iPads on a Field Trip?

This week we had an experiment as we took our iPads off campus for the first time. We took our Minis on a field trip to Litzsinger Road Ecology Center. I have to admit, this venture made me nervous, as I even had a dream about an iPad falling into the creek.

Before the field trip, I sent students several documents through Edmodo that I wanted them to have on the field trip. Normally, I would have printed these documents and given the students paper copies, but The Bartin Bunch is all about saving paper. One document was a form that all Keysor second graders used on this third trip to Litzsinger (the other classes used paper) to document our learning about life cycles. The other was a butterfly identification chart, which was four pages long. Knowing that we would not have internet access on the field trip, I made sure that all students had the documents ready to go in Notability before we left school, and we went over the expectations.

In addition to using these two documents, we talked ahead of time about taking pictures of what we saw on the field trip. I encouraged the students to use the camera to document what they saw, but we also talked about not letting that distract from listening to their volunteer or staying with their group.

When we got off of the bus, I could tell that some volunteers were surprised, and perhaps uncomfortable, with the students having iPads. I am sure this was new for them. We found that the volunteers definitely handled the iPads in different ways. One volunteer was worried about them, so she collected them from her group, and they didn't have many pictures or notes. Other groups took full advantage of their iPads, taking pictures and videos, making notes in Notabillity, etc.

Eddie recorded bird sounds that he heard.

Alexis got a close-up shot of an interesting plant.

Kira took a picture of tadpoles that her group found.

Marin and Sydney organized their notes when we met back together at the end of the trip.

When we came back together at the end of the field trip, I told students to take a few minutes to complete the life cycle observation sheet in Notability. This sheet involved an illustration of a life cycle they observed, along with some writing about it. I found it very interesting how kids chose to complete the assignment. Some students imported pictures they had taken, while others chose to draw their observations. Some students typed their ideas, while others annotated by hand.

When we got back to school, I gave the students time to work on their notes and assignments. Students finished their life cycle observations, and several kids mirrored their page to the projector (did I mention we now have an Apple TV?) to share them. Then everyone uploaded their assignment and sent it to the class through Edmodo.

We also looked at the butterfly identification chart. Some groups had seen a lot of butterflies, and students found their own ways to record this data. Some students made tally marks on the note to keep track of how many butterflies they had seen of each type, while others circled pictures and wrote notes about what they noticed.

Finally, each student used the pictures they took to create a Pic Collage. I often do this after a field trip to share with the class, and they loved creating their own collage of the field trip. A few students didn't have many pictures, but other students were able to share their pictures through the Dropbox.

Overall, I think the experience was a positive one.  I love that students used their iPads to document what was most important to them- some students recorded bird sounds, others took pictures of insects. I also love that the iPads did not keep students from interacting with nature. Kids still waded in the creek (with the iPads sitting safely on the shore) and picked up caterpillars and rocks. In the future, I would want to communicate better with the volunteers to make sure they understand the expectations. I think I would also give students a choice to bring an iPad or use paper and pencil.

All students and iPads were intact and accounted for at the end of the trip, so I would say the experiment was a success.