Thing 3: Productivity- The iWork Suite

There are many productivity apps out there, and they are definitely not all created equal.  Apple, however, does offer it’s very own productivity suite of apps.  Standard on every Alief ISD iPad are the following applications: Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.  These three apps make up the productivity suite known as "iWork."  They were designed for use with Apple computers and have been modified to work on the iPad.  These applications are very similar to Microsoft Office applications which you are familiar with already.  In this tool, we will explore how these apps can be used as an instructional tool to enhance productivity while using iPads.

Pages

The Pages application is very similar to Microsoft Word.  This app is a word processing tool that students can use when working with iPads.  Pages also works very similarly to Microsoft Publisher, allowing you to create flyers, brochures, newsletters, pamphlets, and more.  There are many amazing templates available to use for free!  One of the most flexible features of this software is that you are able to save documents in several different file types.  Documents can be saved as a Pages file, Word document, or PDF document.  This allows the app to be used in multiple environments.  Saving documents in multiple file formats is especially helpful four our students who work in a PC environment both at school and at home.  Having the ability to save files in other formats, Pages guarantees that any content created can be taken and used in other platforms.  Click here to read more about the features of Pages for iOS (iPad).  While you are reading, think about the many different ways in which you could use this application instructionally.

Numbers

Numbers is the Apple equivalent of Microsoft Excel.  This app is a spreadsheet tool that students may use when working on the iPads.  Spreadsheets allows the user to perform functions and formulas just like in Excel.  In addition, you can generate charts and graphs to represent the data in the spreadsheet. Numbers also allows the user to save the spreadsheets created in multiple file types, including a .xls which can be opened in Excel.  Click here to read more about the features of Numbers for iOS (iPad).  While you are reading, think about the many different ways in which you could use this application instructionally.

Keynote

Keynote is the presentation tool that is available from Apple.  It is very similar to Microsoft Power Point.  It allows users to create a series of slides to use in a presentation. There are a variety of templates and customizable animations which can be used.  Again, Apple provides the flexibility of saving Keynote presentations in multiple file types.  They can be saved as a Keynote file or as a Power Point file (.ppt).  Click here to read more about the features of Keynote for iOS (iPad).  While you are reading, think about the many different ways in which you could use this application instructionally.

By now you may have noticed a trend.  Apple has an equivalent application for most of the most popular Microsoft Office Applications.  Based on your prior use of these applications and the capabilities of the Apple equivalents complete the activity below.  All components must be present to receive credit for Thing #3.

Assignment:

Choose an area of content you will be teaching soon.  Design a lesson which includes the use of one of the application from the iWork suite.  In your "Thing 3" blog post, include the following:

o   Clearly and briefly describe the lesson objective and content which will be covered.

o   In 3-4 sentences, discuss how the use of your chosen iWork application will enhance meaningfulness of your instruction. 

o      In 3-4 sentences, explain how your students will get the content they create off of the iPad and turned in for grading and/or evaluation.  Discuss whether or not the ability to save in multiple formats will be helpful for this process.