Technology @ Hebron

Following on from our Math Department pilot, December 1st was technology professional development for all faculty, with the aim to get teachers thinking about how they could start using their iPad in the classroom.

We started off with a keynote speaker from the MLTI project, who talked us through the SAMR model, gave examples of progression up the model’s ladders and demoed some of the new features in iOS 8.

We then split into groups, with an iOS Jumpstart session for those not so familiar with the iPad, and these two breakout sessions for everyone else:

1. iPad nuts and bolts, including setting up your email, setting up your iPad to backup, downloading apps and using Air Server
2. An app showcase, including quick looks at Notability, the new edit features in the Camera app, Snapseed, iMovie, Explain Everything, Google’s various apps, MindNode, Coach’s Eye, Book Creator, Comic Life, Word Lens and PhotoMath

This will now lead into further app-specific training sessions after the winter break:

AirServer is an app that lets you wirelessly mirror an iOS device’s screen to your MacBook (and therefore project it). Once installed and activated here are the steps to get mirroring in Air Server working:

1. Load the AirServer app on your MacBook. It runs in the menu bar in the top right hand corner of your screen.

2. Click the AirServer app icon (a square with an arrow pointing upwards) and select Preferences:

3. Under the General tab choose to set a Fixed Password (or Onscreen Code if you want students to be able to mirror their iPad, for which a code will pop-up each time a device tries to connect) and then enter a password you would like to use to connect:

We recommend using your iPad passcode as the password to keeps things simple. If you don’t set a password anybody on the network can mirror their display to your MacBook.

4. Next, on the iOS device swipe your finger up from the bottom of the screen (or double tap the home button) to get access to Control Center. One of the options on this screen will be Screen Mirroring – tap on it:

5. The small pop-up window that appears is scrollable. Scroll until you find your name and then tap it to start mirroring (depending on which password option you have selected from step 3 you may need to enter your fixed password or the onscreen code that pops up on your MacBook):

6. Your iOS device screen should now be mirrored to your MacBook. To toggle between full screen mode on your MacBook click on the green button in the top left of the AirServer window (this toolbar may autohide so you just need to hover your mouse over the area in the top left):

To stop the mirroring just click the red x button:

You can also stop the mirroring on your iOS device by swiping up to access Control Center, tapping the AirPlay section and then tapping Turn Off AirPlay Mirroring.

If you have any issues with AirServer, first try toggling the mirroring off and on in the AirPlay menu on your iOS device. If that does not work, try quitting the app on the MacBook and starting the process over.

Finally, one tip when using the iOS device and AirServer in the classroom is to increase the time to auto-lock. That way you won’t be entering your pin code on the iPad so often. To do this locate and open the Settings app, tap the General option on the left hand side and then tap the Auto-Lock option on the right hand side:

We recommend choosing 15 minutes.

If you are having issue using AirServer in your classroom an alternative is to plug in your iOS device to your laptop using the lightning cable and mirror the display through QuickTime. Complete instructions for this can be found here (You must be running the latest version of OS X on your laptop for this to work).

Many iOS apps use email to export data (for example this is the easiest way to share photos you have taken with your iPad) so we recommend setting up your Hebron Academy email account on your iOS devices for this purpose:

1. Locate and open the Settings app

2. Tap the Mail, Contacts, Calendars option on the left hand side and then tap Google:

3. Fill in your name, Hebron Academy email address, password and enter ‘Hebron Academy’ for the description. Click Next and then click Save.

4.  You will now be able to check your school email on your iPad using the Mail app, and use the blue share button inside most apps to export or share your data via email.

There are a number of choices on your MacBooks and iPads (and the library for student projects) for document creation, and they all include a selection of tools to create more advanced document layouts (not just text).

1. Word. This is installed on all faculty MacBooks and there is now a free app for all iOS devices (although you will need to sign up for a free Microsoft account to access documents you save in the cloud).

To create more complex layouts than just a standard text document Word allows you to use templates, which you can select from the first screen that loads up when you open Word, or from the drop-down File menu:

This will put Word into Publishing Layout View, which allows you to position text boxes, images, shapes, WordArt, etc. much more easily than the normal Print Layout View. When you are working in this view there is also this additional toolbar at the top of the main window to give you easy access to the different drawing tools:

2. Pages. This is Apple’s version of Word, is installed on all faculty MacBooks and can be downloaded for free onto your iPad. For doing more complex page layouts Pages is much easier and quicker to use than Word. Text boxes, images, shapes, etc. can be dragged around the page whenever you want and you do not need to switch between views, as in Word. Most of the tools you need for this are already at the top of the window, and rest can be seen on the right hand side when you select an object:

3. Google Docs is a great way to create and share simple documents, but there are also some basic layout options. Under the Insert drop-down you can add images and drawings (shapes):

Once you have inserted an image you also get some basic layout options. Selecting Wrap text will let you position the text around the image:

4. The apps mentioned above all create great traditional documents layouts, which can then be printed or converted into something like a PDF for sharing. If you want to take this a step further by creating documents built for the web with more interactive elements a great option is Lucidpress. This is a browser-based app that gives you similar tools to Pages and Word for inserting text boxes, shapes, etc. but also allows you to embed YouTube videos, Google Drive files as well as add actions like pop-overs and external links. The document can then be published and viewed online.

Here is a quick overview of the service:

5. One final tool that can be useful for publishing  standard documents created Word or Pages to the web is something like Issuu. Once you have a PDF of your document you can upload this to their site and it will be published as an interactive magazine with page turns and zoom functionality. Here is an example from the Maine College of Art:

As part of the MLTI Primary program all faculty were issued with a MacBook Air and iPad mini this year, along with the aim to start a 1:1 iPad program with all students next year. We have spent the last month or so testing and setting up the different accounts to administer the iPads and to centralize app purchases.

As the next step, we recently started a pilot program in the Math Department, purchasing a selection of apps and providing additional training to the teachers, with the aim to get the teachers using their iPads more during class.

Here are some of the apps we looked at during the training sessions:

1. Air Server – allows you to mirror your iPad display to your MacBook (and therefore also your projector)
2. Notability – a note taking app that also lets you import/export PDFs and annotate over the top of them
3. PCalc – a powerful calculator app
4. GraphCalc HD – graphing calculator
5. EQ Editor – create and edit math equations
6. MyScript MathPad – freehand equation creator
7. MyScript Calculator – freehand calculator
8. PhotoMath – solve equations with your camera

We will check in with the teachers in a couple of weeks, and send out a survey to see how everything went, as well as providing ongoing support. Using these experiences to guide us we will then provide school-wide training and apps throughout the rest of the year to get everyone ready for the move to 1:1.