Spring is here! We know this from the wacky weather we are having. The buds are growing and colours are popping everywhere and it’s a timely reminder of transitions even in education technologies. There are apps (applications) and then there are “apps”. While all apps are meant to do something, it is not until you…
Category: iLearning & Apps
Top “22” Apps for 2022
Here is our ‘must have’ list of iPad apps. Every attempt was made to bring this list down to apps that are oriented to productivity (DO in the curriculum). All apps of O365 (OneDrive, Word, PowerPoint, Teams, OneNote, Excel) are considered part of the base foundation.
It’s November – Leveling Up Feedback
Feedback could be considered the basis to all learning in whatever capacity. Consider a golf swing – you gain immediate feedback when that tiny ball doesn’t quite get into that tiny tiny hole. Or perhaps it’s the cake that doesn’t quite poof up as shown in the picture of that recipe especially when they say…
On the Horizon – Learning
Hi Everyone, As you’re all finalizing learning during the week prior to Spring Break, I thought I would drop a tiny spark regarding what is coming up. These are currently in the Staff Development calendar: https://learn.burnabyschools.ca/ All sessions are at Canada Way Learning Centre – Room 8 Office 365 – Getting Started (Start with the…
Learning Walks
We are fortunate to live in an area that is surrounded with nature right outside our doorstep. The popularity of using “learning walks” add new elements to our day. I can think of the power of this opportunity in every one of the curricular areas. “What if” we placed devices in the hands of students and…
2018 Top “15” iPad Apps
Yes, yes..apps come and apps go. Some maintain their longevity and merely get face-lifts, while others no longer exist. This is one reason we do not rely on apps themselves and focus on the goals of learning. As always, we have connected them to the Competencies. So here goes with our newly edited list of…
It’s 2018 – Moving Forward
It’s already 22 days into the new year! Recently we moved all classroom blogs and student BlogFolios to a new service allowing for growth over time. It’s been exciting to connect with people from all the team initiatives and be a part of their learning stories. LOOKING AHEAD: As I’ve said before, change is the…
Mid November Reflections – Voices
It’s mid November and the leaves have displayed their Fall colours (either still hanging onto trees or splashed across the landscape). We truly live in a wonderful part of the world. One of our concentrations is to provide a written voice for every student. Six teams of classroom and LSS/ELL partnerships from six schools launched,…
Necessity is … “Making”
A couple of years ago I was working with a teacher doing some audio recording using iPads. The students were creating book trailers to sell their favourite books and were they ever focused in trying to describe their chosen books without really giving anything away. What transpired were constant redo’s as they reviewed their Tellagami‘s…
Updated Top 20 Apps for 2017
Finally rounding off our list of vetted “must have” TOP 20 APPS for 2017. While these are in no order, the apps can be categorized into two areas – student voice/design/creativity and productivity. Stay tuned for future posts on how you might use some of these apps. Design –*Communication, Creative Competencies Pic Collage Kids (elementary), Pic…
Assistive Software and More
There are a number of assistive software or add-ons that may support students with access to learning. Much like i-device apps, this area is constantly changing. A great start is to “know your purpose” when considering the following. (If you need support with these, please contact our Learning Technologies team.) ON THE COMPUTER EASE of…
Must be App Smash Time – List for 2016-2017
Seems like the world of apps is constantly shifting with an abundance of tools that promise just about everything except make coffee. I imagine that will happen soon. Here is our updated list of apps and ‘yes’, we like to keep the list to under 20 (leaving lots of space for saving creations). Again, some…
Happy Autumn
Welcome back to another exciting year of connections, relationships and opportunities to be inspired through learning. If you are like me, you’ve been pondering and sparkling with ideas about how to move the Redesigned Curriculum forward. Sometimes a story unpacks the journey better than talking. So we’ve put together some of the stories from our…
2016 Must Have List of Apps for iDevices
I can’t believe that it was February, 2015 since I started a list of Apps that every school should consider having on their idevices. Anyone who has been to the App Store will know all too well the number of apps represent a mountain of options. How do we choose our apps for “THE LIST”? While exploration…
Our Top 20 iApps Recommendations for 2017
You might have guessed that in the last post, I was aiming for my top 20 apps for iDevices but ended up with only 14. It was incredibly challenging to filter the apps out of 800 on my list (yes you read correctly – 800 of the best). Well, I have finally chosen the last six…
Hour of Code
This week (Dec 7 – 13) starts an international phenomenon – The Hour of Code. In celebration of Computer Science Education week, this worldwide event (more than 4400 in Canada and across 180 countries) offer an opportunity for teachers and students to dabble in computer coding and demystify the basic workings of video games and…
Stories Told: Risk-Taking and Connected Relationships
We left off last year with celebration events for all of our teams. Many things stood out from those gatherings: risk-taking is built on trust, possibility thinking and time to ruminate, ideas start from what we know (a launch page), integration of purposeful technologies requires focused play, assessment is not an afterthought, articulating clear goals…
Reflections: An EduStory
It was a month of celebrations, of learning journeys that finished but really only just begun. Our ImagineerTech, pilot ePortfolio and Partners in Inquiry groups gathered for celebrations of caring and sharing. There were shared “aha moments” in implementing an inquiry process and watching it unfold with students. But it was the reflective process that…
Our Must Have List of Apps for iDevices
Since ipads and ipod/touches hit the district, I can’t count the number of times I’ve been asked what apps are great. I wrote about this previously (Apps) using the lens of “Relevance, Thinking Skills, Sharing and Usability” (adapted by Tony Vincent; Kathy Schrock). Another layer may be to connect the app against the SAMR model (a…
Voice and Choice – Teachers & Students Ring Out
From time to time we continue our focus on sharing practices in SD41 that create community and build connected stories using our blogs. On the Cariboo side of the city, resides Armstrong teacher, Jude Comeau. Her blog called Division 11’s Class Blog-Learning One Byte At A Time, is a hive of connected learning. Her purposes are…