Fairview Student Helps Convert PhET Simulations

*Photo courtesy of Andrea Lin

As part of our move to cloud-based resources, I understand the concern from our teachers about resources that aren’t yet fully cloud-ready. For example, PhET Simulations designed for K-12 math and science lessons were originally based in dated technology like Flash or Java which does not work on Chromebooks and iPads due to security issues.

Yet, the work to make these simulations ready for devices like Chromebooks and iPads has already begun! Recently, I met with Fairview High School Student, Andrea Lin, a high school intern for PhET at CU - Boulder. Her journey as an intern connects to the work PhET is now doing to to ensure their simulations are fully accessible from the cloud.

Andrea knows that she wants a career in Computer Science. Because of this goal, she is involved in a variety of CS-driven organizations and clubs both at Fairview and in the Boulder community. Through these avenues, she connected with Ariel Paul, Director of Development at PhET Simulations. After Andrea’s first month working on smaller projects, Ariel realized that she had potential to help with the conversion of PhET Simulations from Flash/Java to HTML5. Andrea joined PhET last summer as their first high school student intern.

While listening to Andrea speak about this experience, it is clear that her passion and excitement for her work with PhET and her future career goals in computer science make her a powerful learner. Andrea had a limited knowledge of the programming language needed to port a simulation from Flash/Java to HTML5. Remarkably, she had to learn and teach herself JavaScript, the programming language needed for the development of these updated simulations. Andrea remarked that “I would learn something, read it in a book, and apply it the next day”. She went on to say that because of the value she placed on the work she was doing (making a PhET simulation available on all devices), the learning meant more to her and has stayed with her.

The on-time, on-demand access that Andrea has to learning resources, as well as the immediate need to implement this learning, is the driving force behind 1:Web in BVSD -- we want all of our students to have these kinds of meaningful learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom. The essence of 1:Web is access.

For teachers that use PhET Simulations for their students, many are already converted to HTML5, and can be viewed here. Many more are on their way. Recently, I’ve been in contact with Ariel Paul from PhET to discuss the possibility of speeding up the conversion process for the highest-need simulations. Supporting Ariel's efforts to covert to HTML5 is a priority for me as I recognize PhET simulations that don't run in the cloud are a barrier to our staff and students who would like to use iPads and Chromebooks to access these resources.

As for Andrea, I asked what her advice would be for the next generation of students passionate about computer science. Her face lit up as she shared her inspirational circles for this work. These include things like participating in math events, science fairs, math groups, computer science clubs, etc. Her recommendation is just get involved!

For the work in BVSD, it’s heartening to hear that our own students are working to provide the shift to cloud-based applications and resources. My previous blog detailed the move in BVSD to devices that need these kinds of resources. Andrea’s story, as well as the continued support from our educational community to work on this together, demonstrates that we are heading in the right direction.

Please chime in below with your thoughts and comments.

Andrew

The Shift to Android Tablets

Google has recently released a suite of products that make managing your classroom easier. It includes:

• Google Play for Education (GP4E), a subset of the Google Play Store interface designed specifically for the K-12 environment. It contains thousands of Chrome and Android apps vetted by CUE educators.
• Google Classroom, a management interface that helps teachers organize assignments within their students' Google Drive.
• Chromebooks, the laptop-style device that we have already started deploying in our schools. Chromebooks are integrated with GP4E for easy teacher management.
• Android Tablets—in our case, the Nexus 7 tablet, a device designed to work seamlessly with GP4E.

Those of you who attended the recent Google Apps for Education Summit saw a preview of what this integrated suite of products can do to make the learning environment more productive. While there are many layers of functionality and features that you will hear more about in the upcoming weeks and months, today I will focus on the shift to Android tablets.

You might be wondering why we decided to offer the Nexus 7 as an option since we already have iPads in our district. One factor is the cost: a Nexus 7 purchased through TPP is $282, while an iPad Mini is $335. But more than just cost is the simplicity and customized user interface that these devices offer. Google designed the experience between GP4E and the Nexus 7 specifically with the education market in mind. Please note that some applications may not yet be available through Google Play for Education store, but the repertoire is growing daily.

As wonderful as iPads are, they are, first and foremost, a single-user consumer device, which means that managing them is complicated and time consuming in a school environment. 

Those of you who have a classroom set of iPads know what I mean. It takes a lot of time to set up the devices, purchase apps, and push them using a separate Mac laptop. That's a lot of work to make a consumer device work in a shared education environment. 

The Google Play for Education management console, on the other hand, makes it easier for teachers to purchase content with POs and push apps, books, and videos directly to the Nexus 7 tablets or Chromebooks—it's similar to sharing a Google Doc. 

Plus, each Nexus 7 can be shared with up to five students, who get a unique, personalized experience.

The Nexus 7 is available today through the BVSD Technology Purchase Program (TPP) and will be the preferred classroom tablet in the upcoming Tech Refresh catalog, which means that it will start being deployed en masse within 6 months. 

What does this mean for the iPads currently in our district? We will continue supporting them, just as we currently do. We recognize that schools have invested a lot of time and training in these devices. 

Stay tuned for more information about GP4E and Nexus 7 as spring approaches. Please chime in with your thoughts below about the Nexus 7 tablet and Google Play for Education.

iPad Resources at BVSD

I’m pleased to see that many BVSD teachers are starting to integrate iPads into their classrooms. iPads and other tablets are intuitive and easy to learn, especially for our students, but they also need to be managed and supported when they are used in an educational setting. If you have more than one in your classroom, you already know that there are considerations beyond what the personal user might encounter, such as setting up accounts and syncing apps across multiple devices.

The BVSD Ed Tech team has collected and created resources on their iPad site to help support iPad users at BVSD. Check out their website if you want more information about:

iPad Basics

Learn about the basic hardware features of your new iPad, and how to start using your iPad from the moment you turn it on. Also, find out how to sync apps between your iPad and your computer.

Volume Purchase Program (VPP)

Get information about VPP, the Apple program that allows educational institutions to purchase apps in volume and distribute them to their users. This is a great program if you need to purchase the same apps for a classroom set of iPads. Todd Shahan, our Apple Coordinator, can help your school get set up to use VPP. 

iPad User Group

Looking for next steps in using iPads to enrich student learning? Join the iPad User Group, a professional learning community dedicated to exploring how to integrate iPads to create a 21st Century learning environment. The first meeting is October 3, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at the Arapahoe Campus Computer Lab 121. 

iPad Articles & Websites

Connect with the growing community of educators around the world who are using iPads. Many excellent online resources are posted on the Articles & Websites page. You can also subscribe to this list of resources as an RSS feed. (What is RSS?)

I hope you take a few moments to browse Ed Tech’s iPad Site. This is a very exciting time for teaching with technology, and this team has made sure that you are getting the best, most timely information and support.

Please chime in with your thoughts.  Be sure to sign in first in the upper right-hand corner.

Andrew