This document summarizes Jocelyn Ashley's experiences introducing digital technologies like iPads and Comic Life software into her Year 1/2 classroom from February to November 2011. It describes the skills and apps she taught students, challenges faced, and her reflections on shifting towards a more integrated approach to planning technology across the curriculum.

1. Digital Journey 2011
Jocelyn Ashley
Howick Primary School
Year 1/2
February - Learning@Schools conference, Rotorua
- learnt about brain-based learning and how to introduce mobile
technology (ipad/ipod touch) into the classroom.
- began teaching Comic Life to my class
March/April/May - teaching how to drag and drop photos into a CL page
without changing the frames.
- how to add titles and names
- how to save to R14 folder in Students
June/July - teaching how to how to select a Comic frame to use
- how to put in speech bubbles
- how to adjust the text size and font
- how to take great photos on a digital camera
- how to critique our photos after downloading them

2. August/September - continue teaching basic set-up skills with CL
- teach digital art using the functions in CL
- students now able to put together a CL page mostly
independently or with peer support
- introduced an ipad to the class for literacy
- research suitable apps to use with Year 1/2
- used ipod touch devices in class
- learnt how to set up a wiki for my class David Kinane
October - ULearn2011 in Rotorua. Main points:
- how to integrate ipads/mobile devices into the classroom
- what does inquiry learning supported with elearning look like in a
junior classroom
- suitable apps for ipads for the classroom
- BYOD: advice from those schools who have gone down this path
- the importance of being nimble in our approach to teaching and to
lead the way as we are already in the second decade of the 21st
century.
November - use the ipad regularly to support my literacy programme
- chn will rotate around the one computer in R14 to create a CL
page about their year in 2011 at school.

3. Comic Life
in the
Junior School

4. Start with small groups - 4 at a time is good.
Teach how to click, drag and drop photos into
the frames.
Show how to add name and title. Type it for
them.
Put in background colour.

10. Children’s reflections
‘I like putting the pictures in.’
‘I like Comic Life because it is cool and fun.’
‘We get to do speech bubbles.’
‘I like putting the colour in.’
‘I like how we put all kinds of pictures inside.’
It is fun choosing the photos and putting them
in.’
‘I like putting in my name.’
I like choosing the colour for my background.’
‘ I like writing in the speech bubbles.’

11. Topic: Autumn

12. The students used the digital cameras to take photos
around the school of what Autumn meant to them.

13. We downloaded them and critiqued them, then went and took
more photos as we learnt how to use the cameras properly.

15. The students worked together to create an Autumn Comic
Life page with speech bubbles using topic words.

22. Children’s reflections
‘I liked taking photos that were beautiful.’
‘I like how I took photos of things that we love
in Autumn.’
‘I like zooming out and in and taking pictures of
Autumn trees.’
‘It was a little bit hard when we were using the
cameras.’
‘It was fun taking the pictures.’
‘It was hard taking photos that were not blurred.’

23. Class Alphabet Book
• Children work in pairs

24. Class Alphabet Book
• Children work in pairs
• Brainstorm words that start with their
letter

25. Class Alphabet Book
• Children work in pairs
• Brainstorm words that start with their
letter
• Teacher conferences and scribes each
chosen word correctly

26. Class Alphabet Book
• Children work in pairs
• Brainstorm words that start with their
letter
• Teacher conferences and scribes each
chosen word correctly
• Teach children how to open a Google page
and a Comic Life page, and then swap
between the two

27. Class Alphabet Book
• Children work in pairs
• Brainstorm words that start with their
letter
• Teacher conferences and scribes each
chosen word correctly
• Teach children how to open a Google page
and a Comic Life page, and then swap
between the two
• Children search up images of their words

28. Class Alphabet Book
• Children work in pairs
• Brainstorm words that start with their
letter
• Teacher conferences and scribes each
chosen word correctly
• Teach children how to open a Google page
and a Comic Life page, and then swap
between the two
• Children search up images of their words
• Click, drag, drop into the frames

29. Class Alphabet Book
• Children work in pairs
• Brainstorm words that start with their
letter
• Teacher conferences and scribes each
chosen word correctly
• Teach children how to open a Google page
and a Comic Life page, and then swap
between the two
• Children search up images of their words
• Click, drag, drop into the frames
• Add names

35. Children’s reflections
‘It was fun when you got to pick pictures.’
‘It was fun choosing lots of things but it was
tricky dragging them to my page.’
‘Some of the pictures were wrong and we had to
search again.’
‘It was fun when I chose the controller on the
wheel.’
‘We could not decide which picture to put into
the page.’

36. Digital Art -
distorting/enhancing
images with
Comic Life

37. The students chose one of their photos and made a blank CL page with 2 images on it.
Then they distorted the bottom photo using the Select button.

45. Children’s reflections
‘I liked choosing the colours of my other picture.’
‘I liked doing all the colours that were beautiful.’’
‘I liked changing the pictures.’
‘I couldn’t decide which way to change my
photo!’
‘There were lots of different styles to choose
from.’
‘Wow! My digital art looks really cool!’
‘I liked the different colours in my picture.’

46. Long
Term
ICT
Plans
2001
Text

47. Text
Long
Term
ICT
Autumn
Plans
2001
Text

48. Sample of Planning in Room 14
Text

50. Reflection on Planning
My pedagogy is changing as I realise that IT devices can be used in
class all day to enhance the student’s learning. My planning has been
very basic this year, with all the things I want to teach the students
put in one place - the IT block - on my timetable.
However, I am now experimenting with a much more integrated plan
where there is IT devices used and highlighted throughout the week in
different curriculum areas. I am looking forward to having more ipads
and at least one up-to-date iMac next year so that I can rely on there
being enough IT devices that actually work in my class for group work.
I can see I need to practice with the apps and googledocs that I want
to use in the class so that I become an expert and can guide the
students and help them use the IT devices throughout the day.
Click on this link to see a prezi I made on ipads.
http://prezi.com/aq7hgme4rma0/ulearn11/

51. Reflection on 2011
My Year 1/2 class have become quite independent with using Comic Life and
Google to present their work/ideas/recounts. They have worked together well
in buddies and reading groups. Often we have completed out IT work back in
the classroom, working on the class computer and they are becoming more
independent at this.
It has been a big learning curve this year as we have begun to seriously look
at introducing mobile technology to the school. I have learnt that you just
have to get in and lead with the technology and make mistakes - as Simon
Breakspear says (ULearn11) it is through failure that we can learn to succeed.
I would like to spend more time giving the class the chance to have iplay
time with the ipads so we can learn from each other and integrate it into our
curriculum areas one at a time.
As we get more mobile devices to use in our classes it will be important that
teachers know the apps they are using and why - how do they enhance the
children’s learning? I am going to spend time in Term 4 getting to know the
apps I learnt about from successful elearning teachers at ULearn.
I have benefitted from the help and ideas shared amongst the cluster schools
and I look forward to the next steps we will be making as a school.

52. Skills I have learnt this year:
•how to lead a Junior class through Comic Life
•how to use ‘Grab’ to capture screen images
•how to put together a Keynote presentation properly
•how to use a data show projector
•how to create digital art with Comic Life
•how to add widgets to a class wiki
•how to upload children’s work to a wiki
•how to use an ipad
•how to download apps and use the iTunes app store
•how to tell if an app will be suitable for my class
•how to use Shape Collage
•How to use Wordle
•How to use voice capture to enhance children’s learning and for
formative assessment
•how to make a prezi