Medfield Goes Google Apps!

With the expansion of Medfield's mobile devices, the decision to go Google Apps for Education (GAFE) only made sense.  Google Apps allows school districts to create and manage teacher and student accounts to include their use of Gmail, Calendar, Docs and Site. More importantly, GAFE moves us to cloud-based solutions giving everyone more flexibility in accessing their files, sharing, and keeping track of homework, events, etc. through the google calendar from anywhere- on any device or internet-connection.

With the rollout of the 8th grade iPad and 9th BYOD initiatives and preparation for the 6th grade Koala cluster's Nexus Tablet pilot,  both teachers and students have received training in logging into their accounts and understanding how Google Apps plays a role in shifting to new ways of communication, workflow, and collaboration on the devices and via the web. 

Below Edudemic has informative blogposts on how to effectively integrate Google Apps into the classroom:  

http://soxnevad.edu.glogster.com/bulletin-board/

• 12 Effective Ways to Use Google Drive in the Classroom- Edudemic
• The Step-by-Step Workflow iPad for Teachers
• 10 Creative Ways to Use Google Tools to Maximize Student Learning-Beth Holland
• Back to School with Google Docs
• How to Use Google Drive and Evernote to Create Digital Portfolios- EdTechTeacher

FYI: GAFE is not intended only for students using mobile devices, all 6th graders -12th graders will have GAFE accounts within the next weeks. Any questions, please contact your school's principal.

Read More

iPad Distribution Sessions..here we go!

Doors open for students on September 3rd! 

This year brings excitement in the expansion of the 8th iPad 1:1 pilot when it goes full scale to every 8th grader.  The initiative also moved towards a Bring Your Own Device model with options for Lease-to-Own and district devices available for any family with financial need. 

See documentation on the Launching iPads page

For families who chose the Lease-to-Own option, Blake MS offered three iPad Distribution Sessions for families to pick-up their iPads and to receive setup instruction prior to the start of school year in August.

• Returned signed AUP and recorded the device's serial number
• Connected to the school WIFI 
• Logged into new Google Apps for Ed. account 
• Created a non-credit card iTunes account to be used for school purposes only 
• Downloaded a list of Starter Apps

Starter App List for the iPad Classroom

Below is a core list of apps students should install for the first week of school. Most of the apps are free. Explain Everything is the only paid app in which the district will provide a redemption code for students to download the app during the first week.

App	Function	Notes
Dropbox	Cloud Storage and Sharing of Files	Students will use Dropbox to share files with teachers and other students.
Evernote	Note-taking	Students will use this as their primary notetaking tool across classes.
Nearpod	Interactive Multimedia Presentations	Students will be further engaged in teacher-directed presentation activities by responding to poll questions, submitting drawings and taking informal assessments.
Google Drive	Cloud File Storage, Online, Collaborative Word Processing, Presentations and more.	Students will access Google Drive via a school GMail account and will use to create, store and share files.
Explain Everything*	A screencasting, and interactive whiteboard tool that lets you record, annotate, animate, narrate & more.	* This is a paid app which the District will provide for all students. Further instructions will be provided on how to download on the first day of school.
Skitch	Annotation and drawing app that supplements Evernote.	Students will markup and annotate PDFs, images, maps, etc and send directly to Evernote.

Note for apps:
Once downloaded, please do not log-in or create accounts for these apps; this will be done at school.

Tips for being successful with the iPad:

• Make sure your iPad is in your backpack in the morning when coming to school
• Always bring your iPad fully charged to school; we recommend charging it at night when you are sleeping.
• All your school related apps should be on the Home Screen of your iPad; all personal items should remain on other screens.
• Your iPad should be in a case whenever it is in school
• iPads should not be left in an unlocked locker or any unsupervised area; when in school your iPads should be stored in a locked locker.
• iPads should not be used in gym, bathroom, halls, locker room, & lunchroom.
• Make sure ‘Find my iPad’ is on.  This will allow your ipad to be located in case it is misplaced or stolen.   
• Go to Settings>Privacy>Location Services>Find My iPad> On

As students set up a number of different accounts, understanding how to create a secure password will be important. Check out the following slideshow & click here for more tips.

How to Create (use use) Strong & Unique Passwords from ConnectSafely

The session ended with devices ready-to-go for the first day! Nat Vaughn, Blake MS Principal left families with the message of feeling comfortable reaching out for support.. from your peers, teachers, technology department and your administrators at any time. And, here we go!

Read More