We’ve probably all heard about the numerous benefits of incorporating smart technology into the classroom; from increased digital fluency and a more collaborative educational experience to a more seamless delivery of course materials and a vastly wider and more interactive array of available content, using lightweight tablets in school is perhaps quite obviously to be preferred over heavy, expensive textbooks, crumpled notes in backpacks, dog-eaten assignments, and hard to read white boards.
At SJHS, we recently improved our classrooms by launching an iPad 1:1 program, and equipping every classroom with SMART boards and Apple TVs. For the past year, teachers have been preparing for the shift by learning how to use numerous different education focused applications. So, let’s check in on how this new adventure is helping our students learn and our teachers teach!
Geometry
In Geometry class with Ms. Alex Hu, students learn to identify different kinds of angles. Each student labels the angles on her own by color coding them, while Ms. Hu circles the classroom to give feedback. Then one student comes up to the Smart board to share her work!
History
In Government and Economics 12, where students are studying different conceptions of human rights, Mr. Dennis Kallo asks students to read several recent news articles that he has shared on Google Classroom, each article reporting on a case of rights violation. After reading the articles, students move into a shared Google Doc, where they collaboratively outline each article, and explain how the story connects to what they have been learning.
Chemistry
Chemistry with Ms. Geny Ventura is all about dessert; plum-pudding, that is. Students learn about J.J. Thompson’s “plum-pudding model” of atomic structure, and recreate it on their own in their notes.
English
How better to prepare for tomorrow’s quiz that with a learning game? In English class with Ms. Aiesha Turman, students take turns quizzing each other using games they have each designed based on their recent unit on feminism and gender.
