I am a strong advocate for letting your pedagogical needs drive tech integration. I think you should spend time on tech tools that clearly support learning. Occasionally I decide to explore a tool I don't understand just to see if there is something there that supports my class goals. My most recent discovery project was with the stylus for my mobile tablet.
When I first started using my tablet (it was an iPad 2) I did not give a stylus a thought. I have many fingers on each hand, why would I need or use a stylus? The iOS use of multi-finger gestures supported my anti-stylus predisposition.
I went through a similar phase with my smart board, and after several years of use I discovered I could use a turkey feather instead of their pen and my user experience changed. Here is a prior post I wrote about that.
When I decided to explore using a stylus, I cast a wide net and ended up with 3 different approaches to a stylus: A set of chopstakes and a telescoping stylus from Ipevo and the Jot classic from Adnoit. I challenged myself to use each of these as much as I could in my own work with my tablet as well as in teaching contexts and here is a brief summary of what I learned.
The High Performance Vehicle: The Jot Stylus is amazing. The Jot is unique because instead of a rounded rubber tip it has a pointed tip set into a plastic disc. This allows my to be very precise on the tablet because the tip is fine and I can see through it. When I am using a drawing program, like Paper 53, or Brushes, I use this stylus for the pen and pencil tips. The experience is great because it work like I expect it to. Using my fingers to write on my tablet is not satisfying in part because I don't use my fingers to write at any other time. The jot makes it easy to have a familiar writing experience with my tablet. I did not like the fine tip as much for "push button" style tasks, but for writing and art it is amazing.
The Surprise: The telescoping stylus is my new favorite teaching tool. This week, once I starting helping students working on iPads, it became surprisingly useful. The fully extended 15 inch reach makes it easy to assist with an iPad over someone's shoulder. I can push the buttons or just point to them. The collapsed mode on this stylus is great for individual use. I enjoy the cushioned tip for push button functions. It also works well for broad-tip brushes in drawing programs, such as watercolor or markers.
The Mystery: I still have not come up with a good use case for the chopstakes, although they still intrigue me. At 9 inches long they are not quite long enough to work over someone's shoulder, and they are a bit too long to use solo. If you think of something I should try with them let me know!
When I first started using my tablet (it was an iPad 2) I did not give a stylus a thought. I have many fingers on each hand, why would I need or use a stylus? The iOS use of multi-finger gestures supported my anti-stylus predisposition.
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| Chopstakes, Jot, and Telescoping |
When I decided to explore using a stylus, I cast a wide net and ended up with 3 different approaches to a stylus: A set of chopstakes and a telescoping stylus from Ipevo and the Jot classic from Adnoit. I challenged myself to use each of these as much as I could in my own work with my tablet as well as in teaching contexts and here is a brief summary of what I learned.
The High Performance Vehicle: The Jot Stylus is amazing. The Jot is unique because instead of a rounded rubber tip it has a pointed tip set into a plastic disc. This allows my to be very precise on the tablet because the tip is fine and I can see through it. When I am using a drawing program, like Paper 53, or Brushes, I use this stylus for the pen and pencil tips. The experience is great because it work like I expect it to. Using my fingers to write on my tablet is not satisfying in part because I don't use my fingers to write at any other time. The jot makes it easy to have a familiar writing experience with my tablet. I did not like the fine tip as much for "push button" style tasks, but for writing and art it is amazing.
The Surprise: The telescoping stylus is my new favorite teaching tool. This week, once I starting helping students working on iPads, it became surprisingly useful. The fully extended 15 inch reach makes it easy to assist with an iPad over someone's shoulder. I can push the buttons or just point to them. The collapsed mode on this stylus is great for individual use. I enjoy the cushioned tip for push button functions. It also works well for broad-tip brushes in drawing programs, such as watercolor or markers.
The Mystery: I still have not come up with a good use case for the chopstakes, although they still intrigue me. At 9 inches long they are not quite long enough to work over someone's shoulder, and they are a bit too long to use solo. If you think of something I should try with them let me know!
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