Thanks for your notes and observations, Faith and Alice! I think we can all agree that this was a very valuable experience.
I think it is important to consider that the students at Maryvale did not have 1:1 before getting the iPads. I wonder what our students' thoughts would be about the iPad after having a tablet that really does do everything that the iPad does already. I know there are pros and cons to both but I am very interested to hear our students' reactions after using the iPads in class in the Upper School.
I just spoke with Renee about our visit this morning and she mentioned that the Lower School does use iPads (as we know from Faith and Stacey) in class and that ultimately the girls there prefer the tablet.
Just one of my "wonderings"!
I found our visit to Maryvale most informative:
ReplyDelete* blown away by how little paper they use
* intrigued by the financial situation of the program
* liked the app which blocks content
* impressed by their parent training/preparation
* loved they have a required tech class for grades 6-9
* curious about how students & faculty handle creating text and printing it
I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to observe a class in action with their ipads. I've asked my friend's daughter who is a sophomore at Maryvale if I can see her ipad to see the apps she has; teacher produced work; etc. I'll ask her about how they use them in her classes and how often they use them, etc.
I did like their approach to introducing to/training with faculty.
And just as an FYI, I'm adding the link to the website Beth shared with the faculty; it seems to go along with our investigation of ebooks.
http://openlibrary.org/
I was also amazed at how little paper they use! Very cool.
DeleteI thought the parent training piece was remarkable. I also can understand parents' concerns with their middle school children having so much exposure to social media at school. I see it a lot with 6th grade now and wish they were still a little more "sheltered" I guess...or just nicer to each other! :)