of Code programs including Scratch and Minecraft.
      34. My 8th grade Advisory did an Hour of Code tutorial of their choice over two Advisory periods.  I conducted a short survey afterward to get feedback from them. Most were able to work on more than one tutorial as they had prior experience with Hour of Code and languages.  
      35. Students coded with the Edison robots. Although it was just a taste of Robotics, I was proud to see the students troubleshoot their problems.
      36. My 8th grade geometry students used python to create programs that “did the math for them.” This unit is on circumference and area of circles, sectors, and segments, so students had plenty of formulas to pick from and practice with!
      37. My 8th Grade Band classes did the Hour of Code activity: Code the Music of Franz Liszt. They followed the step-by step instructions to properly code the various musical voice parts (treble vs. bass clef) along with repeats and various sections in the song. Then at the end, they were able to make their own changes to the music including title, notes, tempo, and rhythm. They took a screenshot of their final product and submitted it as a formative assessment. 
      38. My comp math class did a coordinate plane hour of code to help review before our tables and graphs test next week. Two of my students finished the tutorial and were able to design their own coordinate plane code pictures.
      39. My social skill classes worked with the Ozobots today (from the hub cart) and had a blast! They were given various options such as: set up a bowling game, set up Ozobot races, or explore and play with the website ozoblockly.com. A great takeaway from today was how advanced kids are with coding!! I literally took the back seat with teaching this activity and they took over, which was great.
      40. We did the Khan Academy Drawing with Javascript activity.  Here are some pictures of snowmen that the kids made.  The ones who got the farthest made the 3 circles, a rectangular base and 2 arms.  We did not get to coloring the background in class. If they did the steps in order, Khan told them what they needed.
      41. My classes today had a professional coder from Target come and talk about his experiences coding and how his day to day work looks.
      42. Comp Math students used App Inventor, a blocks programming language, and "The Hub" Nexus Tablet devices to create math apps. Students chose a topic that they recently studied as content for their game. They added sound and original artwork to personalize their games. At the end the students got to play each other's games. 
      To learn more about coding in Minnetonka K-12, please see some of the related posts listed below:
      Posted by at No comments:
      Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
      Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)