I'm back....for now

Hello everyone,

Well I'm back....for a short while just now..... I have been working on a new blog  - The Special Stop which looks at more generic issues involved with the teaching of Students with Special Educational Needs.
You can check the new blog out here:

The Special Stop

Check it out : )

Anyway I may pop back to this blog every now and again if and when I find interesting apps that I am going to try/have tried with my class.

Bye for now

Tips for First time iPad users

Gudday,
Apologies for the Aussie greeting - I am still in holiday mode.  Had my first trip to Oz this summer - very enjoyable.  I hope your summer (or Xmas for the northern hemisphere peeps) was great too.
Well with the holidays it has been a while since I have put pen to paper or should I say finger tip to key and I have to say it's good to be back.
I thought it might be good to start the year off with a "Top-Tips" section.  May be a few of you are new to iPads, may be Santa brought you an iPad for Christmas or may be you lovely teachers now have access to an iPad (or iPads) to use in your work. 
Anyhow, I've had a look through a few sites and the one below gives you all the basics to get going.  Have fun:
iPad - New Users Guide

SEPANZ Conference 2013 - Post 5

Happy Day Everyone,

Here we are again.  I hope you have all been enjoying the lovely Spring weather here in New Zealand.  If you're not in New Zealand - why not??

I shall now wax lyrical on the second conference workshop I went to.
This was titled "Making Informed Choices, Making the Right Choices When Using Inclusive Technologies". The presenter was Greg O'Connor.
More info on Greg can be found here:

Click here to find out more on Greg O'Connor

Also loads of technology info from Greg's Organisation - Specronics -  can be found by clicking on this link here:

http://www.spectronics.com.au/ 



First Greg talked about the S.E.T.T. framework - a tool to help find and use appropriate technologies with students.  I found this extremely informative and interesting.

SETT is an acronym for Student, Environment, Task and Tools.  It is really a collection of questions to guide your thinking when choosing appropriate technology for the students.

Here are a couple of links I have sourced with info on the S.E.T.T. Framework:

Click here for S.E.T.T. info from Spectronics Blog

Click here for info from Ministry of Education website  - from this link you can download the Ministry of Education guidelines.

I found this interesting and it would be good for me to trial the guidelines with a partner who also knows the student whom we are wishing to consider using a particular technology with.  Perhaps it's something which could be done in a class team meeting?  Or with a therapist who knows the student as well as the teacher?

Anyhow - as it is so beautiful outside I shall be off now to enjoy it.  I will be back soon with more info from Workshop 2.

Oooo by the way - Wicked was wicked - I loved it!!!!

SEPANZ 2013 Conference - Post 4

Happy Holidays -  to any one who is a school teacher in New Zealand.  I hope you are having a great break.  I have just cleaned out our cat's litter tray so as you can see I am having a great time : )
Mind you I am going to see Wicked at the theatre on Thursday so am excited about that.
Anyway - I digress.  Here we for the fourth post of info gleaned at the SEPANZ 2013 conference.
Today I shall be reviewing an app. recommended by the superstar Mr Ian Bean in his workshop at the conference.
The app. is bitsboard.
 

here is the link to the i tunes preview:

click here for itunes preview of bitsboard

and the best bit...........it's free.
Any hoo as we speak I am downloading bitsboard to one of my class iPads.  I will then test it out and see if it lives up to all the hype..............................................................
..................................... (a few mins later) - well I have just had a very quick whizz through the basics on bitsboard - it's looking good - I amm deffo going to be using it with my class.
There are 6 ready made boards - emotions (perfect as I am doing this as a SPEC module), exotic animals, famous places, first sentences, learn English and Learn Spanish.  You can also create your own boards.

Within each board are 4 areas included with the freebie - these are - Flashcards, Explore, Photo Touch and Photo Hunt.  I had a quick look at all of them and they all seem good. To get everything (thats all off the above + true or false, genius, bingo, pop quiz, match up, word builder, spelling bee and reader)costs (at the time of writing this blog) $4.19.

 I haven't tried to make my own board yet ........ mind you in attempting to make my own board I have discovered that you can download boards created by other people for free - awesome!!!!  I will test it for you.  I am going to type in water cycle into the searc boards and let you know what happens - here goes......found one - amazing - all the hard work done for you - super cool!!!

I have looked through quite a few You Tube videos on bitsboard - the one below is one of the better ones.  It's very American (using the states as an example) but I think you'll get the idea:

click here for You Tube video on bitsboard basics

Well I have to go now as my family need me - so I will let you know I get on when I have had chance to have a longer play with this app. + had a go at making my own board. 

In the meantime why not download it yourself and have a play.  It's free so you have nothing to lose.  Please let me know how you get on by leaving a comment.

Ta ra for now!

Me having a go with tellagami

ok, ok - no sniggering at the back.
Here I am with my first go at tellagami.
How did I do?

click here for a giggle!

SEPANZ Conference 2013 - Post 3

Well hello there and welcome back. 

If you haven't read my previous two posts on the conference - please do so.  I would hate it if you missed out!

Anyhow, as promised previously here are a couple more apps, as recommended by the wonderful Mr Ian Bean during his workshop at the conference.

The first is tellagami. 

 

This is heaps of fun - I have downloaded it (it's free).

 

In brief - Basically you create and share a quick animated message called a Gami.  You can customise your character (male, female, facial features, clothes, etc), you can change its mood (emotion) and you can choose a setting.  For this you can also take a photo and have the Gami in your own setting e.g. your classroom!!  (Can't wait to try this back at school).

  You can adjust you character and rotate your character.  You can record your voice or type in some dialogue.  Then bingo - your done - if you want you can share your character via Facebook, Twitter and the rest.

Heres a link to a You Tube video which gives you the basics and a few hints to using it for literacy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D8qJlL_DEk

 

Click here for a bit more on You Tube:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CL5sCbD3BMg

 



 



Here is a link to how this has been used in one particular primary school - ok it's a mainstream school but I've included it as it has a few useful ideas which you could adapt:

 

http://ictwithmissc.weebly.com/tellagami.html

 

 

 

I've just brainstormed a few possible uses - shopping lists, birthday greeting, morning news.......

 

I've just had a thought (what... a thought!!!!!) - I could use it as part of the Colourful Semantics work I have been doing with a couple of my students : )

 

I'll let you know how I get on once I've tried it out with students.

 

Gosh now I'm too tired to review the next app - well I did have a thought earlier - so you will have to wait till the next post.... I'll give you a sneak preview though... the app is called bitsboard.  I bet you can hardly wait!!!  See ya soon.

 

 

 



SEPANZ Conference 2013 - Post 2

Hi Folks,
 
Here is my 2nd post on the SEPANZ conference.
I would like to tell you about the first workshop I went to : iPAds, Apps and the Special Learner - presented by Ian Bean.
Ian is a fantastic presenter - giving the info in an entertaining way.  To find out more about Ian follow this link:

http://clickspecialednz.com/sepanz/conferences/keynote-speakers/


Notes, etc from his presentation can be found at:

http://www.ianbean.co.uk/NZ/

I'm not going to repeat what I learnt at the presentation as you can just click on the link above for that but here are a few points that particularly resonated with me - they are in no particular order:

It was interesting to hear his views on sustainability.  iPads are changing so rapidly, with new models quickly coming out.  Schools can not have a 5 year plan for updating equipment - needs to be at least a 2.5 year plan.

Apple have built switch access into iOS7 - aiming for the disability market.

Issues with technicians in schools - many are microsoft trained and not familiar with Apple. 

Ian talked about the protecting iPads with sturdy covers - something I need to look into for school.

Ian also highlighted a few apps:

Photospeak:

A review of this app can be found at the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oShRH-IvzFg

I have actually got this app. already.  My class love it.  I got it initially to use with a child in my class who's main motivation seems to be photographs of people he knows.  A big hit!


Ian also mentioned two other apps - Tellagami and Bitsboard - but you'll have to wait until my next post to hear about these. 

See ya soon !!!!!