(final post in a 4-part series on why I teach with the iPad)
Following the success of my first iPad course at Hood, I started sharing my own best practices for using the iPad with my colleagues. As a member of the advisory board for our Center for Teaching and Learning, as well as a faculty representative on our campus academic technology and infrastructure committee, I’m the most vocal iPad advocate on campus. I’ve presented at faculty development workshops on using iPads in the classroom, and this semester, I’ve helped organize an “Appy Hour” series that provides opportunities for faculty to share the apps that have made a difference in our teaching.
As a campus, we’ve also been eager to share our use of the iPad with a broader community of educators. In 2013, I was one of six Hood faculty featured in a YouTube video series that highlights how we teach with iPads; we hope it will inspire others to find innovative uses for the iPad in their own teaching. More videos are currently in the works and are scheduled to be published to YouTube in Spring 2015. I was also the main writer for Hood’s successful Apple Distinguished School application last year, which will help us to spread the word about the exciting ways our students and faculty are using their iPads.
In addition to the outreach I’ve done with and at Hood, I’m working to share my successes on my own. I keep a list of recommended apps and information about my multimedia and online assignments here on my blog. I’ve also published videos with iPad tips and tricks on my YouTube channel, and my “How To Use Your iPad in College” video continues to be the top search result for “iPads in College,” with more than 45,000 views as of May 2015.
Some of my most effective iPad advocacy, however, happens face-to-face. I haven’t taken a laptop with me to an academic conference in three years. I always use Keynote on my iPad for presentations, and I always end up having a conversation with a few other professors who want to know how and why I use the iPad in my teaching and research. Usually, it only takes a few details before they’re convinced: I tell them that I can quickly put together a slideshow in a few minutes before class, that my students can take photos of our chalkboards after a lecture or brainstorming session to include in their notes, that I can grade and provide feedback even when I’m traveling.
In those conversations, as in these posts, there’s only so much that I can say about my daily pedagogical adventures with the iPad: a few details here, a success story about a timid student there. I believe that the iPad is revolutionizing the ways that we teach and learn, and I believe that it will continue to do so for some time to come. I’m thankful to have the opportunity to be part of that revolution, to be able to help my students—and have them help me—to be more active, collaborative, and risk-taking learners.
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