iPadpalooza Day 1

I'm in Austin, Texas, attending and presenting at iPadpalooza. Some of my buddies in my PLN have asked to virtually attend the conference with me. In an attempt to fulfill their request I'm going to try to summarize the vast amount of information I took in today. At the end of the day I'm excited because I picked up several things that were new to me. As I try to align my thoughts, I hope this can make some sense to you. :)

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I began the day with front row seats to hear Sir Ken Robinson. I never thought I'd have the privilege of hearing him speak in person. If his name is new to you, check out a clip from his TED Talk. 

Some nuggets from his keynote:

Imagination, Creativity, Inovation. All three are affected by how we frame our expectations to our students.

"I believe these devices are no longer optional. They are essential." -Sir Ken Robinson speaking on iPads in Ed.

This video made me wonder if the way we frame information for our students is stifling their learning. 

In the 6 hours following the Keynote, I attended 5 sessions. 
I didn't even stop for lunch because I didn't want to miss 
a moment of learning. :)

My Sessions for Today:
Frenemies: How to Make Apple and Google Get Along with Jeremy MacDonald 
Twitter: @MrMacnology
Presentation: www.bit.ly/frenemiesTX
New to Me: Revision history in Google Drive. Neat feature. If you're using Google Drive and sharing a document with your students you can track who has made edits and revert a document to a former version.

iPLC: Planting the Seed Through Staff Development with Errin Jennings 
Twitter: @errinjennings
Back Channeling: http://todaysmeet.com/iPLC
My Takeaway: I was reminded how fun it is to collaborate with other educators who are excited about what they do. I also grew my PLN with lots of good peeps to follow on Twitter.

Look What I Made! with Nicolle Davis
Twitter: @TeacherNicolle
Presentation: http://goo.gl/9IYJA
New to Me: Guided Access!!!! Learned how to use a built in feature of the iPad to keep students wandering away from a particular app. Here's a step by step tutorial explaining the feature. 

Collaborative Creatification with Anna Adam & Helen Mowers
Twitter: @techchick94
Website: www.techchicktips.net
New to Me: Web 2.0 tool for collaborating on the creation of a mindmaps: www.groupmap.com

Apps & Web 2.0 Tools for Tech Ninjas! with Todd Nesloney and Stacey Huffine
Twitter: @TechNinjaTodd & @TechNinjaStacey
Website: www.the3techninjas.org 
Handout: http://bit.ly/14T5D5x 
New to me: www.remind101.com allows you to communicate with parents without them ever knowing your cell number or them having to give you theirs. Completely free! Suggested tip: sign up as a "parent" for your own class so you get your own texts too.

I'll end this post with the new, free apps I learned about today:
Clicking on an icon will take you to the iTunes page for that app.

Chirp

SyncSpace Free

Story Maker HD

Artist Corner

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PhotoPuppet HD Lite

Snapguide

Videolicious

Popplet Lite

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Kids Doodle

Trading Cards

Picturebook

TCEA 2013

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