iPads are showing up in schools all over the world and their potential in the learning environment is so clear – but wading through the plethora of available applications can seem daunting.
Sometimes seeing a new approach in use is all it takes – and this month during the Florida Educational Technology Conference in Orlando (FETC) a bus-load of educators will have the opportunity to do just that as Ocoee Middle School once again opens it’s doors for a look at how new technologies are being used in real classrooms by teachers who have adopted their use and have incorporated them into their daily lesson plans.
The tour is free to FETC registrants. Those interested should sign up at Registration during the show, before the end of the day on Wednesday Jan. 25. Buses will take participants to Ocoee Middle School at 9 am on Thursday January 26.
OCOEE MIDDLE SCHOOL TOUR INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ON THE FETC WEB SITE
Participants in the tour will see Doceri in action in math, science, social studies and language arts classrooms, where slates and stand alone electronic whiteboards have been replaced with iPads and Doceri software from SP Controls. Teachers can move around the classroom while presenting lessons right from the iPad, and students no longer need to leave their seats to take their turns at the board.
Ocoee Middle School is Florida’s state technology demonstration school, rebuilt from the ground up in 2000 to show what could be done to create a 21st century facility using only the state’s allotted funding under its “Smart Schools Initiative.” The school is recognized as an Apple Distinguished School and remains on the leading edge of technology that improves the learning environment. As a technology showcase school, Ocoee Middle hosts regular tours for visiting educators and administrators to see real-world examples of effective use of technology in the classrooms. Last year, Ocoee Middle School principal Sharyn Gabriel was named “Outstanding Technology Leader in Education” by the Florida Society for Technology Education.
Replacing stand alone interactive whiteboards with iPads and Doceri
The team teaching environment at Ocoee Middle allows teachers to share technology resources. Each classroom quad has access to 10 Macbooks, 22 iPod touches, 10 iPads and 32 PC computers. Anthony San Filippo is the instructional technology coach for all things Mac, and keeps on the lookout for new ways that teachers can incorporate the iPads into the classroom. After downloading a trial version of Doceri, San Filippo realized the iPad could now replace the electronic whiteboards and slates that had been in use, providing all the functionality and mobility with the added bonus of being able to see the projected image on the iPad screen for more intuitive access.
“Using Doceri on the iPad, you can see in your hand what the class sees on the screen,” explains San Filippo. “Using the slates we had before, you had to look up at the board as you wrote. With Doceri I can see what I’m writing. This makes a tremendous difference for a teacher who has enough distractions in a middle school classroom.”
Doceri Desktop software resides on the classroom computer – Mac or PC – and it’s accessed via WIFI from the Doceri Remote iPad app. From the iPad, teachers can access the Internet or any program resident on the classroom computer and open, manipulate and annotate over any static file including Powerpoint presentations, pictures, documents and Web pages. Doceri’s powerful lesson creation platform allows teachers to create hand drawn lessons in advance, or on the fly, saving and replaying them for all of their classes.
All 12 of Ocoee’s math teachers are actively using Doceri in their classrooms, as well as an additional 12 teachers in language arts, social studies and science classes.
“We’re starting to roll Doceri out to the rest of the teaching staff this month,” said San Filippo. “The staff sees how easy it is to use Doceri – and how beneficial it can be to teach while standing right next to a student who becomes easily distracted.”
San Filippo provides the information about a new technology option via the school’s technology newsletter, and in the case of Doceri, meets one-on-one with those interested.
“Doceri is so intuitive,” he says, “that it doesn’t take long to get them started.”
Most of those already using Doceri at Ocoee Middle School are accessing files on their classroom computers. Language arts, science and social studies teachers are using Doceri to annotate PowerPoint presentations and other files. Doceri is especially popular in the math department. Teachers can create their daily lessons and record and replay their strokes on the iPad, creating ‘stop points’ to pause the flow of the lesson or back up through the steps of a math equation to show where an error has occurred.
MORE INFORMATION AND RELATED BLOG POSTS
Download a 30 day free trial of Doceri
Isoloating Errors in Math Problems using Doceri
Could Doceri be the IWB (Interactive Whiteboard) Killer? – Nik Peachy
Bottom line: rather than tying themselves down to by standard texts or pre-filtered interactive whiteboard curriculum, inspired – and inspiring – teachers are creating their own to suit the needs of their unique classroom situations.
“We’re building a new high school (moving in Jan. 3, after December break; that’s a bit terrifying) and one of our concerns from a technology standpoint is the extent to which interactive white boards would be utilized by teachers in the new school. A few of us have them in the old school, but we of course are those that have committed to using them (and I think there are maybe 5 in classrooms in the old school).”
