The Wired Homeschool

More children and students are into using tablets, especially the iPad. That’s why teachers and educators worldwide have adopted them and started creating digital lesson plans. In fact, over 52 percent of children under the age of eight have been exposed to mobile devices, where 40 percent are kids 2-4 years old, who are not in kindergarten yet. Some students also said they cannot study without mobile devices. Presentation Let your child view what you see on your device and create a school-like presentation day. Project the screen on your iPad with the help of various wired and wireless tools. Wired: Purchase an HDMI adapter for $30 to $50 and an HDMI cable. All you need is to connect it to your device and select the appropriate source on your TV. Wireless: These tools require a WiFi connection to work and the network must have open ports for Airplay. You can purchase the Apple TV for $99. You need to connect the Apple TV to your TV using an HDMI cable. Other wireless projector tools for iPad are Air Server that costs $14.99 and the Reflector for $12.99. Both are software that needs to be installed on the computer connected to the projector and access all your files using AirPlay. Management You can manage your child’s performance and grades easily with the Teacher Kit by ITWorx. Although this application was specially designed for teachers with a number of students, it can be a great tool in creating your grade book easily and count downtime minutes. So the next time you noticed that downtime consumes more time than learning, then you can arrange a new daily lesson plan for your child to follow. This will ensure that every minute of learning is being followed efficiently. Engagement Enrich your knowledge by engaging with other lecturers here and abroad with the help of Edmodo.com app on your device. It allows you to build your engagement with your child by building a poll that asks pertinent questions about today’s lessons, measure their learning progress, connect to other teachers worldwide using Edmodo, and make learning fun with easy-to-use educational apps. The interface is also easy to navigate since it has a Facebook-like appearance including the color and icons on the top. Resource Learning is a never-ending task, especially for parents with homeschooling children. You will be the first point of information by your kid. Having a mobile device on your hand is equal to millions of resources available for you. The iTunes U app allows you to create complete courses of lessons with video, images, and audio. You can also share your works with other educators with iTunes U on their device. You can also download iBooks to get mobile copied reading books, Flipboard for all the latest articles, and topics related to your passion and Zite for the current news and article. Although the iPad can be a great educational tool for homeschooling kids, technology can be a hindrance too. It takes the right amount of digital exposure and more parental guidance to make sure that your child is maximizing the educational benefits of the iPad. What applications can you recommend to parents homeschooling kids? Share your thoughts with us. About the author: Reese Jones is a writer interested in new technology, fashion, alternative music, and the most recent software. Outside of writing she loves playing guitar and she also maintains a passion for street art. She also regularly contributes to techiedoodlers.com