Sound Cloud Rocks!

I used Sound Cloud to record my students in group discussions. It was amazing! I gave them a handout to support them with what they needed to discuss about the poem, then put them into groups. Each group used one iPad to record their discussion of the poem using Sound Cloud. Once they began, it was almost creepy to see them all so on task. Since they knew I would be listening, they stayed on topic in their discussion. When they finished the discussions, they copied a link to the sound file and pasted it onto the class wiki page. For the most part, I could hear the discussions very well. There were very few students who sat too far away from the microphone. It was so wonderful to hear some great ideas from students who typically sit silently in class discussions. I hope to use this more and more!

Updating

Updating took FOREVER! It took me about 3 days to get through the iPads. The problem wasn't the operating system update, it was the app updates. Pages took at least 15 minutes. I started with all of them plugged in to my Macbook in the cart, but didn't want to sit there all day long since it seemed to be updating them one at a time. I decided to pull 5-10 iPads at a time and just lay them out in front of me instead. I am confident that there is a better way to do this, I'm just not sure what it is.

Folders

I finally decided to start grouping my apps in folders. The 5-6 pages of apps was starting to be a problem. I can't believe how many free apps I have found! I was able to get them all on one page by creating the following folders: books, creativity, education, grammar, news, notes, other, videos, vocabulary, voice and sounds, and word games. The "other" folder is where I put all of the random apps that they don't need or shouldn't be using. Right now, the only apps that are not in a folder, but on the bottom of the iPad are Safari, Pages, Socrative, and a link to our class Wiki.

To get through the bulk of them, I asked a class to do some for me. I wrote a list of which apps go in which folder on the board to guide them. Most of the kids did a pretty good job on their own. When I needed to finish up what the class didn't get done, I found that it goes fastest to put them in folders while they are synched with my Macbook.

Next school year, I will probably keep the number of apps to a minimum so that I don't need the folders. For now, I like to have a bunch to play with until I decide what I want to keep.

Audio Files

I am finally playing with audio files! I decided to use Sound Cloud for this. This iPad app will allow the students to navigate away from the app but continue to record. Not all recording apps would do this. The other piece that I like is that they can get a link for the audio file and add it to their assignment that they are turning in on wiki spaces. I am a big fan of their work staying in one place as much as possible.

After demonstrating how to use the program, I sent them off to try recording. Complete silence. This is the class that is typically a challenge to keep quiet. When I finally asked them to talk, they hesitated. After a few minutes, they seemed to get over their public speaking fears and begin to play with the program. I am eager to hear what they produced!