Blog

Professor Jimmy Kuehnle's iPad Project Brings Students into the Real World.

09/28/11  |  Posted by Scott Ligon  |  Posted in Digital Canvas - News

All of the people associated with the Digital Canvas Initiative have been extremely pleased with the speed and degree with which the iPad has been embraced as a creative tool. If you walk the halls of the Gund Building at any given moment, you are likely to see several examples of students busily engaged with their iPads; writing, sketching, communicating and using them as creative tools. We've been flooded with examples of classroom use as well. We're busy documenting these examples as quickly as we can. Part of the exciting thing about the DCI is that, as pioneers in this initiative, we are all making this up as we go along. Faculty members are inventing new ways of integrating the iPads into the classrooms virtually everyday and we are very appreciative of all the contact and feedback we have gotten from our faculty. We'll be periodically posting examples of classroom integration of the iPads. This gives us the opportunity to see what each other are doing, learn from each other and allow this to inspire us in new directions. For this first example of in-class use, we talked to new Foundation Professor Jimmy Kuehnle. This semester, Professor Kuehnle teaches Design I and the newly created Charette Class, which explores a creative project from start to finish. In Design I, Professor Kuehnle sent students out into the world with instructions to use the iPads to take multiple photos of symmetrical and asymmetrical compositions. In the afternoon, they were able to critique these images instantly in a large format without having to print or transfer the files. "All assignment sheets are sent to the students to read on their iPads, saving the hassle of handing out lots of paper,", Professor Kuehnle explains, elaborating on the multitude of ways that he uses the iPads in the classroom. "In the Charette, the iPads seamlessly became part of instruction and investigation.", he added. The topic of Professor Kuehnle's Charette class is "Collaboration and Community." In the first Charette classes, Professor Kuehnle mapped out a 1 km line extending across University Circle. Each student was assigned a specific point along that line and given a photograph identifying the location. Students ventured outside the classroom and used the iPads to find, explore and document their assigned locations along this line. It was impossible to discover their specific location without an in-depth exploration and awareness of their shared environment. Above: Students compare the iPad documentation of their journey to the original photo of the location they had to find.  "Students use the iPads to digitize documents, record information from the field, manipulate that data and then present it to the class instantly. The first assignment required a presentation to be produced on the iPad and the iPads will be used as digital documentation logs with multiple sources of media.", Professor Kuehnle continues. "I try to use the iPads for something specific in each class. All of my course materials are delivered via Schoology and the iPad, so there is no photocopying to do or papers to lose. I can also keep track of which students have accessed the files. I give them a choice of ePub or pdf." Professor Kuehnle shares links of interesting articles on Schoology and instructs the students to pull up the link together on the iPads. "This is great for impromptu discussions and saves photocopying. Also, when at CIA, if I say an artist's name or discuss an unfamiliar concept, I can have everyone Google it instantly rather than them forgetting to do it when they go home." Professor Kuehnle also cites the convenience and practicality of having students email their electronic projects at the beginning of class "so there is no temptation to continue to work on them while other students are giving their presentations.". Thanks to Professor Jimmy Kuehnle for sharing this information. He's provided us with several practical examples of useful and immediate ways that the iPad can be integrated into the classroom and used to support curricular objectives. At the beginning of Professor K's next 7 week Charette class, we plan to grab a video camera and document his students as they hike along his 1km line and search for, explore and document their assigned locations.

• Comments
  2
• 
• Tweet

Leave a comment

Name

Comment

  Submit

Back to blog listing