iPads Dominate School Market

According to the Education Week article, “Educators Weigh iPad’s Dominance of Tablet Market”, iPads claim nearly 94% of the school market in tablets. Keith Bockwoldt, Director of Technology, Township High School District 214 in Illinois, tells of a flood of visitors to his district who are anxious to learn about the 1-1 iPad initiative. Although, Bockwoldt says his focus is on transforming learning, not on the device used, those who observe the Township program go away “sold” on the power of iPads.  With the expense of iPads, some schools are looking to less costly devices such as Google Chromebook, Microsoft Surface, and the new Google Play. But, David T. Vinca of eSpark Learning says, “It’s our belief that the most engaging education experiences for students are being created for the iPad.”

While the market today is dominated by the iPad, with the fast-moving pace of technology, who knows what types of devices will be in our classrooms of the future?

Curriculum First: Tech and the Web

On Monday, November 18^th, from 1 to 2 p.m. EST, Education Week will present the Webinar, “A Curriculum-First Approach to Technology and the Web”. The program will focus on Del Mar Union School District’s (San Diego) curriculum-implementation strategy and its use of Chromebooks for Education. If you are interested in this topic but cannot attend the Webinar, you can access “on demand” Webinars, which are archived on the Education Week site for up to four months from the streaming date.

Google Hangouts

Think Google Hangouts and you’ll come up with all sorts of ways your students can interact digitally with others. Perhaps, you’ll want to invite a few parents to “visit” your classroom to watch and interact with a group of students doing a special project?  Up to ten students and parents can hang out together in their own virtual space. An eduptopia article (February 1, 2013) suggests that Hangouts be used to connect with classrooms around the world, with experts in different fields, and with authors. To put Google Hangouts to work, you’ll need Google and Google Plus accounts and the inspiration to get a good conversation going.

Google Glasses in Schools?

In a few years just about everyone will probably have Web-connected watches and Google Glasses.  Students are already bringing mobile devices to school that can capture images and actions in our schools, but as “wearable technologies” become more popular, teachers and administrators will need to place additional emphasis on privacy and etiquette issues. Questions such as —Where will the devices be allowed?, How will teachers know if students are using the devices if all it takes to take a picture or start a video is the literal wink of an eye?, What information must be added to digital citizenship programs?, How might the devices be used to enhance the curriculum?, and What educational apps are available for reality-augmented devices?—will need to be addressed.

Google Education on Air

Educator on Air is a free online edtech conference hosted by Google. Scheduled for May 2, 2012, it will include 46 “Hangouts” featuring professional development. The conference begins at 9:00 a.m. PT, 11 a.m. CT, and noon ET.  Sessions will be streamed live on Google+, which you download free. You can go to the website, decide what you want to learn, and sign up for your sessions. Find out, for example, about Chromebooks for Education, Harnessing the Web, Communicating, Connecting, Sharing, Google Apps, Instructional and Assessment Tools, and Hot Topics in Education.