There are Years that Ask Questions and Years that Answer

Novelist Zora Neale Hurston said, “there are years that ask questions and years that answer.”

Last year asked questions for all educators in the state of Wisconsin; last year asked questions for me personally: the two were not unrelated.

So now, after 18 years in the classroom, I have a new job. Part-time teaching English; part-time Technology Integration.

And along with this new job comes excitement and trepidation; energy and anxiety; I'm both completely ready for it and will never be fully ready for it.

I’m passionate about teaching and I’m passionate about technology, but this year, I found out that diving deeply into both simultaneously---in an authentic and effective way---is not humanely possible, at least not for this human. So I took a risk and pitched a proposal for my ideal job: teach part-time, help teachers with technology integration part-time. To my elation, I was not only given the go ahead; I was given a mandate: help teachers integrate technology in a meaningful way in their classrooms: not starting in 5 years, not starting next year, but starting NEXT SEMESTER - as in three weeks from now!


And so, green light on, here are my New Year's Resolutions 2012:

1. Deepen my professional social network. I can’t do this alone. I need help, and for me, Twitter is currently the place to get it. 2011 marked my turn from Twitter sceptic to Twitter enthusiast. I’ve been tweeting for 4 months. I follow 87 educators and 60 follow me. I resolve to grow my presence on Twitter while continuing to be hyper selective about whom I follow: my Twitter friends don’t tell me what they ate for dinner; they develop classroom ideas, debate pedagogical philosophies, brainstorm edtech ideas, share conference notes; in short, they give me a broad exposure to what’s happening in the field. Their expertise, advice and enthusiasm is like none I’ve found in my professional life. More please.

2. Keep my eyes on the prize. I resolve to maintain laser focus on helping teachers integrate technology in the classroom. In my proposal, I intentionally used the term “laser focus.” It’s easy to get bogged down in theory and meetings and strategic plans and flavors-of-the-day; I am committed to having an active presence in teachers’ classrooms. I am committed to figuring out how to help teachers integrate technology in a way that's NOT just "one more thing" for them to do. I’m committed to creating 24/7 “how to” resources that continue to support them when I’m not in their classrooms. I’m committed to being an available, responsive, helpful resource to these amazing people.

3. Focus. I'm exposed to dozens of new websites, 2.0 tools, classroom tech ideas on a daily basis. I resolve to focus on a few proven, streamlined, effective tools that will be of most practical use to teachers and most dramatically improve student learning. I resolve not to be distracted by the abundance of shiny, new things.

4. No complaining, period. A friend of mine uses the term “the Society of Yes” to describe the edtech community - a group of educators who are incredibly positive and extraordinarily determined to figure out how we can best use technology to benefit students and teachers.  And so, I vow allegiance to “the Society of Yes”: anything coming out of my mouth that begins to sound like a complaint will be rephrased as a potential solution. Period.

5. Integrate: Meaningful and effective technology integration is difficult, very difficult. What’s going on in education right now is staggering: mandates galore, blinding focus on assessment and testing, the restructuring of teacher evaluation and teacher preparation programs, increased class sizes, increased teaching loads. We’re all feeling the impact of these factors in our classrooms. How then can teachers, whose plates are already heaping, keep up with technology, which itself is changing at breakneck speeds? How can a teacher find the time to integrate technology in a way that streamlines his/her practice, teaches students 21st century skills, and increases student learning? This is no longer a rhetorical question; it’s my job description.

I’m hoping that 2012 will, as Zora Neale Hurston suggests, be a year that answers that question.

The Punch Line

wait for it...

wait for it...

so, the solution to my Picasa/Picnik woes...

Choose "photos" from the menu bar when logged into Google.

Seriously?

So, we're in class when Alee says, "I just got in by choosing 'photos'"

"Photos?" I ask, walking over to her screen "What do you mean?"

Sure enough, the google menu bar---the one with web, images, documents, videos, more (yeah, that one)---- choose "more" and select "photos," a newly and surreptitiously added option.

Click, and BOOM you're in Picassa, happily equipped with all of your photo albums. Click on any picture and BOOM, you're in Picnik, editing happily. Save the pic, and BOOM, you're back in Picasa, edited photo happily housed in the appropriate album. Click on slideshow, and BOOM, you're done. "Insert Picassa Slideshow" from within a Google Site, and BOOM, you have an embedded slideshow on your website.

Even easier than before.

It's just that Google didn't tell us.  What's the deal Google? Why the secret? Why the mystique?

It is the suave way to do things: Be awesome, but don't announce your awesomeness to the world.  But problematic if millions are counting on your transparency and consistency.

If you're cool enough, suave enough, the world forgives and loves you anyway.

Google is suave alright.

Google has Swagga.

I have relief.

My students have their embedded slideshows.

And there's the punch line.

No Picnik in the Park

Yes, I love Google.

I have proclaimed my love for all things Google.

I have proclaimed it publicly, and frequently.

Today, however, I was less-than-enamored with my G-friend.

After prepping the life out of a new unit for Junior English - using Picasa and Picnik - a double-whammy of Google photo managing and editing Apps - for a visual essay, I discovered that over the weekend, Google changed the rules.

The storm descends on our Picnik...

Picasa went from offering either web-based and or downloadable versions to offering download-only....OVER THE WEEKEND.

I realized this an hour before class. And in public education, downloading a program onto a lab of machines in less than a week is tantamount to fixing both the US and EU economies.

Even if I could pull off a download on a lab of laptops in an hour, the "fix" wouldn't be a fix at all since it would prevent students from working on it anywhere, anytime: 24/7 access, which is the whole point of using 2.0 tools in the first place.

So, yeah.  Class today: CHAOS.

I'm the type of teacher who likes to be ridiculously prepared for class. I want to know exactly what I'm doing, what students will be doing, and when.

I want to anticipate problems and have likely solutions nearby.

Technology continues to test my threshold for uncertainty.

Today, case in point.  Yeah, the chaos.

When students learned about the Picassa fiasco, uncertainty prevailed: hands were waiving, and grumbling was a-brewing, frustration was palpable.

An hour of it.

And then another.

I closed each hour with a discussion of the problem and what our ultimate goal was: an edited, captioned slide show that could be embedded into a Google Site and accessed publicly. I reminded them of our motto this year: "We are all teachers; we are all learners. Let's see what we can do."

And so when I got home today, a well-earned glass of wine in hand, I was able to step above the chaos and process the day.

The Data: (some of the comments from students in class):

Bill: "What if I start a new account at home?"

Alicia: "What if we make the slide show in Picnik and embed it with HTML on the website?"

Joe: "Couldn't I just edit each pic in Picnik, save it to a flash drive, take it home, download Picasa, and import?"

Kayla: "Would Voicethread embed on Google Sites? "

Brittaney:  "Why can't we just use Power Point?"

James: "There's got to be a backdoor way into Picasa from Picnik if they're both Google Apps, right?


Conclusions:

Chaos for me, for us, but what else was going on there?

Critical thinking? Check.

Problem solving? Check.

Authentic learning? Check.

Problem-based learning? Check asterisk.

Collaboration? Check.

And maybe tomorrow, a solution...

So I'm thinking...could there be a better simulation of "the real world"?  Situations where answers are unclear, deadlines loom, barriers grow, frustrations mount? Times when we have to re-group, think outside-the-box, abandon plan A, problem-solve?

This post is either a serious case of rationalization and delusional thinking or today's class was one of the richest learning experiences in my classroom this year.

Hmm....

100 Take-Aways From the Midwest Google Summit

We all hope to leave a conference with a few things to tuck into our repertoire. I usually hope for at least one but hardly expect more than a few. And so, when I compiled my notes form the Midwest Google Summit, I was more than a bit astounded to realize I had exactly 100 Take-Aways. Not a bad way to spend two days. And so, in an effort to spread the wealth, here they are:  

1. Use the edtech philosophy of "Teach, Not Ban" when an Internet or Tech problem arises at school
2. Try "Blaborize" to make pictures "talk"
3. Flipteaching.com is a crazy cool website: Ramsey Musallam, AP Chem teacher, is a visionary - embeds Google Docs with video clips for flip teaching. Then, has application activities in class and a quiz the next day to complete the cycle - all tied to the standards
4. Use Incognito function in Google Apps to login to multiple Google Apps accounts simultaneously
5. Google Chromebooks: crazy, messiah-like testimonials from tech coordinators on these devices: one person, one hour set up for an entire lab, no work orders, teachers LOVING them
6. Google Docs (Chad Kafka)
7. "If I could marry a browser, I'd mary Chrome" - Chad Kafka
8. Offline Google Docs is here (good news, chromebookers)
9. Under Tool icon, can choose "comfortable, cozy, or compact" to list your google docs close together or far apart (also choice in gmail)
10. Great Google Doc conceptual video: Google Docs in Plain English
11. Great Google Wow video: "the most awesome 450 Page presentation ever"
12. You can have a Google Doc in many different collections (folders) at once; they're really just tags
13. "All Items" in Google Docs is really to search the entire archive - it can get HUGE, but just let it be (difficult and complicated to delete from "All Items" - they're working on it)
14. Instead, focus on "Home" as your place to be organized and show only what you need
15. To streamline collection of student work, instead of having a student share every document, have him/her create a collection and share it with you
16. To streamline collection of student work, be sure to establish a "naming procedure" with your students for files and stick to it - an organizational must, allowing accurate and timely archiving and searching
17. Make a document a "template" and put a link to it for students - use it as a shared starting point / a worksheet - then they save it as another name when completed
18. In Google Docs, comments stay with a document; chat disappears; important distinction
19. Great video on Google Sharing: hilarious
20. Don't forget to utilize Document Properties: when students are collaborating, have them look up histories and restore to previous versions when mistakes are made
21. "Make a copy" function can be helpful for students to save "their" version at a particular moment
22. Use Snagit, Jing, Sniptool – to get screenshots
23. Can now just drag pics off the desktop in Google Presentations
24. With Google URL Shortener, it gives you a short URL and automatically generates a QR for you
25. Use QR's on the smart board, sending students/audience to a site
26. Using comment function in Google Docs, students can hit "resolve" when they've fixed a problem: it's still searchable as a comment (comment history)
27. In Google Docs, you can have 50 students collaborating simultaneously
28. In Google Presentations and Drawings, you can have 10 students collaborating simultaneously
29. In Google Docs, you can open any document and have a conversation while editing
30. Freaking Out with Google Forms (Chad Kafka) 
31. How to Zoom in on Mac when presenting: hold Control key and use two fingers to swipe up: zoom out by swiping two fingers down
32. Can use Google Form to gather info online from people without having to do all the work (goes into a Spreadsheet, real time)
33. In Google Forms, when using a multiple choice question, you can send students to a certain page based on answer (icon at bottom of page: continue to next page, send to another page, etc)
34. Google Spreadsheets: to delete data, don't highlight cells and delete: better to delete rows 
35. Can use Flubaroo to auto grade MC questions on Google Forms - Instructions: Flubaroo.com video
36. In Google Apps districts, you can have students sign in when completing forms with their user name, can email their Flubaroo grades to them automatically.
37. Idea: use Digital Pass (google form - shows up on spreadsheet): to have students 'sign in' where they're going for homeroom/resource/help.
38. Idea: Use Google Form for walkthroughs: info compiled on a spreadsheet; data emailed to teacher
39. Using Picassa and Picnik for advanced photo projects: Molly Schroeder
40. Picassa has two different components: photo managing software and editor: computer icon (software); cloud icon (web-based photos)
41. You can easily post a Picassa album on your website: Google Plus works seamlessly with Picassa
42. Be sure to make your pictures "public" before using them in Picassa slideshow your'e posting; Otherwise, they won't be viewable to others
43. Cool!  You can go on a field trip, have students take photos (phones, iPads, etc) email them into the Picassa album. How? Under photo settings, click on Upload Photos By Email: enter a word; then there's a link to send it to the album.
44. Seamless embeds of Picassa slideshow on Google Site (it's on the Insert menu)
45. Picnik (online free photo editing superpower): you can edit, share, print pics online.
46. Picnik ideas: make thank you cards, field trip photos labeled with things you've learned, photo book about school for incoming students, locker or desk tags, illustrated lesson plans, learning collages.
47. Colourloves with Picnik for great color palettes, patterns and aesthetics for websites or projects.
48. Picnik: Using solid colored geometric shapes behind text make them pop out in front of a picture.
49. Picnik: the little space next to the color palette on text menu get you the color dropper (match colors)
50. Picnik: stickers give you great options.
51. Picnik: can share and save as jpeg.
52. Picnik: have monthly freebies: seasonal. i.e: November add mustaches to everyone for prostate awareness.
53. Colourlovers: choose palette and pattern/name it (recommend date)/ Command 4 - screen shot; then put it into picnic and upload the photo / look for screenshot to upload; now edit this image: stickers, geometric chapt as background for the text, etc/ Now you can put this anywhere!
54. Big Huge Labs is a great site for cool photo projects
55. Picnik and Picassa are now integrated. Pics uploaded to Picassa. The little picnic blue sky icon brings a picnic website up to you; when you save it; it will be saved in Picassa
56. Can install a Picnic Chrome extension: On Flickr, find a good pic, then grab the extension allowing you to go to Picnik and edit that picture from Flickr immediately; then you can send it to Picnik using the chrome extension, drop what you want to edit in Picnik; click "apply"; then use effects, touch up, etc. 
57. There's also a Picnik edior in Google Plus Photos: "The Creative Kit" On Halloween, Google plus and Picnik let you do "scary stuff" to your profile pic, etc. free
58. Great Intro Activity for students: everyone takes one pictures, "Picnik" it, and compare
59. You can also make collages, but most are on the Premium account: $25/year OR you could make a collage in Picassa and then edit in Picnik
60. Remind 101: a 2.0 tool that allows a 1-way cell phone message from phone or computer
61. Google Chrome offers an incredible start page: check it out and customize it
62. "Google Ninjas" - program started by Jeff Utecht to challenge students to become Google Apps proficient and support others in learning Google Apps
63. Cassio Green Slim projection unit doesn't use a bulb: LED: potential big $$ savings
64. www.msmagiera.com is a teacher site with great uses of Google Forms for surveys and exit/entrance tickets
65. Picassa automatically saves a backup of a picture. When you edit and save it; Picassa saves your original in a subfolder (to access it, right click or Control click)
66. In Picassa, a photo can be in multiple albums simultaneously (it's really just a tag)
67. Experiment with the collage function in Picassa - loads of options
68. You can use Moviemaker within Picassa (the download version)
69. How to keep "real time" photo gallery in Picassa: In settings, create an email address: in the subject line, you must put the hashtag: midwest@google11, for example. The subject line must be identical. The collection will keep building real time (live slideshow, etc)
70. Google Reader =  RRS = Real Simple Syndication
71. You can create a "bundle": a list of RSS feeds. You can save it or email the bundle to share with students. 
72. Note to self: Use "search" function more often: everywhere: in reader, forms, gmail - to learn
73. Google Voice: multiple phone numbers can be forwarded to google voice. On your website, you could get a phone number for others to use, syncing to your regular phone number/phone
74. Could have students record and send to that phone number: fluency readings, etc. 
75. Visual Tweets: great site for searchable, real time tracking of words & concepts on Twitter
76. Visual Tweets can be used to post, real time, on a website, what people are tweeting (put in hashtag: example: #mwgs11, choose animation, then, a place to get the embed code; then go into google site and embed it
77. Google gadget "iframe" lets you put a website within a website
78. Note to self: explore Google gadgets and Google extensions
79. Google Sites Stuff: (Molly Schroeder)
80. Use File Cabinet pages to easily post and organize handouts in Google Sites
81. iFrame Gadget in Google makes "website in website"
82. Idea: "Gift" students their own domain name upon graduation
83. In Google Sites: "Copy this site" - the only way to change Templates 
84. In Google Sites: Themes are much easier to have students customize (than Templates).
85. In Google Sites: Have students choose a theme in "site category" with your name and the year as labels/tags (will help search and archive later)
86. Google Sites "Announcement" page: works a bit like a blog (but beware: identifies all students first and last name) who post
87. Always remove border and title from objects and pics - cleaner look
88. Use colourlovers  and picnik to create incredible color pallets and patterns for banners on site
89. In Google Sites: You CAN change page order on vertical navigation bar (need to uncheck auto navigation to de-alphabetize) but now you'll have to link each page as its created (maybe do this at end?)
90. Idea: present "Twizies" Best Tweet Awards
91. You can use Chrome to sync work and home life bookmarks and extensions (Chad Kafka)
92. In Youtube, you should have your own Channel with categorized playlists; you can embed your playlists on your google site, which can be subscribed to
93. Use Youtube video editor to drag clips, titles, transitions, splicing, editing out, adding music
94. Youtube: In advanced settings on a video, you can choose where to start your video (not nec. at beginning)
95. "If you screencast, you should be you tubing" - Molly Schroeder
96. To stop a vote in Google Forms, use the pull down in forms, stop vote or stop accepting forms
97. Google Earth can be combined with Google Voice for historical, geographical, scientific explanations tied to location: students can phone in their explanations of something; take the embed code for the phone message; go to Google Earth spot (map); edit the placemarker; paste in the html code into that box; click okay (Ben Friezen)
98. If this then that website: makes a "recipe" or a chain of commands happen. In conjunction with Google plus: example: IF you share in Google reader THEN it will tweet out automatically. IF I add to Google Calendar THEN a Tweet will announce an event. IF someone sends me a picture in Facebook THEN it's also sent to Picassa (if, then recipes) (Andy Krozier)
99. Popular "recipes" for If this then that are listed here
100. Try using Picassa plus Google Voice for live digital storytelling: live at a conference (done at this conference) enabling tweets to caption pictures in a real-time slide show on conference website - try for class website (Stacy Behmer)

Some final thoughts...

• The Midwest Google Summit was perhaps the best conference I have attended in my 18 years of teaching. The presenters were at the top of their game and the top of their field; the sessions were practical and cutting edge - ALL of them (a privilege and a rarity).
• My biggest dilemma: choice. Every time slot had 4 or 5 sessions I really wanted to attend. My first session of the conference, for example: I wanted to become a Chromebook Ninja, Search like a Superhero, Freak out over Google Forms, AND Use Sketch-Up to Extend Learning - problem being "OR" is the only available conjunction, so I had to choose....the 100 take-aways above were from the sessions I was lucky enough to attend, and by default I missed another 500 or so take aways...and so, I console myself with "there's always next year."
• After attending the summit sessions and talking around, I left with the gut feeling that Google is in education for the long haul and for the right reasons. I can't help but believe they will continue to provide teachers and students ways to streamline functionality, increase collaboration, and expand learning in class and beyond the classroom in ways we're only beginning to understand. 
• I'm determined to become a Google Certified Trainer. It's the future - something I want and need to be a part of, for my district, my students and for myself. 

      Profuse thanks to all involved in the first (fingers crossed: "annual") Midwest Google Summit.

Bite that Apple.

Seems Steve Jobs is the savior-of-the-day. Unconventional, bad-assed, determined, monomaniacal, he seems to have revolutionized the world as we know it, put a "ding in the universe," just as he had hoped.

So now, I'm wondering what he'd say about my monomania for the last 18 years: public education. James Allworth's recent article in the Harvard Business Review leads me to speculate that he'd be an outlier once again, and once again, he'd be someone we should listen to.

They say (okay, I say) a person's bookshelf is a window into his/her soul. It was this notion, I suppose, Allworth had in mind when he set out to examine the books Steve Jobs sited as most influential on his thinking. Allworth took particular notice of The Innovator's Dilemma by Clay Christensen, which Jobs found "deeply (influential)." In The Innovator's Dilemma, Christensen's premise is simple: innovators are inevitably caught between the impulse to be creative and the pursuit of profit.  It's an age-old dilemma, one that has forever plagued corporate America as well as the minds of its citizens during sleepless, soul-searching nights.

According to Allworth, Steve Jobs defied the innovator's dilemma; he "solved the [conundrum]" when he focussed on creating a great product rather than achieving profit. In doing so, Jobs took Apple from the near bankruptcy to unimaginable success and while doing so, ended up maximizing both innovation and profit.

And so, I can't help wonder, while everyone seems to be quoting Steve Jobs these days and applying his unconventional conventions to models of all sorts, what would the king of technology say about the state of eductaion today? In other words, W.W.S.D?

Perhaps we can come close to an answer by reading Allworth's article, and substituting the words "schools" for "business" and "test scores" for "profit."

Try it.

I did, and I tripped, I think, upon a pretty close rendition of what Steve Jobs might have said about education: When we substitute profits for product, when we focus on test scores instead of students, when we rigidly adhere to short-sighted educational legislation rather than providing authentic learning experiences for children, we are headed straight for bankruptcy, bankruptcy of mind, bankruptcy of innovation, bankruptcy of our future.

Bite that apple.

Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out

I was on the elliptical this morning, innocently putting in my daily non-negotiable hour of exercise while doing what makes that hour tolerable, even fun--- reading my edtech listservs, following my edtech heroes on Twitter, reading Education and Technology briefs on Zine (do you notice a pattern?) when I ran across this little gem:


Digital library aims to expand kids' media literacy

"Hanging Out," "Messing Around," and "Geeking Out" at YOU Media Center

Looked innocent enough.  I clicked on it and my mind has been racing ever since ('tis now 8 hours later).


Here's the gist of the article:


Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago turned a storage room into the YOU Media Center, a high-tech media room, designed to let teens experiment with media and technology. It's proven wildly popular. Teens from all over Chicago have been streaming in, moving through what Mizuko Ito, cultural anthropologist, calls the three stages of media consumption and creation. She explains that teens begin by "Hanging out" (texting, face booking) followed by "Messing around" (recording videos, blogging, posting photos) and finally "Geeking Out" when they begin making quality multimedia products, mixing genres and seeking out the tech skills to do so.


And here's where where my mind has gone since reading that article:

• It all began with my "Aha!" moment: The three stages of technology growth---"hanging out," "messing around," "geeing out"---OF COURSE, that explains, in part, why this is so difficult to manage in a classroom. With the pre-tests, post-tests,  multi-leveled lesson plans, conscious use of Bloom's taxonomy verbs (yes administrators actually listening for our use of specific verbs in the classroom), "I Can" statements---in 4 different preps, 5 different classes, 44 minutes each, and increasing numbers of students in each - clearly, our structure does not allow for "Hanging out" and "Messing Around" - necessary precursors to "Geeking Out," the ultimate leveraging of 21st century skills in an authentic, student-centered context. 
• This made me revisit another article I read recently, reminded me that there is a better way: Arlington High Reaches Middle Age.
• Which made me wonder about what the remedy might be: longer class periods, less class periods, more time for students to hang out, mess around, and ultimately geek out.
• Which made me wonder: could we go to an A/B schedule, allowing longer durations of time?
• Which made me wonder: could I team teach a humanities class (English & History) providing rich cross-curricular content to feed media creation? Could we run it in a block, allowing for mini lectures on history, independent reading and group discussions on related literature (primary documents, non-fiction foundational US History pieces, and historical novels), and best of all, time to mess around and geek out, using technology to creating authentic project-based products demonstrating understanding and relevance in their world? Could it happen? If so, how? Could we get the resources? the time? the support? How would it all work? 
• Which lead to a 30-minute powwow with hubby - occupational dreaming...
• Which lead to a 40-minute phone call with a history colleague - dreaming, but now a little more grounded...
• Which has lead to circles and cycles of consideration about limitations of the current system and wondering where we're going and where I'm going, and if indeed we'll meet the kids somewhere along the road. 

One thing's for sure: I need to go to the YOU Media Center (btw love the name YOU Media Center - truly student-centered). I need to talk to the librarian at Harold Wilson Public Library. I need to continue trying to figure out how we can get there, what my role will be in this, and keep the pedagogical faith---no small task these days.


Onward----

Highs, Lows, and In-Betweens

I've been meaning to do this for a while: quantify my successes and failures in this iPad experiment. To that end, I've created a google spreadsheet listing: my learning objective, the app or program used, the degree of success of failure and why; and finally, whether the function is iPad-only, or if the same fuction could be achieved on a p.c.

The Highs, Lows and In-Betweens will be a living document, updated as I continue to experiment in my iPad classroom.

Its purpose is to share this info with other edtechies (why recreate the wheel?) and to provide a more objective means (rather than raw elation, devastation & exhaustion) for me to evaluate the efficacy of iPads in a classroom lab setting.

So here are the highs and lows in summary, apple in all its sweet and sour glory, from the appletinis to the rot at the bottom of the bushel barrel:

First, the Appletinis:

• Engagement: Students are clearly engaged. iPads are quick, intuitive, and sleek. With iPads in hand, students experience less of a disconnect between their worlds and their education. 
• Apps: Apps are cool. And not just cool, effective. iPad apps are powerful consuming devices, and increasingly powerful creation tools. Again, quick, intuitive, and sleek. Who doesn't want these factors parading across their lives, their work, their "to do" lists?
• Functionality: iPads have a ten hour battery life and are hand-held. They clearly allow for flexible seating, flexible grouping, and a generally spactious, comfortable space for students, a fact that does not go unnoticed by them.

Now, the rot at the bottom of the bushel barrel:

• Flexibility: iPads don't don't play well with others, including biggies like Google Apps, FilesAnywhere, Dropbox, and all things Flash. These are major players and significantly limit what students can do.
• Importing and Exporting: Importing and exporting student work is cumbersome at best; disastrous at worst. We know it's critical to focus on the learning, the writing, the thinking, but with iPads, logistics (import/export/printing) get in the way. 
• 24/7 Learning: Students can use Apps while in class, but uless they own an iPad with the same App, it's impossible for them to work on it outside of class. Likewise, rarely do Apps allow easy transfer and storage of student work on a website or other format, so what's made on the iPad stays on the iPad.
• Privacy: Lastly, there's no way to privatize or lock student work. The five students who use a particular iPad 5 different hours all share the same folders. All student work is available real-time for editing, moving, copying, deleting. Students have been respectful, but an occassional inadvertent deletion proves painful.

That's my assessment so far. For a more detailed version, see; the current Highs, Lows and In-Betweens spreadsheet which shall remain on the side-bar of my blog homepage. Feel free to peruse it throughout the year at your professional or voyeuristic will. As always, drop me a line if you'd like to chat about any of this.

Onward---