Carrier Using an ipad as a teacher - recommendations and experiences

[Mrs_5ft2]

Hi there 🙋‍♀️
I am a teacher at a school and am in the market for a new iPad.
Are there any teachers around?
I was wondering how you use your iPads in school. I think about a 13" iPad Air or Pro. At the moment I have an iPad 10th Generation.
I do prepare my lessons with my MBA but use the iPad in class, including listening comprehension, videos, as well as filling out documents.
Which iPad would you recommend?
Which apps do you use?
I do use GoodNotes and OneNote, as both have their advantages and disadvantages.
WOuld love to get new ideas on how to include the iPad for a better learning experience for my students.
Maybe as a sidenote: Half of our classrooms have apple TVs and in half of them I have to connect it via a VGA-cable. 25% of the time we have wifi available, bust mostly not.

Thank you in advance

 

[jlc1978]

You might look at some of Abazigal posts since, IIRC, he uses one in the classroom.

 

[Slartibart]

you are aware that Apple provides free teacher guides (some even in different languages), for exampel “Everyone can create - Teacher Guide”? Other than that: what are you teaching?

 

[jlc1978]

you are aware that Apple provides free teacher guides (some even in different languages), for exampel “Everyone can create - Teacher Guide”? Other than that: what are you teaching?

Great point. They also have an entire community dedicated to using Apple products in education.

 

[RickTaylor]

Hello. I'm a math instructor at a community college who has been using a 12.9" iPad with a pencil for years to teach. It works great. Recently I upgrade it to a 13" M4 Pro, though honestly the 13" Air would have been fine.

I use Good Notes with it and it works well. I connect the iPad to a projector via an hdmi or vga connector if I'm teaching in person, or to Zoom if I teach online. I do a screen recording and make it available to students afterwards, as well as a PDF of the pages from Good Notes. A nice feature is I can copy paste from a PDF of the PDF when going over homework problems. My handwriting is not great; using Astropad's Rock Paper Pencil helps some.

I'm thinking of trying out One Note on the iPad this fall. The major advantage I foresee is being able to insert/delete space in the middle of a page, and the endless pages. The major disadvantage is not being able to easily save paginated PDF's of the lectures afterwards. Instead, I guess I'd give a link to the One Note document. We'll see how it works out.

 

[Abazigal]

Hi there 🙋‍♀️
I am a teacher at a school and am in the market for a new iPad.
Are there any teachers around?
I was wondering how you use your iPads in school. I think about a 13" iPad Air or Pro. At the moment I have an iPad 10th Generation.
I do prepare my lessons with my MBA but use the iPad in class, including listening comprehension, videos, as well as filling out documents.
Which iPad would you recommend?
Which apps do you use?
I do use GoodNotes and OneNote, as both have their advantages and disadvantages.
WOuld love to get new ideas on how to include the iPad for a better learning experience for my students.
Maybe as a sidenote: Half of our classrooms have apple TVs and in half of them I have to connect it via a VGA-cable. 25% of the time we have wifi available, bust mostly not.

Thank you in advance

I am share what I am currently doing in my class. For context, primary school teacher (elementary), currently teaching Maths, but also did English in the past.

I have been using the 2018 11" iPad Pro (though I recently upgraded to the M4 iPad Pro), which I imagine would be comparable to your 10th gen iPad in terms of performance. It's not slow, but the 4gb ram definitely shows its age.

For model, either M2 or M4 should do fine. As for size, I initially went for the 12.9" model, but returned it a few days later because I found it too cumbersome to be bringing around with me, or holding in one hand while roving around the classroom. Assuming Apple maintains their 2-week return policy in your country, you could try one to get a feel, but I would personally recommend the 11" for the improved portability.

If wifi coverage is spotty, I recommend getting the cellular version, though it will require paying for an additional data plan out of your own pocket. When my school started out, our network coverage was also pretty weak, and our school network did not play well with apps either (for example, mail was heavily filtered if yours wasn't an enterprise device), and airplay mirroring via the Apple TV was flat out disabled (necessitating that I invest in my own router until peer-to-peer airplay was a thing). Oh the days of iCloud syncing causing me to bust my meagre monthly data caps.

App-wise, I use mainly Notability. The thing about the Apple TV is that it projects my iPad in a 4:3 aspect ratio, and there's this annoying border around the screen. Notability has a presentation feature which allows pdfs to fill up the entire screen, making it both bigger for my students to see, and giving me more room to work with. It just looks nicer overall. The downside is that they recently moved to a subscription model. Not expensive, but something to keep in mind.

I have no experience with Goodnotes, though I understand they are close contenders with each other, so you should be fine. Likewise for lesson prep, I also prepare my slides / teaching material on either my school laptop or my own MBA, all of which are saved in OneDrive (I also pay for an annual Office subscription). I chose OneDrive as it is integrated with office and outlook, and it's also way cheaper than Dropbox now. If there are videos to be played, I download them (there are apps on my Mac to download YouTube videos) and embed them directly, since YouTube doesn't play well with the Apple TV.

For apps, it's a bit of everything.

1) Scanner Pro - for scanning documents
2) Camera - when I want to take snapshots of students' work, and it doubles as a visualiser when mounted on a stand.
3) Google Classroom (sucks compared to the desktop version, but I can still post stuff online).
4) Lumafusion - during the pandemic, I used screen recording to record screencasts (mostly myself annotating on pdf documents while explaining a concept), then edited them in lumafusion. I like that said app lets you upload the video directly to YouTube, saving me a couple of steps.
5) Lookup - it's a dictionary app that I like because of its "word a day" widget. I bought it when it was dirt-cheap, and if it's your thing, said feature can be a nice intro to the start of your lesson.
6) Chrome - I tend to maintain similar apps so I can draw the line between work and personal. For example, I use chrome to show websites to my students so it doesn't see my personal Safari browsing history.
7) For listening comprehension and videos, I use a document container app like Documents (this was way before the files app was available). I just prefer using multiple apps each for a single specialised purpose.
8) VLC handles avi files, though the UI is awkward.
9) Educational like Quizizz, Pcalc, Padlet, Google Drive, even clock for setting timers.

Oh, and if you are using your iPad for personal stuff as well, I recommend setting a focus mode which you can enable when entering class. This will block out annoying notifications, as well as hide your own personal apps / widgets by replacing them with a default home screen that shows only the apps you will use for teaching. For example, I have no desire to let my students see whom I follow through my Twitch widget, or my podcast or music tastes, or what games I am playing, or even my calendar events.

You may also want to disable Siri. I have had it misfire a couple of times during lessons.

In terms of learning experience, I will say it's really about being freed up to move around the room and being able to better monitor your students. It's very easy to overlook the students seated at the back and with this, you can ensure that your attention is better distributed amongst your students.

Hope this helps.

 

[ndouglas]

I am share what I am currently doing in my class. For context, primary school teacher (elementary), currently teaching Maths, but also did English in the past.

I have been using the 2018 11" iPad Pro (though I recently upgraded to the M4 iPad Pro), which I imagine would be comparable to your 10th gen iPad in terms of performance. It's not slow, but the 4gb ram definitely shows its age.

For model, either M2 or M4 should do fine. As for size, I initially went for the 12.9" model, but returned it a few days later because I found it too cumbersome to be bringing around with me, or holding in one hand while roving around the classroom. Assuming Apple maintains their 2-week return policy in your country, you could try one to get a feel, but I would personally recommend the 11" for the improved portability.

If wifi coverage is spotty, I recommend getting the cellular version, though it will require paying for an additional data plan out of your own pocket. When my school started out, our network coverage was also pretty weak, and our school network did not play well with apps either (for example, mail was heavily filtered if yours wasn't an enterprise device), and airplay mirroring via the Apple TV was flat out disabled (necessitating that I invest in my own router until peer-to-peer airplay was a thing). Oh the days of iCloud syncing causing me to bust my meagre monthly data caps.

App-wise, I use mainly Notability. The thing about the Apple TV is that it projects my iPad in a 4:3 aspect ratio, and there's this annoying border around the screen. Notability has a presentation feature which allows pdfs to fill up the entire screen, making it both bigger for my students to see, and giving me more room to work with. It just looks nicer overall. The downside is that they recently moved to a subscription model. Not expensive, but something to keep in mind.

I have no experience with Goodnotes, though I understand they are close contenders with each other, so you should be fine. Likewise for lesson prep, I also prepare my slides / teaching material on either my school laptop or my own MBA, all of which are saved in OneDrive (I also pay for an annual Office subscription). I chose OneDrive as it is integrated with office and outlook, and it's also way cheaper than Dropbox now. If there are videos to be played, I download them (there are apps on my Mac to download YouTube videos) and embed them directly, since YouTube doesn't play well with the Apple TV.

For apps, it's a bit of everything.

1) Scanner Pro - for scanning documents
2) Camera - when I want to take snapshots of students' work, and it doubles as a visualiser when mounted on a stand.
3) Google Classroom (sucks compared to the desktop version, but I can still post stuff online).
4) Lumafusion - during the pandemic, I used screen recording to record screencasts (mostly myself annotating on pdf documents while explaining a concept), then edited them in lumafusion. I like that said app lets you upload the video directly to YouTube, saving me a couple of steps.
5) Lookup - it's a dictionary app that I like because of its "word a day" widget. I bought it when it was dirt-cheap, and if it's your thing, said feature can be a nice intro to the start of your lesson.
6) Chrome - I tend to maintain similar apps so I can draw the line between work and personal. For example, I use chrome to show websites to my students so it doesn't see my personal Safari browsing history.
7) For listening comprehension and videos, I use a document container app like Documents (this was way before the files app was available). I just prefer using multiple apps each for a single specialised purpose.
8) VLC handles avi files, though the UI is awkward.
9) Educational like Quizizz, Pcalc, Padlet, Google Drive, even clock for setting timers.

Oh, and if you are using your iPad for personal stuff as well, I recommend setting a focus mode which you can enable when entering class. This will block out annoying notifications, as well as hide your own personal apps / widgets by replacing them with a default home screen that shows only the apps you will use for teaching. For example, I have no desire to let my students see whom I follow through my Twitch widget, or my podcast or music tastes, or what games I am playing, or even my calendar events.

You may also want to disable Siri. I have had it misfire a couple of times during lessons.

In terms of learning experience, I will say it's really about being freed up to move around the room and being able to better monitor your students. It's very easy to overlook the students seated at the back and with this, you can ensure that your attention is better distributed amongst your students.

Hope this helps.

Great writeup here, thank you for sharing. I have definitely had Siri activate when not intended, I should turn that off too.

And the using Chrome (or any browser you don’t use as your main browser) to avoid showing personal history sites is a great idea. For that reason and others, although I tend to bring and use an iPad, mostly for taking attendance, I use the desktop computers present in each classroom (college campus) for showing media, websites, etc.

I wonder if anyone knows a realistic alternative to Google Docs? That site/app has become my biggest use of technology in the classroom by far, over the past several years, as both the main screen projected in class for our daily agenda, as well as a separate doc for students to add their writing, responses to questions, etc. and see responses on the big screen at the front of class. So it’s good, and perhaps I have to just accept it and keep using it, but an alternative would be very welcome.

 

[Abazigal]

Great writeup here, thank you for sharing. I wonder if anyone knows a realistic alternative to Google Docs? That site/app has become my biggest use of technology in the classroom by far, over the past several years, as both the main screen projected in class for our daily agenda, as well as a separate doc for students to add their writing, responses to questions, etc. and see responses on the big screen at the front of class. So it’s good, and perhaps I have to just accept it and keep using it, but an alternative would be very welcome.

None that come to mind. Google docs is actually pretty good (just that the iOS apps are pretty limited in functionality), and schools typically will have created education accounts for their students, so the issue of onboarding them has already been solved. I would advise to just stick with it if it's working well for you and your students.

 

[joeblow7777]

I'm blessed to have Apple TVs connected to mounted LCD projectors in my classrooms, and (in theory) constant wifi. I frequently project presentations, documents, and a virtual whiteboard (called "ShowMe") which I can annotate and write on from anywhere in the room. "Notability" is particularly useful for annotating documents/PDFs.

I also grade work submitted via Google Classroom directly on my iPad. This was a real life saver during the pandemic!

I would also strongly recommend the app "iDoceo". It's fantastic for grade collection, calculation, and reporting, attendance tracking, making seating plans, and more. It's available on Macs as well, but I discovered it on iPad. It's a paid app, but well worth the money in my opinion. Once purchased you can use it on both your iPad and Mac.

I've never used a keyboard with my iPad, as anything that requires one I would just do on my laptop, but an Apple Pencil (or less expensive alternative like the Logitech "Crayon") is vital for most of the uses I've mentioned.

In conclusion, I would say that my iPad has become a vital tool in my teaching practice. I would also note that everything I've mentioned can be done on an entry level iPad. My work iPad is a 9th gen entry level model, with only 64GB of storage. So unless your goal is to make it a full laptop replacement or you plan to use it for personal enjoyment as well, an entry level model is probably all that you need. Maybe an Air for a few perks like the laminated display, but a Pro is most likely overkill.

 

[Abazigal]

I would also note that everything I've mentioned can be done on an entry level iPad. My work iPad is a 9th gen entry level model, with only 64GB of storage. So unless your goal is to make it a full laptop replacement or you plan to use it for personal enjoyment as well, an entry level model is probably all that you need. Maybe an Air for a few perks like the laminated display, but a Pro is most likely overkill.

Yup, that's my experience as well. My 2018 iPad Pro likely would still have sufficed for another year, but then the M4 iPad Pro came out, and I thought "may as well". I also do have the 9th gen iPad at home (belongs to my mom), and borrowed it for a few days to use at work when my iPad was in the repair shop to have its battery replaced, and it worked pretty well. Plus I realised that I still missed the curved back.

Also, I believe the M2 iPad Air is compatible with the 2nd gen Apple Pencil, plus and accessories like the smart keyboard, so that's another plus point if you are already invested in accessories.

Though the main thing is software updates. Getting the latest iPad now means it will definitely be supported for the next 5 years at least, and possibly 6-7, if you intend to keep it that long.

 

[ndouglas]

None that come to mind. Google docs is actually pretty good (just that the iOS apps are pretty limited in functionality), and schools typically will have created education accounts for their students, so the issue of onboarding them has already been solved. I would advise to just stick with it if it's working well for you and your students.

Thanks, yes, I will, most likely keep using it, but only until I find a viable alternative… it’s a horrible company so it will never stop bothering me to use their products. Just a few examples of many, many more can be found here:

No Tech For Apartheid

Tell Google and Amazon: Stop doing business with Israeli apartheid

www.notechforapartheid.com

 

[iPadified]

The VGA output was rock solid on my 2015 iPad Pro.

I use the iPad to lecture using Keynotes. Many students have commented upon that writing on the lecture slides using a pencil while presenting is "really good". At some point I will try to lecture using the freeform app to minimise the use of slides and that endless canvas maybe better to visualise connections between parts of a topic. The AI feature that makes a handwritten notes more readable is much needed for that . I prefer the 13 inch iPads because it does not seem to cramped when lecturing and note taking.

Otherwise I use the iPad for report grading, ie annotating pdfs, and taking notes during supervision, all pencil work. It is a good device to go around the class room for 1:1 instructions. All the admin is done online using websites that are fully compatible with iPad Safari. If I was not also a researcher with some specific software needs, the iPad could easily replace my Mac.

So I use iPad as a blackboard and chalk and pen and paper replacement. I use a 2020 iPad Pro. No performance issues yet. It replaced a 2015 iPad which showed lagging and lagging during lecturing is very stressful.

 

[IJBrekke]

As a music teacher, the 12.9” iPad is ideal for sheet music, grading things digitally, etc. That has been my direct experience. Everything else, I still prefer a laptop, personally.