Blogs on 1:1 Implementation

You might watch Netflix, HBO Go or Hulu Plus for personal use on your iPad, but while these may not always be appropriate for students, there are many free iPad apps for streaming video that will work great in your classroom. The days of running to the VCR to record a clip off a television program are long gone. If you want to hook students with a film clip, to connect your classwork to reality television, or to inspire children's interest in a topic through educational programming, there are many apps that can be used to stream content on your iPad.

My students use their iPads as creators every day, whether they are recording their thoughts, using virtual tools or publishing authentic assessments. Content can be both created and consumed using an iPad, and my students take on both roles. There are abundant resources for content consumption, and these apps can be used to teach current events. Many schools are increasing their use of informational and multimedia texts in order to align their instruction to the Common Core Learning Standards. It's important to acknowledge that current events are more than just articles in a newspaper. There are a variety of free iPad apps that students and teachers can use to access high-interest texts and video clips that will connect your classroom to the world.

It can be intimidating to try something new in your classroom. This is especially true with technology. I believe that technology should make the work of teachers easier while creating an environment that excites and engages students. Even though I'm coming from an iPad classroom, these structures and routines are great for introducing all one-to-one devices.

Ever since I was a kid, I loathed back to school commercials. They always showed parents gleefully skipping through aisles of pencils and notebooks as the kids, sullen and dejected, sluggishly followed along. It's a scene we are all too familiar with, and one that creates a negative stigma around school. But what if that scene were flipped? What if the kids were happy and eager to get to school? Is that possible after roughly 90 days of sun and fun? It is, and at Burlington Public Schools, we have seen it over the past two years during our iPad launches at the high school and middle school.