What does research really say about iPads in the classroom?

Two educators put the research to the test. When (and how) are iPads most effective?

Popular mobile devices may come and go, but the iPad has remained a hit in the K-12 classroom. But even though they’re in schools, our work with teachers has led us to understand that while many of them would like to use iPads meaningfully in their classrooms, they can’t because of time, access, and training.

So for the past year and a half, we’ve both been working with teachers and university students integrating iPad technology into the classroom in a controlled way. While doing this, we came across several outcomes that made us question and dig deeper into what the research actually says about using them in the classroom. Do students and younger teachers use them more effectively? Do they work better for some student populations? It’s probably not giving much away to say that the most important learning outcome we found was that experience is the greatest teacher.

First, a note about who we are. Jeanne is a teacher (elementary and part-time professor) and Tanya is a university professor (former special education teacher) who loved using technology as a teaching tool. Jeanne wrote several grants to bring technology into her school and her classroom but she kept noticing that she was flying solo—very few of her school’s teachers were using iPads in the classroom beyond the usual Friday afternoon fun time and as a reward for being “good.” We wanted to know more about this resistance and hesitation when it came to the use of iPads in the classrooms.…Read More

N.J. experiments with new engagement platform

New engagement platform uses web and mobile-based technology to help students and their parents navigate K-12 challenges

Evolution Labs and The New Jersey Association of School Administrators (NJASA), the state’s professional association of school leaders, have partnered to further develop and make available to NJASA members the company’s web- and mobile-based student and parent success platform, Suite360.

Suite360 leverages new media engagement features with critical content to help students and parents navigate a range of issues, from bullying and cyber-bullying to mental health and wellness, to academic pressures. Under the partnership, NJASA will provide guidance to help shape the platform to meet the specific needs of its member districts.

Dr. Richard G. Bozza, Executive Director of the NJASA will formally announce the partnership and program at the upcoming Techspo 2016 conference in Atlantic City, January 28-29.…Read More

Lenovo, Google launch Project Tango device

Project Tango technology gives a mobile device the ability to navigate the physical world similar to how we do as humans

At the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Lenovo announced the development of the first consumer mobile device with Project Tango in collaboration with Google.

Available in summer 2016, the new smartphone, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, turns the screen into a magic window that can overlay digital information and objects onto the real world. Lenovo, Google, and Qualcomm Technologies are working closely together to optimize the software and hardware to ensure consumers get the most out of the Project Tango platform.

Google’s Project Tango is a technology platform that uses advanced computer vision, depth sensing, and motion tracking to create on-screen 3D experiences, allowing users to explore their physical environments via their device. Specialized hardware and software combine to let the device react to every movement of the user, when they step forward, backward, or lean side to side. App developers can transform your home into a game level, or create a magic window into virtual and augmented environments. Project Tango-enabled devices can recognize places they’ve been before, like your living room, the office, or public spaces.…Read More

3 things great teachers do with technology

3 inspiring examples of how teachers turn technology into relevance and make learning count

teacher-technologyToo often, we see teachers putting the proverbial cart before the horse. They find an app or tool they like, so they introduce it in their classroom. The students might find it cool and engaging—but if the teacher hasn’t defined why they’re using that tool, its integration has no clear, educational purpose.

If, instead, you begin with a learning goal in mind and choose apps and devise activities in support of it, then you’re on a path to meaningful technology integration.

To help educators develop a vision for using technology in their classrooms, here are a few examples of what great teachers do with these tools.…Read More

7 TED Talks All About Mobile

The psychology of mobile devices, a 12 year-old app developer, how phones make us antisocial, and more

mobile-teensThis month’s TED Talks focuses in on a subject near and dear to our thumbs—our mobile devices.

TED Talks are some of today’s most popular examples of the internet’s power to expand learning opportunities to all. They’re also fun to watch.

I picked this month’s theme because I find the subject endlessly fascinating and the talks listed here, illuminating. For educators juggling using mobile devices in their personal lives and in the classroom, the past, present, and future of the device has a special importance.  There’s plenty to learn about the psychology, anthropology, and future of the mobile device.…Read More

Top 10 of 2014, No. 10: Mobile devices and mobile learning

eSchool News highlights some of the 10 most significant ed-tech developments of 2014, and mobile learning is No. 10

Each year, the eSchool News editors compile 10 of the most influential ed-tech developments and examine how those topics dominated K-12 ed-tech conversations. No. 10 on our list for 2014 is mobile learning.

This year, educators focused on putting mobile devices in students’ hands in an effort to help them learn valuable technology skills that will carry them through college and the workforce.…Read More

Top ways to choose and use tech in early education

Proper early childhood education technology use is critical

early-educationMaking sure that young children benefit from technology isn’t quite as simple as handing a child a mobile device with age-appropriate apps. But using a series of questions and requirements can help ensure that technology in early childhood education environments makes a big impact.

Research has already established some key steps to better early childhood technology use, and ensuring that technology resources and software meet certain requirements can enhance young students’ experiences and learning.

Technology tools are just like paper, blocks, or crayons–they’re materials from which teachers can select to facilitate learning and play.…Read More

5 new ways students are choosing their colleges and universities

Survey reveals social choosing habits of graduating high school students; gives advice to colleges and universities

students-choose-collegeGone are the days when students chose their postsecondary education institution based off of news reports or annual publications. In this mobile-enabled culture, today’s students are redefining how colleges and universities should market their offerings by using diverse online resources and social media word-of-mouth.

The 2014 Social Admissions Report, a survey of college-bound high school students, is designed to identify trends in digital, social, and mobile tools represented in a student’s college search and enrollment process.

“Year after year new tools are created to help us organize, share and collaborate online,” according to Uversity—a platform for social networking and higher education. “Inevitably when these tools hit the mainstream the debate begins as to the impact of these networks on the college search and recruitment process. Through thousands of student surveys and national focus groups, the Zinch, Chegg and Uversity teams have collaborated to complete the third installment of The Social Admissions Report.”…Read More

FETC 2014: This is how you take mobile to the next level

Three professors use research to create mobile app rubrics for app evaluation

mobile-apps-education Would you buy a car without knowing how well it could perform on the road? No? The same principle applies to purchasing mobile apps for the classroom, experts argue. Without research-based rubrics based on vetted learning principles, you’re driving blind. Now, educators can evaluate apps to truly make a difference in classroom learning.

According to Malia Hoffmann, assistant professor at Concordia University, Calif., as of fall 2013, there were more than 1 million apps for Apple and 1.1 million apps for Android, she said during her session during the Florida Educational Technology Conference (FETC) 2014, .

“These numbers are overwhelming, and outside of hearing word-of-mouth suggestions, or looking at third-party source recommendations online, there was a lack of research-based rubrics to help educators evaluate these apps for their schools,” explained Hoffmann. “Which is why, based on well-known research on learning principles, my colleagues and I developed these four rubrics.”…Read More

Teaching the essential skills of the mobile classroom

Think back 20 years, Edutopia reports. Pay phones still worked, and only doctors carried pagers. Laptops weighed as much as bowling balls, and few of us had Internet access. In fact, much of what we now consider commonplace — Google, email, WiFi, texting — was not even possible. If that was 20 years ago, where are we going in the next 20? We are all going mobile! Tablets, smartphones, Chromebooks — and yet, these devices only serve as the most recent iteration of mobile technology in the classroom. Remember Netbooks? How about those old-school Macbooks that looked like toilet seat covers? What if we go back further? What about chalk and slate?

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6 reasons to try mobile devices in the classroom

Looking at the recent advancement in computer and technology, the education system seems more organized and systemic than ever, Edudemic reports. Considering this aspect, one can easily predict a more technology-based classroom environment that will benefit both the teachers and students in future. Tablets and Smartphones have reinforced this ideology further by introducing new ideas and concepts in the traditional ways of schooling. Now students can learn in a more flexible and self-paced environment without any hurdles with resources – time, people, space and money. This has resulted in an efficient and faster way to learn and grow within a particular field of study. Here I will inform you about some important benefits that you can avail using Tablets, Smartphones and other mobile devices in the classroom. Here they are…

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