Forum
Evolving technology has produced the iPod and iPad. More than simple consumer products, they are educational and productivity tools for school administrators, teachers, and students alike. To make their use most effective, there are many ideas to be shared from the basic how to manage and control the iPods/iPads themselves to their optimal use in a classroom. These posts are intended to provide information and start the conversation.
How are you using iPods/iPads in your classroom? What ideas do you have? What cool uses have you observed? What questions would you like answered? Let’s begin the discussion.
Here’s something every iPad owner should do:
Download the iBooks app (free) from the App store.
Launch it then select Store in its upper left hand corner.
Search for “iPad”
You’ll see several free books including the iPad User Guide. Download a few of them so that when you have a question about how to use the iPad you just have to open up your iBooks app and read the manual.
I can’t take credit for this suggestion–it came from Bryan Daniels. But it’s a great one!
RCPS and iPads are quickly becoming good friends but we’re new friends. iPads are set up and deployed differently than computers so we have developed the following plan which will hopefully explain the way we plan to use iPads in schools:
• Each school has designated one person to be in charge of the iTunes account which the iPad must use in order to obtain apps. This person has been given access to a generic iTunes account for the school that is used whenever apps are to be downloaded.
• There is also one computer at each school that is used for all iPad syncing. It is generally the computer that the person in charge of the account has easy access to.
• Before a new iPad can be used, it needs to be registered and synced to the computer above. The person in charge of the account can register it.
• Please DO NOT sync any school iPad to any other computer than the one above.
• iPads are typically used in an environment which has wireless access (wifi). However, there are many, many apps that do not require wireless access and effectively serve the needs of students and staff.
• Some iPads have the ability to connect to the internet through AT&T. However, most iPads purchased for school use do not have this capability. All iPads can use wifi.
• There are lots of recommendations for apps and information posted on our iPad blog which can be found from the Technology link on the RCPS website.
The use of iPods/iPads as an assistive technology is getting lots of attention. For the hearing impaired check out how you can use the video option of the iPhone and the newest iPod Touch by using the ZVRS app to call the ZVRS ASL (American Sign Language) video relay service.
Copy this address into your browser’s address field:
http://tinyurl.com/2e7oq3t
Is there a way to organize apps onto folders within iTunes or is there a reason NOT too? It seems like it would be so much easier.
Yes, this is a new feature now available with iOSv4.
For more information click here.
Here are some good math apps.
Most of the following are free, although several of them require money to get the full version.
Click here: Elementary/Middle
Click here: Middle/High
Some of you have asked for something very basic to tell teachers when they use iPads. Here are some simple guidelines to suggest:
1-iPad users shall not touch the iPad screen with any object other than an approved stylus; make sure hands are clean and use only fingertips with a light touch on thescreen.
2-iPad users shall not change the names of the iPads.
3-iPad users shall not download apps to the iPads.
4-iPad users shall not connect/sync iPads to any computers (personal or classroom). There is a single designated computer in each school for syncing purposes
5-To extend battery life, use iPad without electric charger. iPads need to have at least 10%battery power in them and should not be allowed to go below 10% before recharging using the charger. •
6-Use only a soft, dry microfiber cloth to clean iPad screens (no tissues or paper towels or any other cloth). If needed, the cloth maybe lightly dampened with WATER ONLY.
With the update to OSv4, many apps can be running simultaneously in the background. If there are a lot of apps running at the same time, it may slow down the iPad. To see what apps are running, double click the home button (the circle button at the bottom.) This brings up a slide screen at the bottom and shows you which apps are still ‘running.’ To turn off an app, hold your finger on one until a little red circle with a minus sign appears. Touch that circle on each app you wish to close.
Merrie, thanks for the post. Apple says the apps aren’t really “running simultaneously in the background”, but are “frozen”. Kind of like in sleep mode. While they say this feature doesn’t affect the iPad I think there is enough anecdotal evidence like yours to lead many to believe that too many “frozen” apps opened will affect performance.
See the Tips and Tricks section for a screen shot of what Merrie refers to above.
So, when I am syncing my ipad, the photos from my computer automatically load onto my ipad. (I don’t want them there!!) How can I stop this from happening????
The first thing you want to do before plugging your iPad into a computer is to open iTunes and choose Preferences. From the pop out window select Devices and check the box that says “prevent from syncing automatically”.
With your iPad plugged in select the iPad’s icon and from the iPad’s iTunes window click on the Photos tab. There you will uncheck Auto-Sync Photos button or change the options for the photos you wish to load up onto your iPad.
Finally, you might want to stop iPhoto from booting up every time you plug-in your iPad. What you need to do is go to your applications folder and open “Image Capture”. Choose preferences (or Services) and you should find a box to uncheck that says something like “automatically import images” or change the option from “When a Camera is connected, open:_ _ _ _ ” to “no application”.
It could be (depending on the version you have) you will need to the iPod plugged in to find that option.
My school purchased a sync and charge cart from Datamation to use in my classroom. I store all of my iPads in there. It’s a very convenient way of syncing them simultaneously to one computer, as well as charging them. It made managing the iPads so much easier! I’d recommend looking into it: http://www.ipadcart.info
Actually this is a hard reset. To force quit an app, double press/click the home button at the bottom, a bottom shelf of apps pops up. Press and hold on the app you want to force quit. All bottom shelf apps wiggle with a minus sign over them. Press the minus sign on the app that you want to force quit.