While many teachers and students had the day off, I spent the day in two county in-service sessions. My county has committed itself to offer a wide selection of professional development on MLK day. It is our first chance since August, and I actually look forward to it. Teachers could choose to do field trips, multi-cultural experiences, Daily 5, CPR and first aid, technology, and so much more.
I choose a session on using iPads and iPods in the classroom and another on Stop-Motion Animation. I learned some new apps that I will share in another post. I was convinced to purchase a VGA adapter to connect the Ipad to the data projector in my room. The iPad 2 can show apps and video. The original could just show apps.
Another accessory to consider is an IPEVO camera, $69. I first saw it at a Learning in Hand conference. Tony Vincent used it with the iPod and iPad. It is little, at about three inches in length. It comes with a stand and plugs into a USB port. I loaned it to a colleague when I got my SAM CAM document camera(see post on Wax Museum). It doesn't work well with my splitter for the dual monitor/smartboard. I love my splitter! My students never see my desktop, just the items I want them to see.
I have two iPads, an iPad 1 that I won at the county's session (August of 2010) with Tony Vincent and The Technology Symposium. The second one I got last spring from Scholastic Book Club with 20,000 bonus points. This year's cost is 36,000 points! I guess they realized the value was worth the increase in points.
For those of you considering an iPad of your own, you may want to check to see the differences between the iPad 2 and the new iPad 3 due for release in March.
My other session on Stop-Motion Animation was fun. We used a program from iCreatetoEducate. We used the free version. A paid version is $30. If you buy the Klutz Book of Animation, it comes with a complimentary copy. It costs about $15 on Amazon. There is also an app for stop-motion animation for the iPad! I will share that on another day.
Hope your day was as enjoyable as mine!
Marcia
