2012 iPad Summit Reflections

Posted on by

Wow. Two days of iPads at the iPad Summit (put on by EdTechTeacher). That was awesome. And kind of exhausting (but in a good way). I’m excited to get back in the classroom with my 3rd graders and start keep doing some really neat stuff with them. Only more of it now.

So, going back over my notes… Some resonating ideas:

  • With all things tech, first ask “Why?” This was kind of a theme.
  • Our economy is based on people spending money they don’t have on things that are bad for our planet. (Tony Wagner) This is kind of frightening. 
  • Teachers who made the greatest difference to kids were teachers who were outliers in their teaching environments. (Tony Wagner) This makes me sad.
  • “If you cannot engage your students you have no future in being a teacher.” (Tony Wagner). Yes!
  • The app/device is a tool to think with. Yes (see my last post).
  • If you can’t identify a problem the iPad will solve, you probably shouldn’t be using iPads. (Greg Kulowiec) Yep (see bullet 1).
  • Check out Henri, on Youtube and Twitter. He’s a french cat, but so much more. 
  • If we get lost in the “how” we need to stop and ask “why” (Greg Kulowiec)
  • iPads are “mistake tolerant”. This came up a lot.
  • Beth Holland loves arrows. And I love this graphic. The Camera Roll is king.
     
  • Remember to ask: Why am I creating this stuff? Why am I curating (keeping) this stuff? Why do I need to create and curate this stuff? (Beth Holland)
  • SAMR Model for technology Integration: Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition. This came up in a few presentations. It looks a lot like my graduate thesis, but with a cool acronym. Why didn’t I come up with a cool acronym?
  • Let kids play with apps before you try to teach with apps.
  • Learning is creation, not consumption. Knowledge is not something a learner absorbs, but something a learner creates. (Patrick Larkin)
  • “It is no longer enough to do powerful work if no one sees it.” (Chris Lehmann) And Chris wasn’t even at the conference!
  • Explain Everything. I need to spend some more time with this app. Also, I got to see the features on the next update: yes please.
  • The iPad simplifies the technology. This came up a lot too. The iPad does so much, it prevents having to move files from one device/format to another.

There was way more than that, but I want to keep it brief.

And finally, if anyone out there reading this is involved in the building or maintaining of conference centers, please put shelves over the urinals. Please.