Our academy is going 1:1 with iPads from fourth grade through twelfth grade this year. We went to the deployment on the first night. At first I thought deployment was a bit of a puffed up term, when distribution was a perfectly good option. Then we arrived and discovered that we, indeed, were there to deploy these devices.
In all honesty, I thought it went great. I don't have any negatives to blog about. The information session was clear and concise (my favorite kind of information session); the password distribution and device use agreement flowed well; the cover selection, complete with a packaging removal station (in the form of a lovely trash can) was smooth and litter-free; and the handing over of a brand new iPad Air and immediate placement in protective case was nothing short of brilliant.
The event concluded with the deployment itself, where students followed clear handout (screen shots... fanTAStic idea) to set up their device so that when they walked out of school, they were ready to clutter it up with flappy and angry and candy everything before launching the new school year where actually playing those apps during class will net a heap-o-trouble.
On the plus side:
1. Passports... clearly labeled stations spread throughout the school gave plenty of time and room to accomplish a task and get a passport stamped. The passport had to be fully stamped before students and parents could take home the iPad.
2. Clear and concise presentation by Technology Director, including a frank discussion of the downside of technology and dark side of the internet. I'm pretty dependent on this guy's expertise; he led us to an awesome filter that his family uses, and we have bought and put it into operation here too. (Which one, you ask? It's called SkyDog. Check it out here.)
3. Tons of space to accomplish each task... plenty of room at the agreement-reading-and-signing tables; wide open spaces for opening packaging and securing the device immediately, and tons of set-up stations with a small army of trained teachers to answer questions when the iPad screen didn't look like the screen shot on the handout. Perfect.
On the minus side:
...
I honestly can't think of anything to go on the minus side.
We have spent a lot of time simultaneously anticipating with excitement and dreading these days. I know the entire Technology Department is probably comatose about now, but they did a great job, and I am thankful.
Now... to implement this new technology in the classroom...
No comments:
Post a Comment