{"id":1194,"date":"2014-03-31T10:21:20","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T15:21:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bethknittle.net\/WP_Blog\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2014-03-31T10:21:20","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T15:21:20","slug":"finding-the-right-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bethknittle.net\/WP_Blog\/?p=1194","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Right Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many districts today struggle with finding the right tool for the right job, in teaching and learning there are different jobs; with the advent of PARCC, a computer given assessment, the need for schools to acquire new technology is great. \u00a0 There is vigorous debate about what that tool should be.\u00a0 If you do any reading along this line you know people are passionate about their choice of device. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Honestly the device is last thing to be considered.\u00a0 Just like with teaching you need to start with the objectives, what do you want to be able to do?\u00a0 Schools need to define these objectives, prioritize them and then determine how far their money will go.\u00a0 If your goal is to increase the number of devices available to administer the PARCC test that may lead you to purchase a different device then if your goal is to facilitate the creation of interactive media rich material.\u00a0 Different schools are at different places when it comes to the level of technology integration and therefore would require different tools. You cannot make the general claim that one tool is better then another. Current discussions revolve mainly around the iPad vs. Chromebook.\u00a0 Many districts in my area have invested heavily in iPads. But any good Ed Tech Dept should always keep an eye on things, in technology the landscape changes daily.<\/p>\n

We have been using Google Apps for about 5 years now with students and staff and are quite familiar with the standard suite of tools. Our tech department is trying to\u00a0encourage “device agnostic” formats in documents, files and products. We have explored a variety of devices; traditional Windows and OS computers and laptops, android and surface tablets, netbooks, iPads and chrome books. We have dabbled in a lot of devices and operating systems. Changes occur in both applications and hardware in a heartbeat and it is hard to keep up.\u00a0 We strive to find the right tool for the job.<\/p>\n

When it comes to teaching and learning we want our technology to support our staff and students to be able to do the following;<\/p>\n

Create and share video<\/strong><\/p>\n

On an iPad we use iMovie. In a chrome environment wevideo<\/i> but at the rate we\u00a0would use\u00a0it\u00a0it would be an additional cost. Tablets seem our best bet here with both a front and rear facing camera.<\/p>\n

Create presentations<\/strong><\/p>\n

These presentations should include images, video, narration and handwritten input.\u00a0Currently we use Explain Everything<\/i> on an iPad or a PC\/Mac – with bamboo tablet and applications such as PowerPoint<\/i>,\u00a0and Keynote<\/i>.\u00a0 Though students and staff do\u00a0use Google Presentation<\/i> – it is not as media rich as we would like and adding narration is not an option as far as I can tell.<\/p>\n

Access and create eBooks<\/strong><\/p>\n

eBooks (ePub) with video and interactivity not just text, links and images).\u00a0Currently we use Mac OS iBooksAuthor<\/i>,\u00a0various\u00a0iOS book creator apps and iBooks.<\/i> What would the alternative be on a chrome book?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Improve Accessibility<\/strong><\/p>\n

We have many students who have eBooks, web sites and documents read to them using various assistive tech screen and eBook reading applications.\u00a0These capabilities are built into iOS.<\/p>\n

At this time our students and staff are immersed in a rich environment with our PC, iPad and Mac devices. They are not limited in their ability to create and access interactive, media laden content. This level of richness is not yet available in cloud-based computing.\u00a0 Stand-alone, non-cloud based, single-use applications can offer functionality cloud-based applications cannot.\u00a0 Yet, we still benefit from Google\u2019s open source, cloud-based, collaborative applications suite. As Google and 3rd<\/sup> party developers improve cloud-based applications the ed tech landscape will change once more. In a couple of years we will likely be exploring new options.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love your feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many districts today struggle with finding the right tool for the right job, in teaching and learning there are different jobs; with the advent of PARCC, a computer given assessment, the need for schools to acquire new technology is great. \u00a0 There is vigorous debate about what that tool should be.\u00a0 If you do any reading along this line you know people are passionate about their choice of device. \u00a0 Honestly the device is last thing to be considered.\u00a0 Just…<\/p>\n

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