I'm not sure when I started feeling this way exactly, but I noticed it just a week or two ago...when my last post hits exceeded the number my friends and family could account for, maybe...but I think I am considering myself a blogger. It brings to mind that commercial from the 90's when a kid is pulling up his diaper underpants and singing "I'm a big kid now". I'm a blogger now. Go on, you know you are singing it in your head...
So I got excited yesterday when I tried something new. Or two somethings, to be specific. And since I'm a blogger *wink, wink*, I immediately began composing a post in my head. Here it is:
Dragon Dictation. In iPad education, this is not really a new app. I've read about others using it, but I guess what surprised me--and what I wanted to share with you--was the strength of the interaction and engagement created by this app. We set the language setting to "español américas" and then we practiced our vocab words. Simple, right? Well, what we got was a really interactive and engaging, not to mention FUN, practice time where EVERY student received IMMEDIATE feedback on their pronunciation. They speak their words into the mic then ask it to process. It prints out what it thinks it heard, then kids have to reflect on what they did to produce that written response and how they can make it better or change to receive a different response. Very high level thinking required! Sometimes the responses are so ludicrous you can't help but laugh...but the process of practicing a word several times can be very rewarding when they finally get it to type the right word...immediate gratification! They practice a couple more times for extra reinforcement, then move on to the next word on the list. I have them keep all the mistakes and then the corrections on one screen and then take a screenshot. Each student posted his or her screenshot on their class blog, then made a few comments about what was difficult for them and what was surprising, or easy, etc. I will definitely be making this a regular activity!
The second cool thing we did was use this app...Qikshare lite.
Students were composing crazy class rules...like "hay que comer la mochila"(You must eat your bookbag), in PicCollage. In the paper form, I used to have students hang their responses on the wall and then we would vote on the best crazy rules using sticky notes. (Each student received one sticky note, then they posted their vote on the best rule). My challenge was to have students share their info and then vote in electronic format. I wanted something like Bump that shared information via bluetooth and what I found was even better! This is actually a form of Bump (they are quick to say they are not a replacement for it!) but it uses Dropbox, which my students are already very familiar with. So students save to Dropbox, then open this app and select the file and Bump it! They had a great time bumping and sharing info. Some got a little carried away bumping and forgot to actually look at the file, but other than that--perfect!
This is exactly what I want my class to be about...using the iPads to improve upon best practices to create an engaging (and fun!) environment for learning! Yay for iPads! And Blogging! And apps! Ok, I'll stop now. But you get the idea. *smile*
Loved your enthusiasm! Thanks for sharing! "See you" in the STS Edmodo Group! :-)
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