IPADs in Action Matthew Wood E-Learning Coordinator St Francis Xavier College Beaconsfield & Berwick

About the Presenter Matthew Wood M.Ed. B.Sc. Grad. Dip Teach. eLearning Coordinator St Francis Xavier College Professional Experience The Essington School, Darwin N.T. Classroom & SNAP Laptop Teacher Darwin High School, Darwin N.T. Senior Science & SNAP Laptop Teacher St Josephs College, Ferntree Gully VIC. Head of Science & Professional Learning Coordinator Origin Energy LTD, Melbourne VIC. Manager, People Development Innovation 2010 – CurrentSt Francis Xavier College, Beaconsfield VIC. eLearning Coordinator With a love of learning and a passion for innovation, Matthew has a vast experience of introducing new technologies into schools. From laptops to IPADs, learning management systems and online learning, Matthew has worked closely with teachers to integrate and explore the possibilities of new technology and to help embed it effectively so that it becomes a part of regular classroom practice.

About our School St Francis Xavier College is a dual campus (Berwick & Beaconsfield) co-educational institution of nearly 2000 students and 230 staff. Through the DER we have approximately 600 shared laptops and netbooks in circulation for classroom usage.

Whats been happening? Back in June 2010, St Francis Xavier College was invited by the CEO to participate in the pilot along with 8 other schools. The purpose of the pilot was to determine valuable information and data regarding: – How can the IPAD be used to improve student learning outcomes? – How can the use of IPADs be incorporated into the classroom? – Is the IPAD as useful as a laptop?

The Pilot Groups The following classes were used for the pilot project: Year 9 Science Nuclear Chemistry Year 9 Japanese The use of the IPADs were written into course curriculum for both these subjects.

How They Were Used Web Based Activities Topic Specific Applications (Apps) Report Writing Work Submissions (Drop Box) eBooks Video & Audio Podcasts Educational Gaming Moodle Electronic Roll Marking

IPAD Setup The following Apps were installed onto each IPAD as requested by the Pilot Group Teachers: Documents To Go - document creation iBooks - eBook and pdf reader Safari – web browsing

IPAD Setup Science Based Apps

IPAD Setup Japanese Based Apps

IPAD Setup Podcasts eBooks

IPAD Setup Custom Built Apps SFX Moodle App Links students straight to the Colleges Learning Management System. SFX Britannica Online App Logs students directly into the Schools Britannica Online Subscription.

IPAD Maintenance IPADs are stored in the Library Booked on Book-It online booking system Transported in small trolley Each IPAD is charged once a week IPADs are synced to College created iTunes Accounts.

Training & Support 5 Teacher IPADs available. Teacher IPAD Experts are on hand to provide training and support to their peers. Teachers may borrow an IPAD on a short term loan to explore how to best use them in the classroom. Teachers can request for Apps to be installed on class sets. They must do so at least 2 weeks prior to using the IPADs.

Key Findings Functionality Consumption over Creation. Quick and easy access to the web which means it is a handy research tool. A lot faster than a laptop. Sustainable – no photocopying. Once set up, very little ongoing maintenance and technical support required (compared to laptops). Shared IPADs can be problematic for ongoing document creation. Students need to create a dropbox account to save their documents. Document creation functionality not as advanced as that of a laptop.

Key Findings Student Learning Student engagement in both individual and collaborative tasks was very high. High completion rate of activities and tasks by students involved in the pilot. Seen as a learning tool and not just a gimmick or distraction. Planning and preparation time less than other types of e-based learning tools. Like other mobile technologies, students can pick up and run with the IPADs in a very short time. Students respect this type of technology (no recorded incidents of damage or untoward manipulation).

Moving Forward Since the pilot, the number of IPADs in the school has grown to over 100 units. Growing popularity in the use of IPADs across both Campuses. Learning Areas beginning to use the IPADs include: – English – Religious Education – Science (VCE Psychology & Biology) – Food Technology – Humanities College Learning Technologies Committee is currently investigating the viability of book-listing an IPAD in the very near future.