Allanah King Fun Day

A month ago I was lucky enough to participate in a day Allanah King prepared for the Tuawhitu o Akarana (Cluster 7) RTLBs. What a fantastic day it was. As always it was a pleasure to review and reflect on the mash up of old and new learning.

We started the day with the first block on iPads. We engaged in a game of Allanah bingo to get the ball rolling, I highly recommend checking out both her template for you to use with your students and also her iPad bingo which has all the weird and wonderful things you can do with iPads as well as the links to show you how to do them. It’s perfect for anyone wanting to learn how to use all the awesome features on their iPad or for people just wanting to refresh one or two things like me. I realised that although I knew I could do 95% of the things on the list, some I hadn't done for a while and couldn't remember where to find them. Guided Access is a classic example because I use it so rarely. It was great to have a refresher and it’s a fantastic chance for people who aren't so confident with their skills to show off something they can do.

I also, finally, learned a useful tablet term. For those not in the know, like me: Surface tablets are windows tablets (I thought they were Android tablets as well… useful (useless?!) information I did not know!). Android tablets are Google tablets and iPads are Apple tablets.

My Pic Collage example

We reviewed some awesome apps that I adore using and had a practice with some. Pic Collage, Book Creator, Write about this (NZ), Popplet and Drive. What caught my eye was Flick. I have used the now nonexistent app bump and I currently use dropbox/drive etc but Flick was new to me and it instantly snagged my attention. You don’t have to muck around with logging in and creating an account. Flick shares files using WiFi or Bluetooth. You can open it on your phone and desktop and then you just flick the file/photo/contact/game etc from your phone to the chosen device (i.e. your computer) and it will appear on it. You can set them to save after flick or self destruct etc. It’s quite ingenious! So simple that I instantly fell in love it!. It’s all about utilising the app/device for the right purpose.

Our middle block focused on the Virtual Learning Network. I highly recommend all New Zealand teachers at least create an account with the VLN, even if you just use it for lurking it will be well worth your while. We started the session with a video by Tessa Gray. I loved the description of the VLN as a big virtual staffroom because that’s exactly what it’s like. You can listen to conversations, start them, add to them. Allanah had us look at a variety of different VLN groups and we wrote down ones we thought we would join because they interested us. We all then spent time navigating around the VLN and personalising our pages.

My Google Drawing example

Our third and final block focused on Google. I learned that you can put a document into two different folders. This news was almost on par with when I found out about the new cell merges in docs late last year. If you use the folder icon in the document you can hold ctrl and you can select two folders to access the document from - Hallelujah! We practiced creating and sharing docs but my favorite part was a bit of a play with Google Drawing. I've used Google Drawings a fair bit but not for fun, was good to experiment with clear png’s and have a bit of fun. The highlight was going over some Chrome Extensions and Chrome Web Apps that Allanah recommended we have a look at. I’m hesitant to dabble in them because of the access to information you need to allow to third parties but my next step is to find some that interest me and give them a go.

All in all a fantastic day, with lots learned by many. I highly recommend Allanah King if you are lucky enough to acquire her, Teaching & Core Education commitments keep her fairly busy I’m sure. She has two fabulous sites Getting Good with Google and Initial iPad Setup but nothing beats a session with her in person.