iGeography by Jenny Ashby (Workflows for Learning with iPads)

These are my notes from Jenny Ashby‘s breakout session, “iGeography” at the 2012 Mobile Learning Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on April 13, 2012. MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. The official conference session description was:

Students today have the world in their hands. Geography couldn’t be easier using various apps on the iPad. Excursions right in their hands without leaving the school. We’ll be using work?ows to enhance geography learning and share to the world.

A “lightly-edited” audio podcast of this session is also available.

Intro video: Ice Age 4 – First Look Teaser

National Council for Geographic Education
1- the world is in spatial terms
2- places and region
3- physical systems
4- human systems
5- environment and society
6- uses of geography

Geography no longer has a standardized test in Australia

Sometimes kids can be tapping away at apps, like place location apps, but not really learning a lot

We want a learning workflow that includes:
1- a product/information/eida
2- modify and add vale
3- then share it

This is our basic workflow with the iPad

The beauty of the iPad is: Screenshots are so easy!
– it’s very easy to collect information
– no file system, stuff getting lost like you do on a desktop operating system

Adding value to modified bits of information

QR codes allow “bring your own screen” (BYOS)

Putting your information into Book Creator for iPad
– beautiful app, easy to use
– can add audio to it, can’t do that now with Keynote for iPad

If you learn something, you need to share it
– imagine at this conference if you weren’t allowed to share what you learn in sessions

Who has ‘yard duty’ here? (like recess duty in the U.S.)
– kids always want to share and show what they can do when you’re on yard duty

Apps to get information from, 1000s of apps
– WolframAlpha is magic
– Pocketweather World
– National Geographic HD
– Water Storage
– Idea Flight
– FotoPedia Pro
– Disaster(game)
– Quiz
– Surfwrite (I think this is now WebNotes)
– Time Zones (World Clock)
– iSeismo
– Quakefeed
– Tripjournal
– World geog (game)
– Altitude
– Geocaching
– Qwiki (a curator like Flipboard)
– Wikipanion
– Typedrawing
– Compass
– Landformer (game)
– Volcanoes (Volcanic?)

iCreate apps
– Book Creator
– Explain Everything
– AudioBoo
– iBrainstorm
– Comic Life
– Strip Designer
– QRcodes (Scanner)
– iMovie
– Keynote
– Easy Bib
– Sonic Pics
– QR Code apps: i-nigma and QRcode gen

iSharing apps
– Posterous
– email
– Dropbox
– Bump
– Mover+ (don’t have to bump, flick it off my screen to yours, works on wifi and bluetooth also)
– EchoFon for Twitter
– Blogpress
– DropVox lets you record audio and send directly to DropBox
– Soundnote
– Plaintext is great because of sync with Dropbox (like text edit)
– Sendtodropbox.com (kids don’t have to have a Dropbox account, they can send to YOUR teacher account and even select the folder you want)
— when students use their name in the subject line, then it goes into THEIR box
— just change subject line if you want student work to go into the same folder

MY COMMENT: NICE – THIS IS HUGE! I THOUGHT BOX.NET WAS THE ONLY CLOUD STORAGE SOLUTION WHICH SUPPORTS EMAIL FROM STUDENTS TO A TEACHER ACCOUNT. THIS IS SUPER!!!

Google “classes who Tweet” to follow teachers in different countries and classes
– don’t have to worry about timezones

Twitter apps in addition to EcoFon
– Trickle
– Spout
– Tweetsheet
– Tweetdeck
– Twitterific

Great idea for the library: Make QR code and put it on the back of a book for “meet the author” videos, kids can scan them directly on their mobile device
– if you have a static display in your room, add a QR code to the student discussing / reflecting on their work

MY COMMENT: THESE ARE SUPER IDEAS FOR QR CODES!!! WHAT A GREAT WAY FOR SCHOOL STORYCHASERS TO AMPLIFY GOOD LEARNING IN THE CLASSROOM!

Duplicam was created before iPads had cameras (free – works on wifi and bluetooth)

Use apps to answer these questions about “Melbourne to Perth”
– how far?
– Which states do you travel through? Maps
– Major cities and towns
– get a picture of a landmark and use it in 4 different towns
– if going by horse how long, car and flying? Make screenshots
– Add your pictures in order, add to Sonic Pics and add a commentary about it
– Share your trip to DropBox

We started using these kinds of workflows with kids
– eventually we left it up to the kids to select the Apps to use
– we no longer are very “app directed” with students, they are much more independent / self-directed to find the apps that suits the purpose and their learning

Another task: Phoenix to New York
Remember the workflow:
1- Collect
2- Modify
3- Add value
4- Share

Using SimCity HD to learn social studies

Kids are really loving Minecraft
– Minecraft Lite (full version too)
– Use it!
– Geography in Minecraft is AMAZING
– use app called FastFinger to add handwriting

John Sayers Geography Blog is GREAT

“Who is not on Twitter here?”

YouTube: options for removing related clutter:
– ViewPure
– QuietTube

The button on YouTube for ‘most viewed’ leads to inappropriate stuff, so for that reason we block/don’t authorize the YouTube app on our kids iPads

Easy Assessment App by Jarrod Robinson
– “Easy Assessment is the app teachers, trainers and coaches have been waiting for. A simple way to capture and assess performance in any context or situation. Experience a new level of efficiency.”

Great website for Geography: Global Issues
– “heaps of great stuff on this website!”

I’m a member of Slide to Learn Ning, we have a 1000 leaders from around Australia
– conference is coming up this summer, Tony Vincent is coming as the keynoter
– students have to have an iPad to attend (no printed books required for students)
– school was rebuilt from the ground up

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