Gotofail

It seems like a rather cruel twist of fate that I finish my post about obsolescence and fragmentation just as Apple acknowledges a major security flaw in their iOS and OS X Mavericks operating system. Apple has been remained relatively immune to security issues over the years. It's part of what has made them successful. So, I was pretty shocked to see that there was a security flaw in both of their current major operating systems.

Despite the severity of this problem, I have still been reluctant to upgrade simply because my classroom set of iPads are used mostly for creating projects in apps that do not rely on the internet or WiFi. I don't have email, social media, or any private data on my devices. I collect student work through Dropbox or a WebDAV, so I feel like we are safe. I haven't gotten any emails from my IT department, so they must not be worried about it either. This could be a curious crossroads for our district since iPads have received little support from our district. Security threats always tend bring more regulation. Fingers crossed.

FWIW, I have upgraded all my personal devices and encouraged my friends and family to do the same. My personal iPhone 4 was safe with iOS 5 because I'm such a luddite. Check your device at gotofail.com

Obsolescence and Fragmentation

Every time there is an update of an OS, app or piece of software, I shudder. What new headaches will keep me from doing what I need to get done. What compatibility issues can I look forward to as developers may or may not create updates?

This issue of fragmentation has become more profound in the age of the iPad. With new devices and iOS being released each year, it's difficult to decide, when to upgrade and when to wait. For the past two years, I have handled my updates during the summer only. This seemed like a proactive strategy from a classroom management standpoint. The shifting of buttons and features from one iOS version to another seemed like the equivalent of rearranging my classroom in the middle of the school year, with no plan or concern for how it would impact instruction. Therefore, I am still running iOS 6 on my 24 iPads.

For the 100+ other iPads that I manage for our classroom teachers, it is a whole other animal. Our classroom teachers have a mix of iPad 2 and 4. I encouraged many teachers not to update to iOS 7 until the bugs were worked out. I explained that they may see performance differences from each device. Most of them heeded my advice. The biggest challenge of upgrading is that there is no downgrade option if you are not happy with the devices performance.

Of course, there is also the issue of how well previously purchased apps would run on the new iOS. How long until a developer provides an update? These issues all have a tremendous impact on instruction, if not completely thought out.

Then Apple really threw a curve ball by making iWork and iLife suites free with certain conditions. We purchased Pages, Keynote, and iMovie last year. I had some remaining Keynote codes that had not been redeemed and shared them with our 4th grade team. Unfortunately, the codes were not redeemable because they were for older versions of the app. We had to upgrade the devices to iOS 7 in order to redeem the codes for a new version of Keynote. If you don't understand that solution, I don't either. But Apple does not appear to be supporting legacy versions of their apps for older devices or iOS versions. I would expect this from a third-party developer, but I'm a little disappointed in Apple doing this with their own product line. This is problematic for cash strapped schools looking to make their devices last as long as they can.

I could definitely use a PD on iPad Management for Legacy Devices. Are you listening Apple?

I'M IN A BOOK!

About 14 months ago, I got an email from Dr. Carrie Thornthwaite from Lipscomb University's College of Education in Nashville. I'm not sure how she found out about me and my program, but she was interested in observing. My Media Arts program was still pretty new and I was still figuring a lot of things out. She explained that she was working on a book about iPads in education.

I hadn't heard from her in quite some time until this afternoon. Her book actually became two books, with the first now available on Amazon. I look forward to checking it out very soon. You should too!

Username Paintings with Second Grade

This is an adaptation of a lesson from Common Sense Media. After discussing internet safety and how  to protect private information, students were instructed to create safe usernames. These usernames should be based on their interests, but have nothing to do with any of their private information.

Kodable with Kindergarten

The Hour of Code initiative aimed to introduce the world of computer science to students through a variety of tools in the month of December. Some of the suggested apps included Kodable, Lightbot, Cargobot and Hopscotch. I was a little late to the party, but managed to introduce Lightbot to my 4th graders. I'll be posting about it soon.

Over the past several weeks, I have introduced Kodable to my Kindergarteners and 1st Graders. It's a great warm up activity or cool down activity for young minds. It has the feel of a game with cute animations and music, but teaches children to problem solve, sequence and plan. I've found it to be a little buggy with some freezing and inconsistent error messages, but generally this is a great FREE app.

New Blog

After leading three professional development meetings in two days, it strikes me that I REALLY need to be blogging. I tried using Wordpress for a few months last year, but discovered pretty quickly how much I like Blogger better. I'm not sure why.

To be completely honest, I am a very self-concious blogger. I am very reluctant to share any thought that pops into my head. About 3 days after a post, I usually find myself feeling awkward and embarrassed about what I've shared. Then I delete the post. There is a pretty good chance that I will even delete this post. =)

Anyway, I'm going to try again to maintain a blog that engages my professional life as Media Arts Instructor and EdTech trainer. I'm confident in the work that I'm doing with K-4 students and I need to be sharing it with the very vibrant and inspiring EdTech community. I also need to have a space to share resources from the workshops and trainings that I've been providing over the past year.

So here goes. A new blog. Wish me luck.

This could be a new day

I’ve been teaching for 9 years in the same district. I’ve seen a lot more changes than I expected to see in that time. These changes have been with teachers, students, administration and our culture as a whole. I’ve never been afraid of change. I’m more afraid of stagnation. Unfortunately, I’ve often felt that much of the change that I’ve seen as an educator has been more reactive than proactive. 

The consequence of reactive change is rarely productive. It is shortsighted, ineffective, and at it’s worst, political or emotional. Reactive change does not consider teachers or students. It becomes frustrating and defeating, and just another item on an educator’s already too full plate. 

I have had the privilege of attending a two day professional development that has rebooted my outlook for my own career and my view of education. For the first time, I see proactive change being employed to impact the growth of students and empower educators. I am surrounded by like-minded professionals eager to bring our students into the 21st century. We are 20 years behind schedule and the task won’t be easy, but as Kid President reminded us, “We were made to be awesome, let’s get OUT THERE.”

We have a choice. Reality is not static or predefined. We only make it static through our choices. Let’s make things possible and every day infinite.

This could be a new day.