iSchoolAfrica numeracy success with onebillion

I love that the iSchoolAfrica programme is still going strong in South African schools.
(I have been wishing and asking that my daughter's schools would implement it.)

iSchoolAfrica was founded in 2009 by the Core Group empowering teachers and learners by giving them access to the world's most advanced educational technology (iPads and Macs) and classroom practices. iSchoolAfrica still sounds to me like the most solid and all-encompassing way to help children prepare for a new future where new careers are born daily and old careers are becoming obsolete!

I was invited to a breakfast last week about the iSchoolAfrica Numeracy Programme.

iSchoolAfrica Numeracy Programme breakfast @ischoolafrica #numeracy The project’s vision is that every primary school learner attains core competency skills a foundation for life skills that supports them in achieving their full potential.

A post shared by Karen Du Toit (@karentoittoit) on Feb 28, 2017 at 10:47pm PST

The iSchoolAfrica programme is addressing the Numeracy crisis in our primary schools with the onebillion software. The project was started by onebillion and VSO in order to improve the primary school education for children in developing countries.

Check out @onebillion for #numeracy #apps - Used by @iSchoolAfrica Numeracy Programme in South African Schools pic.twitter.com/2KxcLteuME

— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) March 1, 2017

The countries involved so far in the onebillion initiative is Malawi, South Africa, United Kingdom, Tanzania and Brazil. The University of Nottingham is involved with evidence-based research regarding this initiative. Studies by them have shown children making 18 months' progress in only six weeks. Real-time remote monitoring of children's progress ensures learning is taking place and the teachers receives immediate feedback.

iSchoolAfrica had percentages increased in their schools from a baseline test of 14% to the follow-up test in 6 months to 49.7% (35.7% increase). The highest baseline test came in at 79% and it was increased to 92% (13% increase).

The onebillion apps are available in the App Store and the Google Play Store.

onebillion - some of the apps

Little Miss is still playing testing the apps. Although it starts on a younger age, we were told that she could progress very fast until she gets to her level. iSchoolAfrica is using these apps until Grade 4 in the schools. Some of the apps are already available in Afrikaans and isiZulu. (After downloading the app, you have the option to select your language of preference)

Example of a certificate available on the onebillion app while progressing through levels

Sponsorships from a great many partners help to bring iSchoolAfrica to struggling and rural schools.

Go and check out the apps, and start with the free versions that's available.


Related posts:

- iPads at Moshoeshoe Primary School - changing the South African education landscape #iSchoolAfrica  

- Why it is not a good idea to bring your own device to school? #BYOD #iPadLearningZA 

- iPads in Education - I want to be a teacher now!

Apple in Education Awards 2015 - mind-blown!

The yearly Apple in Education Awards was announced on Tuesday night!
As always I walked away with a an inspired feeling of FOMO! I am definitely missing out!
I wish I was in education right now!
I wish I was a student again!

The possibilities! The creativity!

This year there were again entries from Grade R to Grade 12.
70 schools from 9 provinces participated.
1156 projects were received which were judged by local and international judges.

Here is one of the winning entries:
Exploring the Sciences in Everyday Life - Thomas Granig from The Ridge School
"Gravity and beyond"



You can check out the rest of the winners here: Apple in Education competition 2015.

Christine Greig from Parklands College won in the iPhoneography part of the competition with her "Selfiest Self" portrait! Stunning!

Judge Bernard Viljoen (from "I was shot in Joburg") with Christine Greig

Lindsay Durell from Parklands College won the iTeacher award, and it was not difficult to guess, because she was on stage with many of her students!

Lindsay Durell

The following are links to the rest of the entries. If you have time, it is worth looking at all of these! And wondering How The *Genius they did it!

- Expression Through The Arts: Gabriella Fedetto from St Stithian's College: Lovely

- Bring to Life Your Favourite Historical/Literary Figure: Matthew Thompson from St Andrews: Winston Churchill

- Shape of my world: Luca Genovese from The Ridge School: The Shape of My World

- iTunes U in the Classroom: Brett Udal from Hilton College


Well done to all the winners and the teachers who make this happen! You are stars!!


Which one of the projects are the most mind-blown to you?

Currently...

I found this on Cat's blog: Juggling Act of Life

Listening to: Hozier - Take me to the Church
And I love this ballet version




Reading: Library Advocacy Unshushed MOOC, but struggling to keep up...

Thinking about: My wonderful Hubby who made Valentine's special with a date and movie, and he even bought flowers for the girls!

Looking forward to: Our trip to Texas in the middle of the year. Very scary, but also very exciting!

Anticipating: A very good and busy year! We are doing it!

Planning: The overseas trip (well, we should be starting...!)

Wearing: Cool summer clothes. It is the best time of the year!

Drinking: Coffee. A bit too much!

Eating: A bit more healthy. I am kilojoule counting with My Fitness App on my iPhone 6. Loving it! It seems it is starting to work as well!

Thankful: For being invited to the first International iPad Summit in South Africa the previous two days. My head still spins with all the possibilities. I am also feeling a bit more optimistic about South Africa's educational future with all the bright teachers that attended the conference!

Wishing and praying: Always my children. But it seems they are sorted this year. Little Miss has settled in nicely at school, and waves us goodbye with smiles in the morning. The Student is also enjoying her business classes this year!

Not looking forward to: My birthday! (Getting too near a big number... AAArgh!)

Dreaming about: New possibilities! In my career, mostly!


What's happening currently with you?

iPads in the Classroom: from consumption to creation - Tom Daccord #iPadEdSummitZA

Tom Daccord:
"Educators shouldn't think of iPads as repositories of apps but rather as
portable media creation devices."

I was extremely fortunate to be invited to attend the first South African iPad Summit this week at The Forum in Bryanston.

Core Group invited three international speakers, with over 400 educators from southern Africa attending. It is a buzz to see all the teachers with their iPads taking notes and photographs and discussing the practicalities of implementation of the iPad. It makes me very excited for our education in South Africa!

SA iPad Summit with international speakers #iPadedsummitZA > transforming and preparing all our learners! pic.twitter.com/SkKyKeUu0n
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) February 16, 2015

Tom Daccord, who is from Boston in the United States, has worked with schools, districts, colleges, and educational organisations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He was a history teacher for many years!

My head is still spinning from all the new information of the conference today, but here are
A few important pointers taken from the Keynote speech by Tom Daccord:

- Teachers should not focus on app teaching. It is the narrow vision of an iPad. It is not a passive instrument, but should be used creatively!
See the quote on top by Tom Daccord.

- Teachers should build a vision to work towards. What does awesome look like? (Free Teacher Activity Book for iPads in the Classroom available!) That is the starting point of great learning!

- Three commonalities are identified of great teachers using iPads:

1. Empower through creativity. Children should be empowered to demonstrate what they know in different modalities.

2. Connect. iPads connect globally and students have access to the global community and learning. Use social media!

3. Make learning last. Teachers help students to create opportunities to actively learn.
We were told the anecdote of Tom Daccord's step daughter who was in a classroom setting where the teacher told the children to learn Chinese vocabulary and left. The children came up with the idea to incorporate it with making cooking demonstration videos. She still remembers that vocabulary to this day!

3 Commonalities -great teachers using iPads: Empower through creativity, Connect, Make learning last #iPadedsummitZA pic.twitter.com/XIvgZmRRVt
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) February 16, 2015

- There are evergreen apps that can be used at any point of time with any subject, such as Book Creator, iBooks, iTunesU, Padlet, Notability, Camera.

- The first five days are crucial when introducing the iPad.
Tom Daccord suggests getting to know the students are the most important. It is being done by making use of apps on the iPad, such as the Socrative apps. The teacher will learn more about the children and their background, and the children will already begin to familiarize themselves with the iPad.

---------------------

I will be sharing some more about the Summit in the upcoming days. I have also seen some handy apps that I did not know about. I will probably encounter some more tomorrow!

I hope my daughter's school start their implementation sooner rather than later. I will be that parent phoning again...

(Today I wished again I was a teacher!)

Apple in Education judging 2014 #AEC2014

I get a yearly shot of inspiration when I see the Apple in Education submissions for the Apple in Education competition. These kids are so creative. They are already working with the technology and with the apps in such a way that it boggles my mind.
I am only now starting to use some of it in my daily life!

I was fortunate enough to be invited again in judging a category, Shape of My World, on Friday.

The competition this year changed it's previous brief and "set out with a series of educational challenges - that could be applied across grades and subjects. Through guiding questions, creative solutions and innovative Apple technology they wanted to see how these projects can be brought to life in extraordinary ways."

Michelle Lissoos of Think Ahead introducing the judges

The students could make use of the following apps on the iPad: Book Creator, Camera, iBooks, Explain Everything and EduCreations. There were four of us in each category, and it helped in making the best choice overall!

Fellow judges: Leyla Haidarian, Nikki Heyman and Hayley Owen

Leyla Haidarian in charge of finding the projects

Nikki Heyman, the Scribe for the day!

We spent more than three hours deliberating on 3 age categories in Shape of My World, and we all had to agree on the best three in each.
It took us longer than the rest, but I am happy to report that we found the best three in each.
It was difficult in most instances, but luckily we had the clear guidelines to adhere to:

"Judging criteria:
- Clear indication that the challenge has been addressed, including clear evidence of planning
- Apple Technology has been used effectively (hardware and appropriate apps)
- The project has been linked to the currriculum
- Concept is creative, innovative and original
- High quality of the project presentation"

The Tweet:

This is difficult! IPad judging #AEC2014 @nikkiheyman @HayleyOwenSA pic.twitter.com/uJEOHBeKpd
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) October 24, 2014

We had a sense at the end of the judging that the teachers could have played a more creative role in suggestion diversity in the use of the apps. There are so many possibilities out there!
Especially with regards the younger age categories. But we were still impressed with the submissions!



The Awards ceremony is on 6 November and I can't wait to see the rest of the categories and how it was interpreted.

Related posts:

- Apple in Education Awards 2013 - the winners #iPadlearningZA

- Apple in Education Competition Awards 2013 coming up #appleined

Why it is not a good idea to bring your own device to school? #BYOD #iPadLearningZA

Andrew Wilkins: Northcliff High

I attended an expert panel discussion on Friday at Northcliff High School about the merits (or not) of bringing your own device (BYOD) to school.

The members have done the research around using various devices in the school environment. They shared their findings and discussed why their schools decided against the BYOD model.

The statement was made by Lulu Burger that when talking about BYOD, there must be a question in the first place. What was the question? Why are schools so afraid to go the single device route? Because of the parents?

The school and teachers are the educational experts, and why should they punish themselves, the IT department as well as the children and ultimately the parents when making a choice against BYOD?


I am sharing some of the notes of the reasons for their decisions here.


Andrew Wilkins from Northcliff High:

The deputy Principal at Northcliff High, Andrew Wilkins, said that they did research by looking at all the devices, and they looked at the cheap options as well. They also looked at the Android vs Apple debate and the question of open source and the possibility for fiddling on the devices. They asked about support and they asked about experience in education.

Why not BYOD?
- There is significant pressure from the anti-Apple believers.
- Avoid the "Mine's better than yours" (1900 different devices - minefield) device!
- Teacher training on par across platforms.

They implemented an iPad roll-out in their school by giving iPads to teachers (ownership model) via the school governing body., a full 2 years before giving it to the pupils. The pupiles are providing their own iPads and the parents are responsible for purchasing of textbooks, either electronically or on paper. They are planning a future move towards the flipped classroom, where Think Ahead will be instrumental in supporting the roll-out!


James from Sacred Heart:

James in the middle - Sacred Heart 

At Sacred Heart they are implementing the iPad 1:1. Their goal is to improve how students and teachers interact with one another. Connectivity is very strict, and they only make the network available during particular periods.

- Interoperability
  The moving of content from one platform to another very easy.
- Stability of the system
  Looked at apps and found it to be a very good system. It remained stable. Also with regards security issues. They have guided access, and have placed restrictions on the use.
- Creativity
They have not only combined the iPads with the curriculum, but also with administration and extra- murals. Reconfiguration is all done on the device. For example being used in a visual  literacy project.

The major focus at Sacred Heart has been on the augmentation of lessons. They have feedback sessions about the apps and support. The mobile lab has been eye-opener to the kids, where they used it for chemistry and biology and micro-biology. They record the lessons and experiments.

They are planning to roll it out even further, and the Grade 7's are implementing it next year!


Janet from Red Hill
(ICT Coordinator)

Janet was tasked with the project to research which route they were going to go. They did the research for a year, and did 6 weeks training for the teachers.

They use a challenge approach in their teaching methodology: The child need to learn to ask the right questions!

Think Ahead was already there, who helps with the support, and who helped in convincing the parents!

They have two models: 1:1 in Grade 7, and two mobile banks for iPads.

The iPad is more than just a flat textbook.

They needed to get buy-in: Students are there already! But the parents and the teachers needed to be convinced! They opened  up learning events to parents. The IT teachers had a change in their work-load because they also had to be able to support the staff.

Their experience has been that the teachers were getting excited about the technology. The workflows are very important, and it is not possible when the teachers use different devices! It becomes cumbersome!

They are planning more roll-outs, and the more they are using it, the more they are seeing and using new creative ways in their teaching and learning!


Related posts: 

- iPads at Moshoeshoe Primary School - changing the South African education landscape #iSchoolAfrica

- iPads for children 

- Why iPads?

Ipad learning for special needs - Autism #iPadLearningZA

With the most recent iPad Learning for Special Needs workshop, Elschen Kluge, an iPad Facilitator at Think Ahead, demonstrated three apps to use in the classroom with regards autistic learners.

Most recently I came across the YouTube videos of Carly Fleischmann, an autistic non-verbal girl whom they thought was severely mentally disabled, but she started to communicate through her computer.



It made me realise just how much innate intelligence can be unlocked through the use of apps like the following on the iPad.

Autism

Not one autistic learner is the same, but it is a neurological disorder which impacts the learner with regards communication and learning, to name but two of the learning difficulties.

The communication apps are therefore essential to establish basic communication in the learning environment.

Verbal Me

This easy-to-use AAC and choice board app was designed by special needs teachers to help nonverbal kids participate in class. Users tap a button and the iOS device speaks the button text aloud in either a boy's or girl's voice. Screen choices include yes/no, alphabet, numbers, skip counting, opposites, bullying, getting dressed, using the bathroom, seasons, emotions, BINGO, sight words, body parts, animals.

Tap on the pictures to hear the word being spoken
(Screen print)

Type your own message which is spoken by the iOS device
 in a pre-selected boy's or girl's voice

The alphabet is spoken when tapped

Tap to talk

Screen print of selections on Tap to talk

The portable, customizable communication app AAC for autism, Down syndrome, apraxia, cerebral palsy, aphasia, any non-verbal condition. All languages, all ages

Social Stories

An amazing app for easily creating and sharing educational social stories, visual schedules and beautiful memories. This is a very valuable tool for any teacher, SLP, OT, direct care staff or parent! Children with special needs often need more direct instruction of social skills. Teaching social skills to any child may be easier and less stressful when visual supports, like social stories are used. The social stories found in this app explain accurate social information and ensures that your child will know what to expect in different situations. 

Social Stories (screen print)

Social behaviour and how to is a big issue with regards autism. Learners are taught how to behave, for example sharing is not something an autistic child is keen to do. They also cannot cope with change in their routines. If there is a change, there is usually outbursts of anger and emotions.

Social Stories can be used for own children when they are struggling with something, not only autistic children.

Some of the Social Stories to choose from
(screen print)

More suggestions with regards autism:

• The teacher or parent can make their own specific book in Book Creator.

• Model Me Going Places is a free app and is also used for social stories.

• Visual scheduling of different activities or daily events helps the learners who struggle with internal organizational skills. Pages on the iPad can also be used to create an interactive schedule, add pictures and text.

• Popplet - handy for planning out the day.

• Hundreds of AAC apps on the iTunes store.

Related posts:

- iPad learning for special needs #iPadLearningZA

- iPad in Education at Sacred Heart College #iPadLearningZA

iPad learning for special needs #iPadLearningZA

I learn something new each time I attend a workshop with regards the use of iPads and learning.

Karen Hart, an iPad Facilitator at Think Ahead, gave a workshop on Wednesday at the iStore on Sandton Drive about app solutions for special needs.

Karen Hart

iPad is the best for remedial teaching, because it has so many inbuilt features! 

(I believe it to be true, because I haven't seen other tablets with the same features!)

The Core Group is responsible for the following:

Local support for educators, parents and learners

• Extensive teacher training

• Curriculum integration

• Infrastructure and technical planning and support

• Parent and learner support (at every single iStore)

        Check out the iParent website for workshops and resources.

• Community of best practise

• International keynote speakers

App solutions for special needs:

Karen Hart:

Dysphasia

A child who can type, but not write.

He will type on the Notability app, and mail it back to the teacher. They could both scan their learning material, and mail it back to each other.

Apps: 

Notability

HD Scanner

Dyslexia

Solutions:

- Maths - Talking Scientific Calculator

- Improving character recognition  - Dyslexia Quest

- Zoom - a built-in function to enlarge text - 200 to 500%

- Speak selection - built-in function to read text aloud

Auditory learning

Struggling learning text documents

- Use in-built voice memo (or something like QuickVoice?) to record his summarized work 

- Memos can be shared via email or iTunes or on iOs devices (sent to iPod)

- The student listens to his summarized work

- App: Text Grabber to convert from image into text file

- In-built Speak Auto-Text (with Accessibility function) can be used here as well

Low Vision and Blind

In-built settings in Accessibility: (first place to change settings for visually or auditory challenged people)

- Inverted colours - black background with white text / with orange and purple

- Zoom function

- Voice-over > speaks every single version on screen

- Flexy: works with qwerty keyboard (chosen app) > builds up dictionary of your own words. Train it and create predictive text. Flexy speaks the iPad to you. 

- Google Maps - direct you step by step

Hard of hearing

This is especially a challenge in the South African context. (There are no sign language apps).

Apps:

Book Creator 
- Can be used to create own manuals and videos for learning.

- Custom creation of visual dictionary

- The books are uploaded onto iBooks

- iMovie (or can also use the normal video function on the iPad)

With iMovie there is an option to make your own movie or use the trailer function for                     instant themes.

In-built features:
- Mono audio on iPad > can customize what level of sound go to ear

- FaceTime > smooth communication

- Camera for use in visual learning and teaching

- The Accessibility feature can be accessed by a triple click at the bottom.

- Voice over - Change rate of speech that iPad speaks with Rotor function (twisting                               motion swipe up or down with three fingers
- Speak Selection (Choose voices)

We were shown how easy it is to use Book Creator and to incorporate video, picture and sounds. 

I have posted before about Book Creator and how great it is for learning and fun. 

Book Creator has also come up again and again as one of THE apps to use with regards learning and teaching. Specific books can be created for specific needs, and children can use this very successfully in their own learning and projects at school. With one app you are able to create many different solutions!

I will do another post about Autism and some of the suggested apps by Elschen Kluge next week.

Related posts:

- iPads for teachers in the primary classroom - Tal Slome

- "Connecting to the past, delivering the future" - with iPads in the classroom by Joe Moretti

- Choosing iPads for your school - Fraser Speirs

iPad in Education at Sacred Heart College #iPadLearningZA

Ipad being used at Sacred Heart College
(Photo: Core Group)

Sacred Heart College has implemented iPads 1:1 in their learning environment.

Colin Northmore, the Head of Sacred Heart College, says that for a device like this to have a transformative effect, it has to be everywhere and it has to be invisible.
"What you really want to do is to focus the children on the learning. They are getting better results because the children want to be engaged in learning!"

The success of the iPad project at Sacred Heart College is due to the following: 

• The Emmaius Centre caters for students with special needs at Sacred Heart College. iPad is a critical tool for learning here and allows the school to meet the needs of individual students who may have specifi c barriers to learning. In these cases, iPad is used as a remediation and reinforcement tool.
• The Knowledge Cafe is a session that runs once a week and allows teachers to share ideas, successes and their experience with using iPad in their lessons. This allows for knowledge to be shared across all areas of teaching and facilitates collaboration among teachers. 
• The 3 to 6 Project is an after school initiative for underprivileged refugee students who do not attend school. The iPads are used regularly to aid in depth learning and understanding of basic numeracy and literacy concepts during this time.
• Some students at Sacred Heart College have special requirements when it comes to writing exams. The iPad is regularly used as an audio tool so that students can listen to their exams. These students no longer need to have special venues arranged for them.
• The registration of all extra mural activities in the primary school is done on the iPads and attendance is managed through an app by the teachers.
• Sacred Heart College is the first school in South Africa to develop a course on iTunesU which is based on a successful project they ran with their grade 7’s. The course allows students to create their own interactive books utilising an app called “Composer” and teaches them to be creators of content, rather than just users. It has allowed them to develop critical skills such as time management, teamwork, creativity, music composition, marketing, problem solving and technical app development.

I love what the schools are accomplishing with these projects!


The link and information is supplied by the Core Group.

Afrikaans apps by Cleverkiddo: Seisoene and Olke Bolke

I was alerted by Carien van Zyl, the developer of  the Cleverkiddo series apps for preschoolers, about it's existence on my blog post about Afrikaans on the iPad.

As I love hearing about new Afrikaans apps for our children, I downloaded it and Little Missy took it for the test-drive.

Little Missy busy with the Seisoene app in the
Summer dress-up section 

The Cleverkiddo series consists of  the Seisoene and the Olke Bolke apps.
They are both R21.99 (2.08 USD) on iTunes, which is not expensive at all, and luckily I have an iTunes gift voucher that comes in very handy.

Seisoene

Seisoene (print screen)

The "Seisoene" (Seasons) app addresses the four seasons of the year, with each season having four activities: Puzzles, forms, counting and dress-up.
The dress-up sections are especially cute since it  helps the children to identify which clothes comes with which season.

The app is also available in English: Seasons by Cleverkiddo
                                 AND      in French:  Saisons par Cleverkiddo


Olke-Bolke

Olke Bolke (print screen)

The "Olke Bolke" app is an app with 6 Afrikaans songs by Elizabeth Fourie:

* Lekker om te Lees
* Tekkies
* Olke Bolke
* Feetjies in die Reën
* Hondemaatjie
* Haasbek

What makes it interactive is that there are three musical instruments available for each song that the child can shake to add to the music.

"Haasbek" (tooth missing) song by Elizabeth Fourie
(screen print)

This will keep her busy for a while.

Please let me know of any other Afrikaans iPad apps?


Related posts:

- Afrikaans op die iPad

- An Afrikaans app on the iPad: Die Drie Varkies

- What makes pirates being afraid? - another Afrikaans app for the iPad

"Connecting to the past, delivering the future" - with iPads in the classroom by Joe Moretti

Joe Moretti demonstrating the Augmented Reality app Aurasma

International keynote speaker Joe Moretti, an iPad education expert, demonstrated to teachers on Monday that the use of technology should not surpass the pedagogy in the classroom.

The number of teachers attending the event showed that the vast majority of them has been in the classroom for 20 to 30 years. They are experts in their special fields and experts in teaching. Their knowledge and experience are paramount when adapting to a new environment of using technology in the classroom. Combining that with the children who are digital natives with the use of technology, it makes it easier to make the switch.


Joe Moretti suggested that if there is only one iPad in the classroom available, the teacher already has access to many new teaching methods.

"Connecting to the past, delivering the future"
The pedagogy is still essential for teaching in the future!

New teaching methods with an iPad in the classroom

- Connecting via wireless mirroring to type and show what they are busy with on the iPad. It is not necessary to stand in front of the Black board any more. The teacher can move around with the device in her hand. She can type and draw while moving around. She can ask the students to show what they are doing on the device.

- The camera can be used to record in class, and there are no struggles when saving and searching for the files. It can be uploaded to be made immediately available to all.

- The use of Pages (Microsoft Word) and Keynote (Microsoft Powerpoint) makes it very easy to update and convert the presentations on the iPad. All the previous Word and Powerpoint documents can be uploaded to Dropbox and accessed via the iPad.

- Book Creator is one of the apps that is very easy to use, and it has a myriad of applications in the classroom. It can be learned in 5 minutes. Sound, videos and images can be uploaded as well, and it is very easy to upload it to iBooks.

- SHOWBIE is a great way to share and receive files from students. It has unlimited storage and unlimited class size. It is also free.

- iPad as simulator: There are many ways that the iPad can be used as simulator in the science fields. It can take the students into the human body as well as into space. One microscope that's connected can be shown on all iPad devices in the classroom. The Globilab was demonstrated as a wireless data collection device that makes K-12 science experiments mobile and immediately available.

- Special needs children: Settings were demonstrated to lock the device into a specific app, especially when working with autistic children that gets distracted easily.

- Augmented Reality is a great new way to make old boring posters and learning material coming alive in the classroom. Aurasma was demonstrated as one of the apps to use.

A dinosaurus coming alive on the screen via AR

As always I got very excited when I saw all the endless possibilities and creative uses of the iPad in the classroom. I wish I had an education like this, and I wish my children will be able to have access to this technology!



Related posts:

- Book Creator great for learning and fun 

- Choosing iPads for your school - Fraser Speirs

- Ipads in Education - I want to be a teacher now #iPadSamG

Apple in Education Awards 2013 - the winners! #iPadlearningZA

The 7th annual Apple in Education Awards 2013 arrived on Wednesday. It is designed to award excellence in the classroom. But it does more than that. It challenges the teachers and learners to excel in being creative in their use of technology to enhance their own learning.

I love seeing the finalists and the winning entries! But I must mention that I think that each of the entries in the competition deserves to be mentioned, and especially the teachers who have made a special effort for these kids to be able to take part!

I see this as a positive step towards a future in education where we will be able to address imbalances in the standard of our education, compared to the standard of education globally. The winning entries showed that government schools that implemented the same technology were on par with the private schools!

A few interesting facts, figures and announcements were made:

• The second edition of the Education App guide has been launched, and there are over 100 000+ education apps that are available to use.

• ZA Books have now over 1500 South Africa titles 
• There are great apps that are free on new iPad purchases: iWork productivity apps: Pages, Numbers and Keynote and iLife creativity apps: iPhoto, iMovie and GarageBand.
• From Grade R - Grade 12 have submitted entries in this competition.
• There are entries from 32 subjects in the competition.
• 56 schools have submitted entries.
• 783 projects were entered.
• The judges were independent from the schools and the learners.

Donnay Torr announcing the winning entries for
the Curriculum Projects Grade 5-7

I had the privilege to be a judge in the category Curriculum Projects Grade 5-7 with Donnay Torr and Karen Walstra. It was very difficult to decide on the winning entries, because the entries were all very creative and innovative. Luckily we had a list of criteria to measure and compare our marks of the different projects.

Grayston Preparatory School winning entry being shown

The winning entry from Grayston Preparatory School deserves their win!

Congrats to the winners of Curriculum Projects Gr 5-7 >Grayston Preparatory #iPadlearningZA @SAPixi @KarenWalstra pic.twitter.com/teTnxOd5BB
— Karen du Toit (@karentoittoit) November 27, 2013

The iTeacher of the year from Gugulesizwe Primary School (I missed her name, unfortunately!) successfully introduced her learners to using the iPads as a way to introduce English as the language of learning and teaching in the school. 

I am sorry I don't have more information about the other winners and about the learners. I was hoping to find some more information about this competition on the web, but so far it has not been made available.

Congratulations to all the enthusiastic teachers, and especially the creative students! 

The students are showing us that there are no limits on education! 

Give them the tools and technology, and they will embrace it with enthusiasm and with positive results!

Related posts:

- Apple in Education Competition Awards 2013 coming up #AppleinEd

- Apple in Education

Book Creator great for learning and fun

Moshoeshoe Primary School pupil presenting her ebook
created on Book Creator

An app that came up during the visit by Fraser Speirs about the use of iPads in schools, is the Book Creator app. It is one of the apps that is part of a suggested learning set of apps being pre-loaded on mobile labs of iPads in schools in South Africa.

Moshoeshoe Primary School is an example of a school that has implemented iPads in their school through corporate sponsors and iSchoolAfrica. They use Book Creator very creatively in the English Second Language classes.

We also played with the app. It is a lot of fun for own personal use, or maybe for that book you always wanted to write. Little Missy dictated her story to me while I recorded it. I could add the video in the book, and wrote the rest of her story, with photos attached to it. The first book is free, and after that you have to upgrade to create an unlimited number. At $4.99 (about R37) it is not a huge amount.

We will be making more...

The creators of Book Creator picked up on my mentions of Book Creator in previous posts, and asked me to write a guest post.

 

The guest post is here: Book Creator adding to the learning experience in South Africa

Why iPads? #iSchoolAfrica

I got a first-hand experience of the implementation of iPads at Moshoeshoe Primary School in Daveyton. It is part of the iSchoolAfrica project with support from the Peermont School Support Programme

The question is of course why iPads are being used, and not other tablets as well?
Especially since it seems that the initial cost of the iPad is higher than that of other tablets.

- "The total cost of operation and ownership when compared to other devices are significantly lower once one looks beyond the cost of an individual item to the cost of the iSchoolAfrica mobile lab solution and the advanced educational ecosystem offered by Apple."
                                                      - Peermont School Support Programme

- The solution for unprivileged students are on par with the same comparable technological level that is required in the workplace, by implementing iPads.

- Apple offers a range of standard applications that support creativity in teaching and learning...
                                                       - Peermont School Support Programme

- Apple technology has fewer systems failures and fewer viruses, keeping downtime to a minimum. Fraser Speirs - who helped in implementing iPads 1:1, the first in the world - had the same experience.

- The IT support required is less than other solutions and less intimidating to ordinary educators. 
                                                        - iSchoolAfrica
   
- The applications are mapped to the South African curriculum.

- ZA Books covering over 1000 SA text book titles, are offered on the iPad.



I just love my own iPad 2, and how easy it is to operate! I was even able to upgrade to IOS 7 in recent days, and it has given me immense pleasure. I have an older version of the product, but I am still able to use all the most recent upgraded applications.
I am totally biased! I know!


Disclaimer: Nobody has given me an iPad or an iPhone (I wish ;-)) to say these on my blog.


Related posts:

- iPads at Moshoeshoe Primary School - changing the South African landscape #iSchoolAfrica 

- iPads in Education - I want to be a teacher now! #iPadSamG

iPads at Moshoeshoe Primary School - changing the South African education landscape #iSchoolAfrica

I had the wonderful opportunity to see how iPads have been implemented in a primary school in Daveyton. By now all know that I have a passion for the iPad especially, and that I would love my own child to have access to it in her education.

The statistics worldwide shows an amazing increase in results across the board when there is an implementation of this type of technology in schools.

The initiative is part of an iSchoolAfrica Support Programme together with the Peermont School Support Programme (funded by Emperors Palace and Peermont Global). 

Through this kind of initiatives the same technology is available to government schools as is available in private schools.

Moshoeshoe Primary School

The Moshoesghoe Primary School started with a mobile lab of 20 iPads, and it has been increased to 50 iPads that are in mobile suitcases. The costs to the sponsors are significantly lower than erecting a computer lab, and the mobile labs go from class to class.

Daveyton

The teachers get hands-on training and workshops and the apps for use in the education (synced with the curriculum) are pre-loaded on the iPads.

We had the opportunity to see how iPads are used in the English and mathematics classes. In the English classes they are creating e-books, doing mind-mapping and planning, and presenting their final books to the classes. 

In the mathematics classes they are playing games to learn the basic concepts. I would have loved to do maths like this!

English teacher about the creation of an iBook on the iPad

The children working on BookCreator

A student presenting her iBook about an African culture to the class

The children doing maths by pairing bubbles. How cool is this?

Children in the mathematics class

iSchoolAfrica poster

Doing maths on the iPad

The Head of the Moshoeshoe Primary School

The Head of the school finally told us how much this initiative has meant to her school as well as the community. They are proud of what they have achieved. The teachers love working with the technology, and they see the impact of this technology in their final results.

They have a goal of 60/60 by 2015. 60% of the children to reach a 60% grade in their main subjects.
It is a reachable goal with the implementation of iPads.

It was extremely inspiring!


Related posts:

- Chosing iPads for your school - Fraser Speirs

- iPads in Education - I want to be a teacher now #iPadSamG

- Afrikaans op die iPad