Ipads in Education
Description of tool:
Ipads are used in technology for many reasons. Ipads can be used for an assessment by you. You can test the students on their fluency, comprehension, or reading ability. You can also have students use the numerous education apps found on the app store. A lot of apps are free; you just have to dig for the ones you want. AppsGoneFree is a great way to find apps that are free for the day or week. It is also helpful to follow users on Twitter that are familiar with Ipads. The tweeters can suggest apps that may be good for education.
I personally use Ipads in my classroom for IXL which is a practice program for Math and Language Arts. My students also use Ipads for apps to practice their spelling words. I use Spelling City. I have used Ipads in the past for Google Earth and Google Maps. The students LOVE finding their homes and walking on their streets. In previous years, students could earn free time on the Ipads. They played games that were educational or school appropriate. I would love to expand the use of Ipads and include QR codes and reading apps.
Pedagogical use:
There are numerous uses for Ipads. First, you can use Ipads to check for students' reading comprehension, accuracy, and retell ability using an app. You can also give quizzes to the students using Ipads. You have the ability to see exactly what your students are doing on their Ipad using an app called Classkick. You can also assign them problems to do on their Ipad and watch them as they do it. Students can use Ipads to work on Math, Science, Social Studies, or Language Arts. Students can also go on a photo scavenger hunt or use Ipads to go to websites using QR codes. The uses of Ipads for students are endless.
Holland, B. (2013, July 11). IPads: From Pedagogical Crutch to Education Innovation. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ipads-pedagogical-crutch-education-innovation-beth-holland
Long, J. (2013, June 11). Why use ipads in education? Retrieved July 23, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=26&v=f_6TcE4-65E
Plan for Ipad use in classroom for the year:
Students will use Ipads to:
- go on a QR code scavenger hunt
- to practice their math skills we have been working on in class using Front Row and IXL
- to practice their Language Arts skills we have learned in class using IXL
- to find locations using Google Maps
- find locations using Google Earth
- read news articles daily from News-O-Matic
- create videos using various apps
- create presentations using various apps
- create project using various apps
Darrow, D. (2011, October 25). K-5 iPad Apps According to Bloom's Taxonomy. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/ipad-apps-elementary-blooms-taxonomy-diane-darrow
Bosch, K. (2013, March 19). Easy iPad Projects for Elementary Students. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.slideshare.net/kbosch/easy-ipad-projects-for-elementary-students
Location of tool:
You can find apps for Ipads at the Apple App Store. https://itunes.apple.com/us/genre/ios/id36?mt=8
Cost of tool:
The cost of apps vary. A lot of apps are free for the lite version. If you want the full version, you will have to pay for it. IXL costs the school money for a license. You will also have to have an Ipad in order to use Ipads in the classroom. It pays to follow tweeters on Twitter who use Ipads in their classroom. The tweeters can give you ideas on where to find great apps. I am constantly learning about new apps to use in my classroom due to developers always coming out with new apps.
Why you want to use Ipads in your classroom:
Ipads are great to use in a classroom. The students fully enjoy getting their hands on an Ipad. Students, in my classroom, are more engaged when they have some form of technology in their hands. However, there needs to be a balance. If I constantly used Ipads all day long, the Ipads would lose their sparkle. Students use Ipads for maybe an hour in my classroom a day. It all depends on the activity I want them to do and how engaged they will be in the activity. If students start to lose focus on the task using the Ipad, I know it is time to move on to the next activity.
Ipads are a useful tool to help engage students using technology. There are millions of apps that you can use depending on what you want to do. Students are growing up with technology and Ipads are a great way to incorporate that technology piece into your classroom. However, remember that there needs to be a balance. Students should not be using Ipads all day long. Even in one-to-one classrooms, students should be doing activities without the Ipad or computer. Having a balance between technology and instruction can help students more than just using the Ipad or computer all day long,
Sources:
Bosch, K. (2013, March 19). Easy iPad Projects for Elementary Students. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.slideshare.net/kbosch/easy-ipad-projects-for-elementary-students
Darrow, D. (2011, October 25). K-5 iPad Apps According to Bloom's Taxonomy. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/ipad-apps-elementary-blooms-taxonomy-diane-darrow
Holland, B. (2013, July 11). IPads: From Pedagogical Crutch to Education Innovation. Retrieved July 23, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ipads-pedagogical-crutch-education-innovation-beth-holland
ISTE Standards. (2015). Retrieved July 22, 2015, from http://www.iste.org/standards
Long, J. (2013, June 11). Why use ipads in education? Retrieved July 23, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=26&v=f_6TcE4-65E
ISTE Standards:
Students:
- Creativity and innovation
- Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
- Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
- Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
- N/A
- Communication and collaboration
- Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
- Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
- N/A
- Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems
- Research and information fluency
- Plan strategies to guide inquiry
- Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
- Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
- Process data and report results
- Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
- Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
- Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
- Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
- Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions
- Digital citizenship
- Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology
- Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity
- Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning
- Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship
- Technology operations and concepts
- Understand and use technology systems
- Select and use applications effectively and productively
- Troubleshoot systems and applications
- Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies
Teachers:
- Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
- promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness
- engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources
- Promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and clarify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning, and creative processes
- Model collaborative knowledge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and others in face-to-face and virtual environment
- Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments
- Design or adapt learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity
- Develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress
- Customize and personalize learning activities to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources
- Provide students with multiple and varied formative and summative assessments, aligned with content and technology standards, and use resulting data to inform learning and teaching
- Model digital age work and learning
- Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations
- Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation
- Communicate relevant information and ideas effectively to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital age media and formats
- Model and facilitate effective use of emerging digital tools to locate, analyze, evaluate, and use information resources to support research and learning
- Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
- Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources
- Address the diverse needs of all learners by using learner-centered strategies providing equitable access to appropriate digital tools and resources
- Promote and model digital etiquette and responsible social interaction related to the use of technology and information
- N/A
- Engage in professional growth and leadership
- Participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
- Exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of others
