Quick Impressions of Mercy 2.0 and the iPad Deployment

Vector portrait credit to credit to Vectorportal.com

Here is a quick, narrow take on how Mercy 2.0 is going three days into the new school year:

The Good

* The iPads' mobility and battery life impress, but the connectivity throughout the school stands out as a biggest technical strength.

* We have experienced fewer mechanical and log-in issues than the past.

* Staff has been patient and collaborative about trouble-shooting.

* The Apple TVs allow the teachers untethered access to their projectors.

* Teachers from various departments have told me of terrific apps that they have found for their students.

* Two new teachers told me, today, that they love their iPads.

The Bad

*I can't believe that Apple provided us with cheap batteries in the wireless keyboards that came with our 26 iMacs.  They did not make it to the start of school!  

*I wish we had done more training on classroom workflow with the iPads, perhaps even if it meant we spent less time exploring apps.  Getting documents to Moodle is a bit tricky with the iPad.

*I am bewildered by how many of my seniors haven't even brought their HPs to my AP class even though the entire experience has been paperless thus far.  This goes to show that the we sometimes give the young a bit too much credit for being digital natives.

*I have had my own connection troubles with the Apple TV I am using.  But I attribute this to my own failure to test out the equipment more thoroughly.  I am really looking forward to taking advantage of the technology.  But like my colleagues I have found my own little stumbling block with Mercy 2.0.

The Ugly

* I am thinking some pretty dark thoughts about some of our digital publishers.  As we try eagerly to take advantage of their resources, some have put ridiculous technical and policy obstacles in the way of our families as they try to acquire instructional materials.  It is frustrating for IT, teachers, and especially our parents when we all try to get our students fully prepared for the beginning of school.  We've learned a couple of lessons about our own process of informing parents, but I truly can say that sone of our math and  science students have really been done wrong by the publishers.