In this episode I interview Kasey Bell, author of the educational book Shake Up Learning and co-host of The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast. This was a fun interview with a very genuine and caring educator. I know you are going to find tremendous value in this interview with Kasey.

Kasey Bell is part sparkling smile, part witty personality and a whole heap of passion as big as a Texas–go big or go home, y’all! She is a disruptor of the boring.  An engaging, innovative, from the heart sharer who inspires educators while transforming their teaching with original, timely and use-tomorrow ideas for student choice, differentiation, and technology integration. 

Whether it is learning from home through online courses, professional development, conference workshops or as a keynote speaker Kasey is a relentless innovator of ideas and a devoted transformer of classrooms and teaching. 

Through teacher empowering publications and award-winning educational resources at ShakeUpLearning.com, learner-driven workshops and presentations and co-hosting Google Teacher Tribe weekly podcast, Kasey proves why we should never settle for the boring when it comes to bringing out the very best in our students, and we should always strive to Shake Up Learning!

Host of The Shake Up Learning Show Podcast

Author of Shake Up Learning: Practical Ideas to Move Learning from Static to Dynamic

Co-host of The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast

Access Kasey’s amazing online courses for Google Level 1, Level 2, and Trainer Certification and more!

Google Certified Innovator

Google Certified Trainer

ISTE Featured Voice

Digital Innovation in Learning Award Winner in “Sharing is Caring”

One of 20 TrustED Educational Thought Leaders

Award-winning blogger and social media influencer

Must Read EdTech Blog 

Edublog Awards Finalist 

The award-winning Shake Up Learning website and blog provides teachers with practical resources for using technology in the classroom, including how to use Google Classroom, G Suite for Education and other Google tools, as well as many other blended learning and technology integration resources. Here you will find free technology tips and tricks, free downloads and templates, in-depth online courses, books, lesson plans, and lesson ideas, cheat sheets, blog publications, and podcasts.

[smart_podcast_player social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_linkedin=”true” social_email=”true” ]

In this episode I interview John Sowash about his book and podcast, The Chromebook Classroom. John is making an amazing impact in education. This is a great interview about how to use Chromebooks to create. John can absolutely help you and your district better use Chromebooks. John is brilliant. You are going to love this interview.

John Sowash is an experienced classroom teacher, former school administrator, author of The Chromebook Classroom, and founder of the Google Certification Academy. He’s also the host of The Chromebook Classroom Podcast. John inspires educators to use technology connect with and challenge students. Schools around the world have invited John to come and share with them. You can connect with John via his blog (www.chrmbook.com) or Twitter (@jrsowash).

Mentioned in this Podcast: 

• Planbook.com: Planbook is the best way to create, organize and share your lessons. We are proud to have them as our sponsor of this episode.

• John’s book: The Chromebook Classroom.

• John’s podcast: The Chromebook Classroom Podcast.

• John’s blog: www.chrmbook.com

• One of John’s favorite books is: Start with Why by Simon Sinek

• He’s currently reading These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most by Dave Stuart Jr.

Six Reasons The iPad Dominates Over the Chromebook in Education: 

1. Accessibility: The iPad is loaded with accessibility features that no other device has, and these features can help ALL students such as: Captioning and Audio Descriptions, VoiceOver, Display Customization, Guided Access, Speech and so much more! I use Speech to have my emails read to me and I love Magnifier and LiveListen. All students can benefit from accessibility features. Too many teachers think these features are for a particular group of student. You can learn more about iOS Accessibility Features here. 
2. Durability & Longevity: The iPad wins this one outright. The iPad is made of stronger materials and has less physical features to fail than other devices. Sure the screen can be of a concern but that I don’t think you would want to drop either device, and in a drop test I’ll take the iPad. Battery life on an iPad is superior from my use. The screen looks better on an iPad, the sound, sounds better on an iPad, and the overall experience of operation is awesome.
3. Portability: Hands down, the iPad is by far a more portable device. The front and rear-facing camera, and the ability to use the iPad in any flexible seating situation makes it perfect for education. Combine this with the long battery life and its super-slim footprint, the iPad can go anywhere. Changing the brightness of the iPad’s screen also makes it great for portability; allowing the student to use it in a theatre and other situations without disturbing others. Watch how students awkwardly try to use Chromebooks: to shoot video, in flexible seating, in labs, while standing.
4. Reading Device: The iPad as a tablet is an incredible reading device storing thousands of books. There are a variety of reading apps available including: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and so many more. It’s a light reading device that is much more pleasurable to read with than a traditional Chromebook laptop. This makes the iPad the best Chromebook for reading. More books and a better format.
5. Apps: There are far more apps, and educational apps and creation apps available for the iPad than the Chromebook. It’s insane how many awesome apps there are for teachers and students to use to amazing things! No other device has access to this library of GREAT tools to teach and make a difference.
6. Apple’s Apps for Education: Apple’s apps designed especially for education, only to be found on the iPad: iTunes U, Schoolwork, and Classroom. iTunes University is only available on the iPad and I believe this is the game-changer for education. Giving teachers and students the ability to create interactive textbooks and creating online courses with embedded discussions is the future of education for all levels of education. iTunes University is being used from primary grades all the way through post secondary with incredible gains and impact. For this reason, you can see why the iPad would be the Chromebook of choice for teachers and schools. These apps are free.
7. Everyone Can Create: Apple has created a dedicated curriculum on using the iPad to create in the classroom, and it’s called Everyone Can Create. You can learn more here. It’s free.

That’s right, the iPad is a Chromebook. I love using Google Apps for education in my classroom and the iPad has them all.

There are currently well over forty apps in the iTunes store created by Google for the iPad that include the Google Apps for Education suite:  Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Gmail, Chrome web browser, Google Drive, Google Search, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Keep, Tasks, Google Voice and more. Teachers even have a special app Google Classroom. Blogger and YouTube Creator Studio are available and fantastic for student reflection and creation.

Myth #1: The iPad is about consuming not producing. Wow! This is incredibly false, in fact, I would say the complete opposite is true. There are far more apps for the iPad than any other device and the iPad has the best apps for creating and sharing authentic digital content. Students can create books using wonderful apps like Pages and Book Creator, create movies with iMovie, and as mentioned at the start, it is a Chromebook, so it uses all the Google apps and then add all the apps just for iPad. Fact: The iPad is wonderful creation tool for education. You can write, great websites, make movies, play instruments, and so much more. I challenge you to find a device that can create more than an iPad. Apple has dedicated an entire free curriculum titled Everyone Can Create that demonstrates iPads superiority to creating which is the DOK 4, the Quad D, the rigor and relevance, and the synthesis of students’ learning. Students should not be sitting and exploring “learning” sites by themselves going over facts, they should be collaborating with their peers creating standards-based creations.

Myth #2: The iPad doesn’t have a physical keyboard. This just isn’t true! First of all, if you have typed on the iPad I would contend that most students do not need a keyboard. Just because you do doesn’t mean they do. In fact, I had students who preferred no keyboard and typed very fast. Still, know this, there is a greater variety of keyboards available for the iPad than there are for the Chromebooks. Apple’s detachable keyboard is awesome. The Chromebook only has one keyboard available, the iPad has a variety from different vendors with built in cases if you prefer. The idea that a physical keyboard is superior is a concept created by older generations. Students don’t have physical keyboards on their devices. Physical keyboards are foreign to them and take as much time for them to get adjusted as it does adults to get adjusted to a keyboard screen.  If you want a keyboard for the iPad, it’s a choice, and you can pick one out that you like. I have seen many Chromebooks left unusable after a keyboard mishap.

Myth #3: Chromebooks cost less. No way can I agree to this! First of all, I see iPads outlasting Chromebooks every year. The iPad is better made inside and out and it’s like having multiple devices in one package. Still, there will be many who say their school simply can’t afford iPads. If you really believe that, you are doing your math wrong. Without adding in Apple’s Education Pricing or Bulk purchases, you can purchase a brand new iPad on Apple’s site (Cheaper on other sites like Best Buy and B&H Photo) for $329. This is one of their newest iPads that has great utilization with the Apple Pencil. Second, when I search for Chromebooks of similar quality as the iPad I get the the same price as the iPad, and you can do more on the iPad. I am certain discount packages for both devices for education are available. You can play the “pricing game” all you want, but you get what you pay for when ordering technology.

Six Reasons The iPad Dominates over the Chromebook in Education: 

1. Accessibility: The iPad is loaded with accessibility features that no other device has that can help ALL students such as: Captioning and Audio Descriptions, VoiceOver, Display Customization, Guided Access, Speech and so much more! I use Speech to have my emails read to me and I love Magnifier and LiveListen. All students can benefit from accessibility features. Too many teachers think these features are for a particular group of student. Not sure. You can learn more about iOS Accessibility Features here. 
2. Durability & Longevity: The iPad wins this one outright. The iPad is made of stronger materials and has less physical features to fail. Sure the screen can be of a concern but that I don’t think you would want to drop either device, and in a drop test I’ll take the iPad. Battery life on an iPad is superior from my use. The screen looks better on an iPad, the sound, sounds better on an iPad, and the overall experience of operation and use is better on an iPad than a Chromebook.
3. Portability: Hands down, the iPad is by far a more portable device. The front and rear-facing camera, and the ability to use the iPad in any flexible seating situation makes it perfect for education. Combine this with the long battery life and its super-slim footprint, the iPad can go anywhere. Changing the brightness of the iPad’s screen also makes it great for portability; allowing the student to use it in a theatre and other situations without disturbing others. Watch how students awkwardly try to use Chromebooks to shoot video, in flexible seating, in labs, while standing and you will see why schools’ choice for the best Chromebook would be an iPad.
4. Reading Device: The iPad as a tablet is an incredible reading device storing thousands of books. There are a variety of reading apps available including: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and so many more. It’s a light reading device that is much more pleasurable to read with than a traditional Chromebook laptop. This makes the iPad the best Chromebook for reading. More books and a better format.
5. Apps: There are far more apps, and educational apps and creation apps available for the iPad than the Chromebook. It’s insane how many awesome apps there are for teachers and students to use to amazing things! No other device has access to this library of GREAT tools to teach and make a difference.
6. The Game-Changer: Apple’s apps designed especially for education, only to be found on the iPad: iTunes U, Schoolwork, and Classroom. iTunes University is only available on the iPad and I believe this is the game-changer for education. Giving teachers and students the ability to create interactive textbooks and creating online courses with embedded discussions is the future of education for all levels of education. iTunes University is being used from primary grades all the way through post secondary with incredible gains and impact. For this reason, you can see why the iPad would be the Chromebook of choice for teachers and schools.
7. Everyone Can Create: Apple has a dedicated curriculum on using the iPad to create in the classroom and it’s called Everyone Can Create. You can learn more here.

In the end, it comes down to the teacher and the classroom. If the teacher is simply going to use a device to type papers and take standardized tests, than that is pretty sad, and it’s doubtful that true innovation and transformational learning is going to be out of reach. However, if you want an innovative classroom that interacts and explores a platform of incredibly creative apps, I believe the iPad is the best Chromebook and best 1:1 device. The iPad does all that a Chromebook can, and then adds to it it’s own ecosystem of iPad-only apps that have in themselves transformed education.

I am an Apple Distinguished Educator AND a Google Certified Innovator. I see the value of the Google Apps for Education, but I also see the iPad as a superior educational tool.  I just want everyone to understand that the iPad is an amazing, stand-alone device for education and it is also a formidable Chromebook of sorts all rolled into one.

An iPad is a Chromebook and it’s, well, an iPad.

Written by Kelly Croy

In this 97th episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, Kelly interviews Jake Miller.

Jake is an authorized Google Apps for Education Trainer and is currently the Technology Integration Specialist for Brady Middle School in the Orange City School District in Ohio. At Brady, Jake helps manage the implementation of Google Apps, 1:1 Chromebooks and Schoology, while working with a team to envision the building’s future integration of STEM, Project Based Learning and the school’s new Fab Lab. He previously taught STEM, math & science in the Stow-Munroe Falls School District. Prior to that he taught 9 years of math and science in various grades. In his free time, Jake is passionate about sharing ideas, tips and support for educators through his website, Twitter account and the #EduGIFs that he creates.

Kelly and Jake talk about makerspaces, Fab Labs, Chromebooks, Google Apps for Education, Productivity Tips, Screencast, and so much more. Get your notebooks ready because your brain is about to get full of knowledge. This is a fantastic discussion on education and technology.

Mentioned in this interview: 

Potato Pirates: A Card Game that teaches you programming. Great for classroom, family and friends.

Jake’s favorite book: DRIVE by Daniel H. Pink.

Jake’s website: www.JakeMiller.net

Camtasia screencast application.

FAB Central: MIT’s Fab Lab site.

TIES: Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM

#EduGifs: A huge collection of Jake’s micro PD Gifs. They are awesome!

[smart_podcast_player social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” social_linkedin=”true” social_pinterest=”true” social_email=”true” ]

Educators are my favorite species. They not only work incredibly hard all hours of the day to make an impact in the lives of those they teach, they are also constantly working to improve themselves as well.

Each year I taught, I wanted to make my classroom, lessons, and engagement better. I was always trying to level-up. I still am. I made resolutions each school year and again at the start of the new year. I love those imaginary reset buttons!

Here are twelve resolutions I believe every educator should make:

1. Rethink Homework: “But students need the practice!” Really? I’m not telling you not to give homework, but I am asking you to rethink what you are sending home. Check out the book Ditch That Homework by Alice Keeler and Matt Miller for ideas. Talk with fellow teachers and admins. Rethink homework. Please.
2. Transform the Use of Technology in Your Classroom: Technology should be used the majority of the time to create content, and only briefly to consume. Examine how you are using tech in your classroom. Offer your students amazing ways to create and publish what they know. Create digital textbooks, videos, presentations, animations, and more! Get going. If your students are mostly on websites clicking answers, well… you’re using it poorly. Try the book 50 Things You Can Do with Google Classroom.
3. Share Your Story: Take all of the great things you and your students are doing and share them with the world on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, a blog, YouTube or write a book. Everyone benefits. Start this, this year!
4. Attend a Conference: It is always awesome to get out of your classroom and learn something new, get inspired, and apply it. I recommend returning and giving a presentation to your building and maybe even your board. If you don’t return and apply it, then maybe you should let someone else go in your place. Apply.
5. Apply to Speak at a Conference: Share what you know! Don’t have anything special enough to share? Then it’s time to level-up and get after it. I’m serious.
6. Nominate a Colleague: Yes, find someone in your district you admire and nominate them for some recognition. Why? Because they deserve it, and when one educator is looked upon positively, all educators are looked upon positively.
7. Collaborate with a Colleague: Open the door to your classroom both figuratively and literally and find ways to collaborate with other teachers. I suggest creating an interdisciplinary thematic unit with a culminating activity with other teachers at your grade level. It’s fun, memorable, and good for students.
8. Lead: Rather than complain about something you don’t like, create a solution and begin implementing it. That’s called leading. We are all educational leaders. Need help? Read my book Along Came a Leader, or one of my favorites, Start. Right. Now.
9. Start a YouTube Channel for Your Classroom: Hey, it’s all about video. I found myself watching someone cook a fish dinner the other day on Facebook. I watched the whole thing. I don’t like to cook, and I hate fish. My point is… video done well can be engaging, and your class could be open to students 24/7. Do this now.
10. Get Connected with Other Educators: Build Your Personal Learning Network (PLN) either online by using Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or reach out to educators in your building, district, or state. Share what you know. Learn from them. Show other educators how to do this.
11. Publish Student Work: Find unique and powerful ways to share and publish the work your students do in your classroom. Give them authentic audiences and genuine purposes to create. Build a website, start a podcast, host a “fair”, publish them on a blog, YouTube, or SeeSaw. Publish their work.
12. Contact Every Family You Teach: Seriously, forget the email. Pick up the phone or send a postcard home to every family you teach. Find something positive to say about every student and offer them a personal challenge in your class. Let them know you care about them.
13. (Bonus) Read an Educational Book: There are so many great educational books out there that will change your career. Grab one and see what a difference it makes. Looking for suggestions? Try Teach Like a Pirate, Lead Like a Pirate, or Empower. Also check out my podcast for links to fantastic educational books.

What did I miss? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.