Pelat's Civilization Revolution iPad Project in Hum8

(See project outline on “projects” page)

On May 2, 2012 my Humanities 8 class presented their experiences with “Civilization Revolution” (iPad version).  The task was to understand what leads to the rise and fall of civilizations, which is one of the key PLOs in the Hum8 curriculum.  For the entire year, my class has been trying to understand our world (past, present, future) using essential questions as our lens. 

Some of our questions so far:

1.       What makes us who we are

2.       What is power? Where does it come from?

3.       How does geography determine the success of a civilization?

4.       What leads to the rise and fall of civilizations?

As a class, my grade 8s are realizing the connectedness of all of these questions, which were visually represented in this game. 

To begin, I realized that the iPads were going to be a big deal when used for the first time, so after I went over all of the instructions, and after we developed a set of rules for proper use (which they were super excited about signing – to make it official), I gave the groups (of 3) the rest of class time to “PLAY” with the game.  They were so excited to get their hands on it, but the novelty wore off pretty quick and they couldn’t wait to start charting, brainstorming, answering the questions, and organizing their group ideas. 

My students are a rowdy bunch.  They get their work done, but it’s usually a very “enthusiastic” process, with lots of chatter and a ton of questions.  During the Civ Rev unit, I have never seen them so focused on their own work – usually they are interested in the groups around them, walking around, comparing ideas, but this time they were glued to the iPad and their group members.

I was so impressed, and ultimately surprised by the outcome of this “video gaming” project.  I wasn’t expecting the depth of the answers that were presented.  We used keynote as a tool with our Apple TV, which was really convenient and easy to use.  Each group stood up, connected, and shared their experiences with the class.  I couldn’t believe the connections the groups made, each one using their games as examples for successful and unsuccessful civilization development; but, what really got me, was when 3 out of 5 of the groups actually attempted to connect the game, the questions, and other lessons from earlier in the year, to their school and community! (I didn’t even ask them to do this!)

At the end of the class I asked some of my students what they thought of the unit and they seemed to really enjoy it.  One student said that they had such a fun time playing the game that they didn’t even realize they were doing work. They also looked back at a brainstorm they did in class a few months ago around the essential question and they compared their answers then to their understandings now.  It is clear that they now have a deeper understanding of what leads to the rise and fall of civilizations.  They have developed a one word list (leaders, beliefs, culture, etc) into a meaningful explanation, complete with visuals, historical examples, and modern day connections.  I have attached a copy of the project questions and guidelines for further reference.

Using the iPads - How do we maintain shared devices?

The Learning Design Team has been working hard to educate ourselves on iPad use in the classroom.  We are excited to try new things and share them with our students, however the only way to do that is to PLAY!  We have handed out 8 iPads to members of the learning design team (those who showed interest) and those people have been exploring various uses for about 2 weeks now.  We also had a Meet n’ Eat where we shared some of our learning and experiences with other staff members.  We are still trying to work out some of the “bugs” with shared devices (iPad cart) and are planning on expanding our classroom iPad protocol and maintenance education.  Jess has proposed to educate teachers (pro-d, meet n’ eats?) as well as give a talk at the beginning of the year at our grade assemblies on how to properly use shared devices.  Take a look at the great poster Vicki and Teresa found on Twitter (Go to the resources tab – it’s the first link).

Any FH teachers interested in familiarizing themselves with iPads, you are welcome to sign one out for the weekend (from the iPad cart – See Angela Monk in the Library) or if you are interested in creating a project and think you need a longer time to play around on it, find Jess Pelat in the IAT prep room as she has 2 available for sign out – these iPads are intended for innovative learning design and should be used to promote/develop collaboration and project-based learning.

Please keep in mind that these are shared devices that are maintained at a central location. Thus, please do not log in to your personal iTunes account as it causes problems for the facilitators and is very time consuming to adjust, delete, update, maintain.  Also, please make sure you delete any pictures or personal documents as anyone else using the device after you will have access to it.  Finally, it is advised that you do not log into your personal accounts (email, Twitter, Facebook) using the apps, as some people have encountered difficulty deleting accounts after due to various controls that are on our School iPads.  It is expected that this information is also shared with students when using the school iPad cart.  See Jess if you are having problems or have additional questions. 

Anyone with any ideas for apps to upload or purchase, let Jess know.

We are also looking for speakers willing to come and talk to us about ePortfolios for our students using SharePoint, as well as experts on project-based/collaborative learning.  Any names come to mind?