Let’s start with a hypothetical situation: Your institution has decided to adopt iPad for all students and faculty. You need to attend professional development on how to use iPad for teaching and learning. You’re not convinced this is more than a fad; in fact, iPad doesn’t have a keyboard! What do you do next??
I am pleased to share with you my new book, iTeach with iPad: Higher Ed Edition.
The purpose of this digital book is to empower faculty and give advice, resources and relevant examples integrating iPad into a learning environment.
You’re not alone; higher education institutions around the world are looking at iPad as a solution for mobile, substantial, transformative learning. How do you go from dream to a new culture successfully with as few roadblocks as possible?
This is my second book. My first one was written for a K-12 audience after I spent a couple of years traveling all over the country as an Apple Distinguished Educator, working with K-12 teachers that were mid-career, facing change with the adoption of iPad into their school, and terrified about the change. The idea behind the original tome was to provide strategies, suggestions, resources, links, encouragement and empowerment. iTeach with iPads K-12 is now in it’s second edition with updated resources and additional content.
The Higher Ed Edition was born last summer, after attending a conference at a community college about to begin a school-wide iPad adoption. After speaking to a few people at the school, I realized the concerns and attitudes, changes and fears were similar to what I encountered in the K-12 world. I began to reach out to those that I knew had been bringing iPad into their learning environment and doing so successfully.
I was fortunate enough to partner with higher education programs and schools around the country to explore iPad in education. As a result, the guide includes real-life challenges and tools to build success. This is a reference tool with words of wisdom, practical examples, and quality resources for faculty to consult and reflect upon as they being to think about how they will use iPad.
Unlike other books, this does not take a formulaic approach to course or program design, but it allows flexibility to create a program that is uniquely yours and complements and enhances the learning environment. Also, as a digital book, this will see regular updates with additional success stories and resources rather than a second edition.
A couple of large takeaways for creating a successful program:
- Ongoing professional development is key to building a good program. For transformational learning, invest in your faculty. How people use iPad for consumer entertainment is vastly different than how it’s used by a student or faculty for teaching and learning.
- Bringing iPad into your learning environment will shift your culture. Get in front of it and drive the change.
If you’d like to learn more about iPad in education, please feel free to email me.
Jill Burdo is an Instructional Designer with the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning at Georgia State University, presently embedded with the College of Law, and an Apple Distinguished Educator. She’s on a quest for the perfect wheat free, sugar free chocolate chip cookie.
