Exploring IT

Stay Curious!

My two passions are teaching and technology. I've always enjoyed tinkering with computers and pushing boundaries.

Recently I've started exploring options to add a Masters in Information Technology or Information Systems to my M.Ed. I have come up short time and time again for one reason or another. This program is too expensive, that school doesn't offer the right courses, and so on and so forth. After pulling my hair out, I finally decided to do what I knew I should have done all along: design my own path.

The knowledge is out there, free for the taking. Yes, it would be nice to have another formal degree, but it isn't necessary to prove my competency. So what did I do? I navigated back to Coursera, where I've dabbled in a few MOOCs, and signed up for every IT & Computer Science course I could. I'm dabbling in programming, systems analysis, security issues... you name it, I'm curious. I'm jumping back into Codecademy and Code Avengers. I want to learn! I want to expand my potential! I want to know instead of pretending I know.

Does this mean I'm thinking of leaving the teaching profession? Absolutely NOT. I love my job and my students. My heart is in the classroom. But, I would like to leave the door open to explore new opportunities. What would it look like for an English teacher to also be involved in IT? Maybe it's something I can do on the side or during my summers. Maybe it's something I can integrate into the classroom. Who knows! The possibilities are endless, and I'm ready to learn. Wish me luck.

Guided Access on Your Student iPads

If you've updated to iOS6 on your classroom iPads, there may be a few features of which you are unaware. The option below is particularly handy when you need to control what a student accesses on an iPad.

Here's the situation: You plan to spend the day working with your students using an App, but a student is in ISS and the office has requested work be sent down. How comfortable would you feel sending an iPad to ISS? What are the chances that the student actually does the work and avoids other temptations?

Solution? Guided Access in the Accessibility menu found in the General Settings. This feature allows you to set up your iPad in a vendor-like situation. Students can use an app and all its features, but cannot leave the app. You have a number of options, from blocking out areas of the screen to disabling the home button. Enable "Guided Access" for these features.

The Accessibility menu is near the bottom of the General Settings screen.

Allow "Guided Access"

Set a Passcode.

Once enabled, students cannot leave the app or access features you do not want them to use.

After Guided Access is turned on and a passcode is set, open the app you need to use and triple click to start Guided Access mode. Set any and all restrictions here (for my situation above, simple disabling the home button is enough. You can also draw a box over parts of the screen, and any features within that zone are disabled while Guided Access is on.

To exit Guided Access, all that is required is to triple click the home button and type in the passcode. Simple!

Now the iPad can be handed to the student, and you can be confident that they will only have access to the app where you need them to complete their work.

Updated Apps Not Opening? Workaround.

I shared in a previous post the trials we went through using Apple Configurator to update apps on our 30 deployed iPads. This took place Thursday afternoon and we thought we were in the clear Friday.

Friday morning, I started sorting the iPads into their crates for classroom usage and on a whim I tried to open Pages, one of the apps we updated. I desperately wanted this update, because (finally!) it allows Pages to communicate with Dropbox. I tapped the icon, the screen flashed, and then returned to the home screen. The same thing happened with GoodNotes, another app we had updated. I quickly went through the 30 iPads, and found only 12 had this issue.

By all appearances (and a quick google search) the only way to solve the issue was to push out another profile from Apple Configurator with those apps unchecked, then push it out again with the apps added, forcing the apps to reinstall. My problem: lost student data. Yes, we have backups, but I didn't want to deal with the hassle and not everything was completely backed up.

I knew there had to be another way to get these apps functioning without having to reinstall. I guessed at a solution - and it worked!!! Here's what I did:

- On each individual iPad (not using Apple Configurator) I went into our passcoded restrictions and allowed iTunes and the App Store. Then, I updated other apps manually (not Pages - remember, that was fully updated) that needed to be updated. Once I started this process, Pages magically worked again. Strange and weird. After the updates were finished, I set the restrictions again and we were good to go.

Lesson? Problem solving skills and a good amount of luck are needed for successful deployment. 

Updating Apps using Apple Configurator

Yesterday we attempted to update some apps on our deployed iPads. We downloaded the updates in iTunes, replaced the old versions of the apps in Apple Configurator, and pushed out the update. Unfortunately, we ran into problems because of the restrictions on the profile we originally pushed out to the iPads. The updates failed.

We then attempted to push out a new unrestricted profile. That also failed. Apparently, Apple Configurator attempts to install the new updated apps before applying the new profile settings. It's backwards and confusing and sends you into an endless loop.

Our workaround? We manually went on to each iPad and removed the profile in the settings menu. Once this profile was removed, using Apple Configurator we pushed out the new unrestricted profile (which allowed access to iTunes) and the updated apps. This worked.

Next time, here's the process we will follow:

1. Plug in the iPads to the charging cart.
2. Push out an unrestricted profile.
3. Download updates iTunes and replaced outdated apps in Apple Configurator.
4. Refresh and apply in Apple Configurator.
5. Push out the restricted profile.

A Week of iPads in the Lit Classroom

Here's a typical week in my World Literature class:

 Monday
Grammar - students complete an editing exercise in GoodNotes, then upload to the class Dropbox
Literature - students take a short reading quiz on Nearpod. ArtRage, ComicsHead, iMovie and Paper are used for creative exercises exploring the literature. Students look up information on Youtube.

Canterbury Tales character assignment

Tuesday
Independent Reading - some students bring in their own books, while others read using the FreeBooks app on the iPads
Vocabulary - weekly pre-quiz on Canvas Instructure (our LMS), followed by a discussion of the words. We do the vocab book exercises together in-class.

Wednesday (same as Monday)
Grammar - students complete an editing exercise in GoodNotes, then upload to the class Dropbox
Literature - students take a short reading quiz on Nearpod. ArtRage, ComicsHead, iMovie and Paper are used for creative exercises exploring the literature. Students look up information on Youtube.

Thursday
Writing - Every other week, students write a formal essay in Pages and upload to Dropbox. On the off week, students have a choice of what to write and what app to use to write it. In the future, students will have more freedom in their choice writing to work on blog posts, book reviews, and contest writing.

Friday
Grammar - students complete an editing exercise in GoodNotes, then upload to the class Dropbox
Independent Reading - some students bring in their own books, while others read using the FreeBooks app on the iPads
Vocabulary - weekly quiz on Canvas Instructure (our LMS).
Exploratory - students can use any time left on Friday to explore apps on their iPads, continue choice writing, or follow their interests and learn something new. 

We are not a 1:1 school - I have thirty classroom iPads that are used for five literature classes. So far, we've not had problems with students deleting other students' work. I do make a point to emphasize uploading a backup of student work to Dropbox, in case something is deleted.

We are three weeks into our iPad deployment and student engagement is still high.

Simple Solutions Using Google Forms

If something can be lost... I will lose it. My desk is disorganized mess (but I generally know where everything is). When I used to hand out novels to my English students, I also passed around a paper with columns for students to sign their names and mark book conditions next to a list of book numbers. Passing around the paper was time consuming and distracting, and when it returned to the bottomless pit of my desk it was a miracle if I could find it again to check books back in.

Flash forward to this year. Instead of passing around a paper, I created a Google Form. Using the class iPads, students quickly typed in the book title, book number, their name, class period, and book condition. Most students were done within one minute. Super easy - and now I have a sortable list.

Organizing iPads

The thirty iPads in my classroom are neatly stored overnight within a Bretford storage cart. When the school day starts, it's important for me to maintain order without sacrificing time. Here's my strategy:

• I have tables in my classroom - seven tables for seven groups. Each student has an assigned seat and an assigned iPad. They share this iPad with whoever has their seat the next period. First thing in the morning, I transfer iPads from the charging station to small crates that live on the tables. Each crate contains four iPads (in folio cases), a cleaning cloth, and four styluses (styli?). Ideally, I'd like the crates to have a handle for easy transportation, but I couldn't find any that suited my needs (and my budget).

• To keep everything straight in my mind, I created a document with a table. The left hand column lists the iPads, the header row lists the five periods I teach. At any time, I can glance at the document and know who has permission to use any iPad. I know if there is a problem with an iPad, who used it last. 

• I also plan on putting stickers on the iPad cases to identify authorized users without having to pull up my document. Moo stickers are perfect for this application - 90 individual stickers for $9.99. I will let each student photograph themself, add the class period and their name to the bottom of the photo, send out to Moo and stick on to the case. I anticipate these will wear out over time, but it will be nice to have a simple way for any teacher or administrator to instantly check if there is an issue.

Lessons Learned in iPad Deployment

Last week, we deployed thirty iPads in my High School English classroom. We hit a few bumps in the road, but things are starting to come together. Here's what we learned:

1. In my initial research, I was concerned about losing student data when we synched the iPads in the Bretford cart. I didn't want all thirty iPads to wipe when we needed to add or delete an app. As Apple Configurator is still relatively new, the information I found was spotty. It seemed best to install our VPP (volume purchase program) apps manually to all thirty iPads, redeeming in iTunes on each individual iPad. We finished about 15 until we rethought this process and did more research. Apparently, there are options in Apple Configurator to retain data. We wiped the iPads to start clean again and prepare with Configurator. 
2. Setting up the iPads in Configurator went smoothly, as did adding all the free apps. BUT, when we attempted to use our VPP codes again, we were fifteen short. We thought the fifteen we originally used would repopulate when we wiped the iPads clean. Nope. After a few phone calls (not recommended) and emails with Apple, they were finally able to give us new codes. Apparently, if you switch deployment methods you can lose access to the codes. Apple was very generous in refreshing our codes as we made an honest mistake trying to figure everything out. 
3. The way I want to set up the iPads is not covered in the Apple Configurator model. I do not want my students to add or delete apps at will on the iPads - I will not hand out the VPP codes. I do not want students to login with their own Apple IDs. I also do not want the iPads to wipe data between classes. I know this means I will have 4-5 students in different classes able to access each other's data. I'm ok with this. I do not have time built in to my 42 minute periods to push out new profiles and assign users. The iPads are only being used in my classroom for five periods a day. My situation is unique - and I wish Apple Configurator was more customizable. 
4. Apple Configurator is wonderful... when it works. However, it needs more options. Following the iPad Apple Configurator deployment guide did not help when my situation did not fit their three models. 

At the end of the day, we were able to sort it out and make it work. Up next: how I organize the iPads for easy classroom usage. 

Classroom iPad Apps

Here are the apps that we are in the process of loading on my 30 classroom iPads. So far, we've hit a few snags with Apple Configurator, but nothing unmanageable.

Free Apps:

• Nearpod Student
• Google Search
• Educreations
• Free Books
• Find My iPhone
• Aurasma Lite
• Paper by FiftyThree
• Storify
• Google Drive
• Socrative Student
• Dropbox
• Lanschool Teacher's Assistant
• iBooks

Paid Apps:

• GoodNotes
• Bywords
• Comics Head
• ArtRage 
• Pages
• iMovie

I tried to chose apps that would stand the test of time - apps that were not limited to one purpose, but could be used for many different types of assignments and projects. We'll be adding to this list as the year progresses, but I'm excited to get started on Wednesday with the ones we have.

FYI, if you are interested in using Apple Configurator for deployment, this video is well worth your time.

Classroom Update

The past two weeks I've taken a break from blogging and Twitter to focus on preparing my classroom for the 2012-2013 school year. Environment matters to me, and I believe it matters to students too. A sterile classroom does not inspire creativity.

In the photos below, you can see the transformation. Hopefully, when students enter my room on Wednesday, their curiosity will be ignited before we open the first page of Lieutenant Hornblower. 

I have been doubly blessed this year to have the opportunity to switch out my long tables for round tables and to have a classroom set of iPads. Both of these things are going to influence my teaching, and I look forward to chronicling the adventure.

First up, the before pictures:

Next up: laying out the ocean and waves. These were created with cheap plastic tablecloths.

Then came the ship railings. I created these with butcher paper and a wood grain tool.

Close-up of the butcher paper before cutting it for railings.

The bow:

The round tables arrive!

The mast and boom. I already had a somewhat inconvenient post in the middle of my classroom that I turned into the mast. The boom is a long piece of painted PVC and old IKEA curtains were used for the sail. 

I framed my bulletin boards and added small islands to the vista. It's hard to see, but there are shrouds and ratlines running from the ceiling to the railings. 

My next step was creating the quarterdeck. This was a challenge, because I had to work around large pieces of furniture. 

A flock of seagulls came for a visit.

 Welcome, friends. 

And then... finally... it was all done in time for Open House! 

Command Central

 Here's a 360 view around my classroom.


Let the school year begin!