›› Not a day goes by that I don’t wonder what my formative educational years would have been like with today’s technology. Comparing a copy of yesteryear’s “Oregon Trail” to today’s iPads is like comparing Galileo’s telescope to the Hubble.
Of course, the biggest difference between the Old West game with no educational value and today’s tech is, well, these apps actually teach students something. Whereas your copy of “Angry Birds” is a pleasant distraction, your student’s version of “iThoughts HD” is actually getting something done.
Here are a few examples of what Aurora students are using on their iPads everyday.
Edmodo
OK, maybe it’s not a game, but Edmodo is a powerful educational tool that allows teachers to connect to students outside of the classroom. On one side of the software, teachers and their students continue classroom discussions and lessons. The software lets teachers tailor their plans for each student, to better give virtual one-on-one instruction to just about any student. On the other side of the software, Edmodo connects teachers to share educational ideas with each other, and presumably, horror stories.
More likely, teachers also use Edmodo to gauge student progress. Joe Harbinson, a fourth-grade teacher at Dalton Elementary School writes: “(Edmodo) has allowed me the opportunity to educate students beyond our four walls. I post videos, songs, lessons, homework, quizzes, communication and grades through Edmodo. It really is the workhorse of my classroom. There is not a day that goes by that we don’t use Edmodo in some facet.”
Socrative
This quick app lets teachers quiz and learn from students in real time thanks to coordinated tests and responses that the teachers create. That may sound like a fancy way to “raise your hand” but just like every frightened fourth-grader knows, speaking up in class is less fun than polio.
Calarri-Jeanne Cox, an English teacher at Rangeview High School, writes: “I use Socrative as a way to obtain formative data from students. I like how I can quickly get a snapshot of what students are learning. They greatly prefer this method over paper or clickers because they have a full keyboard to type in short responses … I have found that students are very thoughtful and detailed in their responses with Socrative.”
NASA APP
Not all school apps are test-taking, homework-inducing spreadsheet machines. Some are just cool. NASA’s app, which lets you look at everything from the space station to the surface of the sun, is a blast for science teachers and students alike. The free app makes the final frontier accessible via pictures, videos and presentations.
Little Writer
Handwriting is easier to teach when letter tracing is presented with fun bugs, pineapples and other rewards. Students can even take their own pictures and write their names to hang on parent’s virtual fridges after they’re done.
Like any teacher will tell you, it’s not so much about the tool, rather it’s how you use them. Luckily for Aurora students, good tools and good teachers have so far made for good results.