Technology Learning Curve

It may seem as if I've dropped off the edge of the earth, but I can assure you all I have not.  I've just been occupied with some other things lately. 

Recently I was going back to class myself for some training in i-pads for education and I am currently taking a course on the Smartboard for classroom use.  I personally do not have this technology in my own classroom yet, but these two tools are on the priority list for our school to purchase.

I already love, love love using the i-pad and have been lucky to have used it daily for 3 weeks.  The i-pad belongs to a student of mine.  We now use it for his daily journal writing and for practice with phonics to assist him with reading.  Everyday we find new uses for it.  It is such an upgrade to the etch a sketch he used to carry around from class to class.  And I couldn't even count how many magna doodles he has worn completely out.  He uses the blackboard app in my art class when he finishes with his regular art assignment early. 

We have really taken a liking to the recording feature of the Sentence Builder app.  At first he was a little silly when he was composing his sentence.  But now he is taking it seriously and making full sentences that match the image well.  After recording it he writes it in his journal.  At any point if he needs to hear it, he is able to replay it on his own. 

In regards to the Smartboard class, I have much more practicing to do to get accustomed to all the editing tools for the notebook10.  The class was so informative.  We went through all the basics of the equipment, orientation, and how to operate the pens and erasers.  I wanted to touch the board lightly, but I found you really need to put a stronger pressure to move virtual objects and to get the pen points to mark clearly you have to print with firm pressure.

I did find the perfect video tutorial for me to use in practicing the tool bar in the notebook10 where all the slides are made for the smart board.  I am glad for that because without my own SMART board I can still practice knowing where all the tools are and I can test them out.  I'll be able to start creating the pages right away, because the software is already loaded on my school computer. 

The i-pad is simple and very intuitive to use.  I am having no problems getting that to do what I want it to do.  The smart board, on the other hand is going to take a lot more practice.  The learning curve on all the editing tools is much wider than anything on the i-pad.   I'll keep at it just like I jumped into blogging and I know I will learn a little something every day.