iTunes U & iBooks Content Introduction For The Classroom

iTunes U and iBooks have an enormous amount of K-12 information that can be utilized for all content in the classroom.  This content could be used as

• Investigative research material
• Supplemental information to support other resources
• Personalized learning plans for all or parts of concepts
• Station work for use in the classroom or in Personal Learning Areas
• Independent study for students

Teachers have used iTunes U content in many different ways.

To access the iTunes U content, download the iTunes program to your laptop if you haven't done so already.  This can be done be visiting the Software Center on your desktop.  It looks like this.

Once iTunes is installed, iTunes U content can be accessed.  You will need to agree to the terms of use.

After clicking agree you will be able to access the information.

To access all of this information on the iPad, the iTunes U app is needed,

iBooks app

The iBooks app provides SO many interactive learning opportunities.  Most of the books allow for a SAMPLE to view the first 20-30 pages of each book.  These books could be purchased as one book, placed on an iPad and shown through the AirServer app as a supplemental resource.

If you would like to have a book placed on the iPads, we can do that!  

***This is a Lunch N' Learn that can give you an idea of what these two resources can provide you.  Please consider attending so that the resources can be viewed.

edCampGB Final Thoughts

As my first edCamp got underway, I somewhat had an idea of what an edCamp is.  After experiencing it, I now know.

Educators.Relaxed.Collaborating.Learning.

Four fellow teachers joined me that really haven't been exposed to technology as much as maybe other people.  It was a thrill for them to become so excited about the format (relaxed) and the learning that they experienced.  We had a multiple hour conversation after the conference and really became excited about what can be incorporated. Awesome!

My personal experience was fantastic!  Meeting people from twitter was one of the best aspects,. but other aspects of the day rocked as well.

There are so many great options for the schedule, that it is always difficult to choose.

I decided to attend the Evernote, iTunes U, and Tech Coach Sessions.

Evernote: We discovered that we could make a class account and had many people using the account on iPads at one time.  Updating and adding to a note worked flawlessly.  We talked about the benefits of Evernote over other options, due to the ability to upload everything: words, pictures, videos, links, audio.

iTunesU:  This was really an introduction to what iTunes U is.  I enjoyed learning about the "Beyond Campus" and "K-12" section.  I added

• AP European History  (For introduction to our high school AP teacher)
• TED Education Creative Problem Solving
• Google Apps in the Classroom
• Apps for the Classroom
• On The Road To Implementation Common Core with Common Sense
• Common Sense Ending Cyberbullying and Online Cruelty

I will be share the iTunesU resource with our teachers some time during the year as a Tech Tool Tip.

Tech Coach:  Discussed strategies for teaching teachers technology.  We focused on

• ISTE standards
• How to move the non users in our district to users
• Offerings of teaching tech in our district, learning at different times (Learn @ Lunch)
• How we obtain our resources, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, ZITE app
• How we save the resources we find, Evernote, Google Docs, Diigo, all over the place :)

Overall, the day was fantastic and many resources were obtained!

Our tech director would like to incorporate this edCamp idea into a day of professional growth for our teachers in our district.

We can...more details to come!