Study in Contrasts: Google Apps...and Ipad Apps

Before the iPad, I already had a paperless classroom that was enabled by my use of an inter-active Smartboard and Google: Haiku (Google's comprehensive classroom environment app) and Chromebooks. Haiku made classroom discussion boards, digital slideshows, gradebooks, and assignment posting/editing/submission a breeze. I also relied heavily on Google Forms for classroom surveys and Google docs for a writing/editing environment.

I can do all of that now on the iPad--there's a great Haiku app for teacher/student use, and Google forms/docs are present, too. The real question, as I convert to the iPad (and not strictly Google) environment, is to determine what else is now possible. 

Following a wonderful "classroom apps" (Nearpod, Socrative) presentation today by SAR's @beccaglassberg, who has successfully integrated iPad use into her classroom, I'd like to pose the questions as a study in contrasts:

1. In a 1:1 environment, what are the advantages of the presentation app Nearpod over my already existing smartboard files for each unit?

2. In a 1:1 environment, what are the advantages of formative assessments via Socrative over Google Forms?

As I see it, the following advantages must somehow outweigh the prep/processing time (and redundancy of previous avenues via Google) for their overall use and quality of learning and instruction:

1. Nearpod  > Smartboard + Haiku? As far I see it, the greatest advantage of Nearpod in a 1:1 environment is to have lectures and galleries to be projected onto each student's ipad as the teacher reviews it on the smartboard. An added benefit is that Google forms and other types of live chats and student feedback sessions can be integrated into the "presentation". The teacher controls the pace of student learning, too. Can all of that be done between the Smartboard (presentation) and Haiku (discussion board, digital galleries)? Certainly. Does the value of having the presentation projected onto the student's laptop necessitate the transfer of already existing Smartboard files into Nearpod? I'm not convinced, and especially since there's probably a way for me to mirror the smartboard presentation directly onto each student's ipad. 

Follow Up: Figure out how to mirror the smartboard presentation (from my laptop) onto all ipads in the room (and essentially do the work of Nearpod without doubling my prep time). 

2. Socrative > Google Forms? In a 1:1 environment, Socrative does essentially the same thing as Google Forms, but in a visually exciting way. That visual aesthetic seems to be the only advantage over Google Forms (which can get quite bland, in my opinion), but the great advantage of sticking with Google Forms for formative assessments (quizzes, exit tickets, surveys) is its integration, at least in my school, into Google Email/Drive (we run on a comprehensive Google platform). 

Follow Up: I would like to trial Socrative in my classroom, but I'd also like to ask students, following surveys via both Socrative and Google Forms, which they found more engaging. 

After all of this, I think that many signs are pointing towards Google Classroom--an app? website? service? that I've heard much about but haven't started exploring. While I've used Haiku, I think that Classroom will likely meet some of the basic technical needs that a 1:1 environment demands (pushing worksheets/collecting assignments) in a live setting that Haiku implicitly accomplishes, though through traditional mechanisms (downloading/uploading). 

Next up: Google Classroom!