Welcome to my blog! I'm Karen Belt, a Deputy Principal, working at Lynmore Primary School in Rotorua, New Zealand. In the past I have taught Years 0 - 4 and used 1:1 iPads to engage and motivate learners and improve student achievement. This blog documents my teaching and leadership journey and my learning processes with iPads in the classroom. I am a Google Certified Educator #SYD17 and I'm proud of having been a member of the inaugural Manaiakalani Digital Teaching Academy(MDTA) program and a Spark Manaiakalani Innovative Teacher (MIT) and an inaugural Manaiakalani Google Class OnAir teacher.

Monday 29 May 2017

Interface XPO 2017 - Afternoon Sessions


Creating with iPads - hosted by Cyclone Computers
Moving from consumption to creation!

The SAMR model helps us determine what level of creativity with technology you are achieving. Most learning takes place above the line (transformation) - modification and redefinition!



While there are MANY apps, using a few apps extremely well is better than just touching on many.  Its not about the app - its the task!

PicKids - the same as PicCollage but more child friendly (not internet based).  
Some ideas for using this:
Letter/Number Scavenger Hunt
Story Sequencing
Homophones
Parts of Speech
Book Covers
Writing Displays for publishing
Timeline of events
Character Map

Some ways to use Book Creator:
Collaborative books
Books can include text/sounds/images
Sentence starters

Explain Everything
Some ways to use Explain Everything:
Explain learning by annotating and talking about instructions
Take a photo of a piece of writing to model editing and recrafting
Capture the voice of the learner

Afternoon Keynote
Coding using Gamefroot
A game creation tool for school children and educators to create games.  This web based creation tool uses scripts (similar to Scratch) to enable children to make and share their own games. Learners can draw their own backgrounds and images or choose from a full library.  You are able to have as many levels as you would like in a Gamefroot game.


Afternoon Session
Keeping Students safe using Google Suite for Education (GfE)

This recent report highlights the importance of digital technologies in education.  Various risks for children using the internet.

"More time teaching, less time teching" - Google.

G Suite - different settings for different users within in a domain.  Many of the features for G Suite are underused in GAFE domains and experts such as Cyclone can assist to ensure these are set up correctly.

Google Safety Center - free information for parents/teachers/educators


I've enjoyed my first Interface XPO.  It was also great to network with other teachers and IT techies throughout the day.


4 comments :

  1. Lovely to hear about what you have been learning Karen. It sounds like you have made the most of this opportunity, as usual. Are you presenting at Ulearn this year?

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    1. Thanks Dorothy :) I definitely enjoyed the day. At this stage I'm not doing ULearn this year, but things can change of course.

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  2. Replies
    1. No, not this year as have a prior commitment

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