#ReflectiveTeacher Blogging Challenge Day 2: New loves

Write about one piece of technology that you would like to try this year, and why. You might also write about what you’re hoping to see out of this edtech integration.

But what the kids can do is way cooler.

Basically I applied for the program 1) for networking purposes and 2) for reliable recording devices. Oh, sure, just about every kid has one in their pocket, but with no windows and no access to the school WiFi, those personal modern miracles are at best a delayed promise (“Can I upload it when I get home, Sra. Sexton?”) and at worst a time sucking cesspool of frustration.

I have several apps for making awesome videos installed on them (Adobe Voice, VoiceThread, Sock Puppets, IMovie, Haiku Deck, StopMotion) with which we will do awesome things, but simple audio recording is proving trickier than expected. I want kids to just be able to airdrop or upload to Google Drive or just straight up embed them in their eportfolios to demonstrate proficiency. I want them to be able to listen to themselves and reflect on their fluency and pronunciation, but not have to spend a week of class periods to do it. AudioCopy is pretty promising, but it requires some kind of extra account like SoundCloud.

So far the iPads have been more useful for social media, back channels, and back up when the laptops are wonky, but I am hoping to get some critical before-and-after audio so kids can see how far they come in a semester. To that end, small groups were passing an iPad around today to ask and answer some basic novice questions about each other’s interests. These conversations will be fun to listen to at the end of the week, but even moreso at the end of December, I think.