Teacher Training at Colegio Humboldt, San José, Costa Rica - Introduction of 500 iPads for the next academic school year - December 17 to 19 2013

When the Colegio Humboldt approached me to conduct a teacher training for their staff, little did I know about the extend of the project they are about to take on coming academic year - means January 2014.

They will turn grades 5 to 12 into iPad classes effective from January 2014 onwards.
I was happy to accept the challenge to empower their teachers to face the following challenges:

• What are the ways for teachers to apply an iPad during lesson time and at home to create a modern and efficient teaching style.
• What are the ways for students to apply an iPad during lessons and homework to experience a modern and effective learning environment.
• Facing around 40 staff members of different experience level and different language background (German, Spanish and English).
• Setting up an implementation plan for the iPad with the school management and IT team.

Paramount for the planning was the requirement to create time with the individual trainee.

Solution:

1. Setting up a bilingual moodle interactive training course in Englisch and German.
2. A goal oriented training approach was picked to make the teachers achieve the knowledge about how to use the respective apps during creating the expected outcome. This enables them to pass expectations as well as expertise on to their students.
3. Setting up a draft for a iPad curriculum with the management team. 

Contents

• Using QR codes to enhance worksheets - use of the student iPad as individual media server and as a source for differentiation and individualisation in learning.
• Creating worksheets for the iPad with a combination of keynote/ pages and type on pdf - creating paperless worksheets.
• Use of interactive flash elements from the internet on the iPad - Puffin as alternative browser
• Using knowmia teach app to create online lectures for flipped classroom concept
• Application of Evernote for documentation of lesson results.
• Application of Aurasma to create augmented reality content (students and teachers).
• Creating keynote presentations for lessons on the iPad.
• Creating crossword puzzles for knowledge testing.

The combination of the existing moodle platform, the teachers' ipads and the picked tasks and applications, made it possible for me to attend to every participant during the 12 hours of training.

I have learnt from the feedback that the teachers' of the Colegio Humboldt have learnt how to make use of the iPad themselves as well as received ideas of how to make students work with the iPad on their own by putting out an effective combination of task and app.

I am also happy to support the Colegio Humboldt during the oncoming challenges of their iPad program.

In the wake of this training I will create not just manuals of how to use applications but also how to embed them into concrete task and lesson plans. So stay put for online manuals and lesson concepts to come.