Hello and greetings from Surrey, B.C.
Hello and greetings from Surrey, B.C. This is now my 6th MET course and it feels great to be past the half way point. I currently teach at an alternate secondary school in the Surrey school district with ‘at risk’ youth who range from 15 -19 years of age. I have been teaching here for seven years now and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. I am part of a learning design project in which I was allocated a class set of thirty iPads. I am excited about taking this course as I feel that it will give me an opportunity to expand on my knowledge of learning technologies and how they are integrated not only in education, but also the entrepreneurial realm. I look forward to collaborating with you all and building upon our current understanding of these new and exciting technologies.
kstackhouse 8:23 am on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Welcome Manny,
Congrats at being past the half-way point. A class set of iPads, that will be interesting. For some reason in our district the head IT guy really does not like Apple products and it is a fight to get any approved. I do have 6 Macs in my classroom but that is rare. My wife is an OT in the elementary schools and there are times when she will encourage the use of iPads and other devices to improve accessibility to learning. Have a great term.
Ken
manny 8:41 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ken,
Macs definitely posit their own set of challenges as they are not friendly when it comes to cross platform applications. I was always more of a PC guy myself but our district seems to be taking the Mac direction right now. I guess it’s all personal preference at the end of the day. iPads are of course new and exciting but also have their limitations. I wish you the best of luck this term and look forward to working with you.
Manny
Colin 8:58 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Manny, I work over at CLC I believe you work at one of the other learning centers in Surrey?
manny 8:48 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Colin,
I’m over at the GLC. It’s nice to have someone who shares similar experiences in the same course. Look forward to working with you and I’m sure our paths will cross soon.
Manny
Jonathan 9:23 pm on September 6, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Manny —
Fantastic and exciting opportunity for you to deploy iPads into the classroom. You’ll have to keep me posted on the progress. While I am an Apple guy in my respects, I have found the limitations within the lab (with regards to some of the applications) to be quite frustrating. I’ve used one (personal) in my classroom for a few years, but this year I will have an extra to give to the students as well. What apps have you loaded onto the ipad or how do you plan to use them?
Cheers,
— Jonathan
manny 8:51 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I would agree with you John in that it can become quite frustrating. This biggest problem I face is that it is a personal mobile device and the problem occurs when you try to share it between students in different classes. Furthermore, it is so difficult to find effective educational apps. I would be more than happy to share my list of apps that have worked for me thus far, just send me your email addy and I will compile a list.
Manny
Jonathan 11:34 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Frustrations — I can probably add to it –>
keeping the students on task with the iPad when there is so much to do. They are so comfortable with the platform that they know how to head out to the main screen, play with Photo Booth, and amuse their friends. At the same time is this because the task isn’t interesting enough? I’ll be excited to see what the new iOS feature will be, to allow us to control the experience some more (shudder, sounds so Apple).
Email.. thanks for sending the list along: jtang@sd38.bc.ca
bryan 10:27 am on September 8, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Manny,
Nice to meet another Surrey teacher! I look forward to working with you.
Bryan