Yes, I used eBooks in a math lesson!
I decided instead of giving a traditional paper-and-pencil assessment at the end of our unit on solving multi-step equations, I would try a more authentic assessment. My students had become very good at solving the multi-step equations, so the real challenge for them was applying these skills to word problems and perimeter problems. So that's what I focused their assessment on.
Using the Book Creator app, I created 3 different-themed books. I put the books in the shared folder in Showbie so they could access them. They had their choice of which book they wanted to work on. Each 2-page spread contained a word problem or perimeter problem on the left side, and the directions and space for their answers on the right side. Next to every problem was a sound clip which read the problem to them as well. Their task was to go through the book reading/listening to each problem, then writing an equation and solving it, writing their final answer in a complete sentence. Using Reflector, I projected my iPad up on the SmartBoard so I could walk them through the basics of how to get started. They picked it up so fast -- they were up and running in no time!
My students did terrific with this project. Click here to download a sample project (open it in an epub reader such as iBooks). They liked the idea of skipping the paper-and-pencil test, and they really love using the iPads, even if it is for school work. They were all very focused on their books. I think next time I will have them create the entire content for the books since they now know how to use the Book Creator app so they have more ownership over their project.
Our middle school got our first cart of 30 iPads in the fall. I was sooo excited to finally get to use them with my students in October! I had spent most of the previous summer researching and investigating how I could integrate them into my lesson plans. I knew they would be very engaging to my students, but I wanted to use them in a way that would increase their learning, not just because they were "cool".
The first few times I let my students use the iPads, it was just to "play around". I wanted them to explore and get comfortable with them before I attempted to use them in a lesson. Some students had already worked with one, but there were some who had never held one before and needed a little help to get started.
Stupid as I am, one of the first lessons I used the iPads for was during one of my observations with my assistant principal. Fortunately, I teach three sections of the same Pre-Algebra class, so my first class was a trial run. There were a few glitches, so I tweaked it a little for my second class. I spoke to my assistant principal after the second trial and told her all about the small fine tuning I had done to the lesson since I had sent her a copy of the original lesson plan. She observed me during my third run-through. There were still some minor issues, but overall she was very impressed that, for one, I had even tried to use such a new piece of technology for my observation, two, that I had made revisions as needed, and three, that all the students were highly engaged in the lesson. This gave me the courage to move forward and try to incorporate the iPads in more of my lessons!
Here are some of the other "apptivities" I have tried out with the iPads:
Oringinally, I thought I had to find "math apps" to use, but I have found that finding good creation apps is much better! Math apps have a very limited use, whereas a creation app such as Nearpod can be used for just about every concept in the curriculum. More bang for your buck (even if they are free)!
I should add that my experience this first year was not limited to using just the cart of 30 iPads that my school purchased. We also initiated a BYOT policy this year, so the students have been able to use their own smart phones or personal iPads in the classroom as well. Some days when I could not reserve the iPads, the students would use their own devices and they would share with a partner who did not have one. This worked out well, especially for QR code scavenger hunts (see photo). In the case of bingo, I had paper bingo boards for those who did not have their own device.
One thing I have learned is that iPads cannot replace the paper and pencil. Some students just prefer to do their math work on paper, which is fine. If I have a lesson planned where students will be annotating on a PDF, I always bring along several paper copies just in case someone would prefer that method. I also found that paper and pencil works much better for assessments. I tried an assessment using a QR code scavenger hunt with students solving equations by annotating on a PDF, and it just led to frustration for many of the students. (I retested on paper the next day and used that as a learning experience for me and practice for the test for them).
I have had so much fun planning lessons with iPads this year, and can't wait for next year! I am also planning on teaching a profession development class on incorporating iPads into the content areas in the fall to share my experiences and knowledge with my colleagues.
