All Categories

Sharing Formative Assessment Tools

6/7/2017

A recent survey discovered that our students use 31 different digital tools for formative assessment. I hope to help us do a better job sharing tips among departments and PLTs.

0 Comments

EdTech ROAD TRIP!!! (to Apple Ed. in Chicago)

5/20/2017

0 Comments

Planning New Student Orientation....with Students

5/12/2017

0 Comments

As a 1:1 school one of the best decisions we ever made was to take the new student "tech orientation" chore out of the hands of teachers and let the iWizards plan it, create it, and run it. Next August will be our fifth time with an iWizard run tech orientation. Yes, teachers are still involved, but they are invited to participate as mentor and it is now considered and honor, rather than a duty to join. Yesterday BEFORE school as is our custom, the iWizards held a reception for the mentors. I feel blessed to work on this project with so many awesome students (and teachers) who are excited about serving the school

0 Comments

Connecting with Hillel Day School for Great Design Ideas

5/9/2017

0 Comments

My high school has enjoyed collaborations with Hillel Day School, including mutual visits and Tech Talk. This video describes the school design ideas we have obtained from our visits.

0 Comments

IWizards' App Survey Produces Interesting Results

5/3/2017

0 Comments

Last month, the iWizards sent out a survey to the student body, asking them these essential questions:

1) What are the iPad apps you use regularly for school?
2) What iPad apps do you find most essential to your learning and why?
3) What iPad apps would you like to learn a better understanding and mastery of?
4) Do you use a keyboard with your iPad? If yes, which kind of keyboard?

The survey was created by iWizard Sophie Sawicki. Three iWizards and three staff mentors examined the data: Alyssa Johnston , Madison Konja, Brooke Madak , Lisa Robinet, Chris Janusch, Larry Baker. We came to the following conclusions:

For taking class notes, students have a strong preference for Notability over other apps. Students volunteered that they enjoyed its ease of use, the ability to diagram on the app, split screen with a book, and organize their notes. The ability to highlight and color code was also remarked upon. The students on the committee were not surprised by Notability's as the iWizards themselves signaled this preference last year when they shifted from iAnnotate to Notability for their new student tech orientation.

A second very interesting finding was that so many students depended on Quizlet in order to study and review materials. They enjoyed the flashcards, language features and options for reviewing . The committee concluded that Quizlet should be included in future orientations. The students on the committee said that both apps were attractive because they allowed students to individualize study methods. We felt that some of the other apps like Schoology, PowerSchool, Google Docs, and Pages stood out as essential because course workflow more or less mandated their use. That said, we thought it was interesting that a slightly greater number of the respondents use Google Slides than Keynote.

In retrospect, we think question #3 about "What apps would you like to learn . . ." was not well conceived. In the case of Evernote, for example, we think more students may have wanted a better understanding because they had not heard of it (Since only 3% expressed that they regularly used it). On the other hand we thought that 37% of the students expressing a desire for better mastery for iMovie needed to be addressed through the school curriculum. Teachers may be assuming that students have a better mastery of the app than they actually do. We need to teach them how to use it.

Finally, the iWizards have always debated what to recommend in regard to iPad keyboards. The school does not sell nor require iPad keyboards. Now we have some data: Students stated that they were mainly using three brands: Belkin, Logitech, and ClamCase. Going forward we can share this information without endorsing a product.

0 Comments

Apple Teacher Day at Mercy High School

3/18/2017

0 Comments

Our administrative team decided that as an Apple Distinguished School we should shoot for 100% teacher certification. To further this goal we 1) arranged for staff to get continuing ed credit 2) enticed them with a $20 gift card 3) Most importantly we gave them a full staff day to work on their badges. As I write we are up to 80% Apple Teachers from faculty as well as half a dozen staff. The day was well received.

0 Comments

Collaborating at MACUL 17

3/17/2017

0 Comments

I have presented at our state edtech conference several times over the past eight years. Once I did so with two other Mercy faculty members. But this year I joined a presentation team of Mercy I.T. Director Tom James and Birmingham Brother Rice High School Tech Director Chris McCoy. Furthermore we chose an interactive "participate and share" format. Our topic was Let’s Share Ideas and Strategies for Creating Dynamic Student Tech Teams. The Mercy iWizards and the International Student Tech Team Hub were featured but I really enjoyed the give and take. We got great questions and comments from our attendees.

I was pleased to do a solo presentation on this collection, but I am sure that there is another collaborative participate and share in my future.

Left to Right: Larry, Tom, Chris. Photo by Chris Janusch.

0 Comments

Successful Connectivity! -- Tech Talk 2017

2/26/2017

0 Comments

We just finished our fourth Annual Tech Talk, hosting K-12 Educators throughout Southeastern MI. The conference featured:

- An inspirational Keynote by Theresa Stager on Innovative Spaces and Strategies

- Multiple 2-hour workshops and 1-hour presentations from some of the top speakers in the area.

- Streamed interactive presentations from presenters from Dubai, Korea, Canada, and Massachusetts.

0 Comments

iWizard Workshop 2017

2/17/2017

0 Comments

The Mercy iWizards spent a busy day on Friday, February 17. They . . . .

Planned the New Student iPad Orientation
Spent an hour coding
Conducted five Google Hangouts / Skypes

Photos by Cheryl Corte and Larry Baker

0 Comments

iWizards Making Global Connections

2/11/2017

0 Comments

This year the iWizards have invited student tech teams from around the world to join them at the International Student Tech Team Hub. On Friday, February 17 they are going sit down for Google Hangouts with several of them. But the team in Israel presented a time zone challenge. Consequently, the iWizards reached out to them with a video. Soon this was followed with a reply. Let the tech team collaboration begin!

0 Comments

<<Previous

Larry Baker

Archives

Categories