Faculty Deployment
As we were approaching the end of our pilot year, the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. Access to iPads and the accessories provided as part of the pilots were a huge asset to both faculty and students as courses quickly converted to fully online delivery. Based on this experience and the uncertainty at the time, St. John Fisher University decided to move forward with the iFisher Next Generation Learning Initiative in the 2020/2021 academic year with a phased rollout. This included the rollout of iPads and accessories to all faculty and staff with teaching responsibilities who agreed to complete training, with a commitment to roll out the same technology to all undergraduate students the following academic year.
COVID-19 Response & iPads
“In the transition to online, it was super easy for the iPad students. We all had the same technology, and the biggest change was that we weren't in person/in class together. But, knowing that everyone had the same technology, and knowing what that technology was, enabled me to write instructions more easily and clearly, which enabled me to do things like grade more efficiently. Since all the students had the iPads, when Fisher made Zoom available to them, they were able to Zoom with me in office hours and share their screen with me, so I could see what work they were doing and they could show me their notes. I was also able to share my screen with them and write on it as I typically write notes and solve problems on paper for them in person. I am very thankful my students and I both had this technology available during this time.”
Lauren Calimeris Kocman, Associate Professor, Economics, School of Arts & Sciences
Apple Faculty Fellows
Dr. Kristin Picardo and Dr. Mike Boller were the inaugural Apple Faculty Fellows at St. John Fisher University. Dr. Ed Freeman is our current Apple Faculty Fellow. As early adopters and members of the first pilot with iPads, they were champions of the technology and the impact the initiative could have on campus from the start. As faculty fellows within the DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence, they partnered with Center staff to offer training to faculty receiving their iPad for the first time, offered one-on-one consultation based on their own experiences in the classroom with the technology, and organized and hosted the Appy Hour sessions throughout the academic year to share the great things happening with iPads around campus.
Dr. Kristin Picardo
Apple Faculty Fellow
Professor, Biology
Director, Center for Student Research and Creative Work
Dr. Mike Boller
Apple Faculty Fellow
Associate Professor, Biology
Director, Center for Sustainability
Dr. Ed Freeman
Apple Faculty Fellow
Professor, Biology
Fisher Apple Academy
As a requirement to keep the Apple technology, faculty and staff were required to complete the professional development offered by the DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence and the Apple Faculty Fellows. The training was designed in a two-part series, starting with Fisher Apple Academy 1.0 to learn the basics of the hardware and software and begin to explore the redesign of class activities to incorporate the use of iPads. Fisher Apple Academy 2.0 then builds on these foundational skills to more deeply transform the teaching and learning experience taking full advantage of the common learning platform iPads provide.
Fisher Apple Academy 1.0
The Fisher Apple Academy 1.0 professional development experience, offered over a three-week period, was built around the iPad modules in the Apple Teacher Center, while also providing Fisher-specific instructions and application activities for use of the devices within our ecosystem. In the summer of 2020, still in the height of the pandemic, over 150 faculty signed up to receive an iPad kit and complete this training. One very important topic that was discussed during the training was the use of Zoom with iPads to support both fully remote learning and teaching in a classroom with both in-person and remote students simultaneously. This was one of the most impactful ways iPads helped to support instructors during the 2020/2021 academic year, which required many different teaching modalities. The training was offered again in January and March of 2021 with another 40 faculty signing up.
For more details on the topics and typical schedule used in both the Fisher Apple Academy 1.0 and 2.0 experience, please open the attachment to the right in a new window.
1.0 and 2.0 Outline.pdf
Faculty and staff completed the Fisher Apple Academy 1.0 training over the course of the 2020/2021 academic year.
Faculty and staff completed the Apple Teacher Center modules and received their Apple Certified Teacher recognition during this year as well.
Fisher Apple Academy 2.0
During the summer of 2021, following the first full year of iPads deployed to faculty, the DePeters Family Center and the Apple Faculty Fellows created and offered Fisher Apple Academy 2.0. Fisher Apple Academy 2.0 expands on the skills learned in 1.0, with a stronger focus on the integration of the iPads into course design, course activities, and the ways instructors can encourage student use of the iPads during and outside of class time. Topics covered include using the Classroom app for classroom iPad management, collecting, grading, and giving feedback on student work via the iPad, encouraging student collaboration with the devices, using the accessibility features of the iPad to promote inclusive teaching and universal design for learning, exploring eResources and OER opportunities, electronic testing, augmented reality and encouraging student’s creativity in the creation of class artifacts. This was an important training for many faculty who now had the baseline skills to use their iPad themselves, but needed to prepare for the fall 2021 semester when their students would also have the same devices.
Fisher Apple Academy 2.0 was offered twice that summer, once in July and again in August. Following a year of pandemic teaching and many unforeseen circumstances, we were wildly impressed with the faculty's commitment to the iFisher initiative and their own skill development.
Faculty and staff completed Fisher Apple Academy 2.0 in the summer of 2021.
Appy Hours
As a means of ongoing professional development and the ability to showcase the great work going on with iPads across campus, the DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence held monthly Appy Hours. Faculty and staff presenters shared briefly a best practice or tip they found most useful with their iPad that impacted their teaching and learning in a positive way.
The example Appy Hour shown to the right was delivered by Dr. Whitney Rapp, Associate Dean & Associate Professor, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. School of Education talking about her use of iMovie to create a read-aloud of a children's book used in one of her classes.
You can view the full playlist of Appy Hour presentations on the DePeters Family Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence YouTube Channel.
In our next section, we'll discuss the elements of our student deployment.