1:1 iPad - So the story begins...

So, they've arrived. I'm excited, the kids can hardly contain themselves and we're kicking off our 1:1 iPad adventure this week at school.  I've been planning and waiting for this for so long and now the time is ready - we're ready to go.  The children will be getting an iPad Mini, each with a host of creative apps and exciting opportunities.  

The children will be working with me on Tuesday to start putting in ground rules about using the device, but ultimately we're going to be learning as we go.

There are plenty of example schools using 1:1 iPads, ChromeBooks etc, but I want this to be suited to our school - it really needs to be personalised.  What we want out of them will differ greatly from what other schools want out of them.  There won't be a right or wrong way to do this and the outcome will greatly influence how we proceed with the rest of school.

My classroom with be the research for this project for the next term and a half. We will then work out how the iPad use will be transferred into the next class. I'm confident that the children will be making the most use out of the iPads in my Year 4 class and we'll need to ensure they keep that level of use in Year 5 and beyond. How will they cope at high school, if they don't have a 1:1 iPad scheme?

I have every confidence that the children will continue to use the technology themselves, but it'll be interesting to see how the adults in the classroom adapt their style of teaching and if the reluctant children, who would not choose to use an iPad, adapt.  

Should they need adapt?  I always find it interesting to talk about pedagogy when thinking about embedding technology into classrooms. It's only a tool for learning after all.

The iPadagogy Wheel is something I've tweeted about many times and something that will drive my approach to using this new technology in my classroom.

I'll be using Edmodo as a hub for sharing and storing information, pages, keynote, iMovie, GarageBand and a host of other creative apps to produce some quality outcomes.

I really want the children's app input into the whole project. Apps they already use at home, apps they would like to try and really progress from there.

I'll be blogging about the whole process and learning from mistake after mistake and sharing successes with shorter blog posts.

So, stay tuned and wish us all luck!

What have I been up to and what's next for me?

Both my books are on sale on Amazon Kindle, Google Books and Kobo for digital download. 

Amazon - Pause, Rewind My Teacher: A Flipped Approach to Learning

Amazon - Technology is a tool to be used not an outcome

The books detail all my work to date around flipped classrooms primary schools.  

My article has been published in this months issue of Teach Primary I've written about flipping Art and English lessons in Primary Schools.  I'm also writing another article for Teach Primary about using Edmodo in your classroom.

I've also just finished writing an article for Tech and Learning UK - a new education magazine for schools. I've written about the introduction of Computer Science in the new curriculum and how it has begun to impact on Primary schools.

I presented at The BETT show 2015.  I presented Pause, Rewind My Teacher: Primary Flipped Learning. 
Download it - here

I've also been invited to present at The Digital Education Show in London on Tuesday 30th June alongside some great names like Sir Ken Robinson, Sugata Mitra and many others - Find out more.

I'm also presenting at OSPedagogy in Manchester on Friday 13th March. You can find out more about this - http://ospedagogy.co.uk/cloud-pedagogy/

Keep following on Twitter @chriswaterworth