Today’s children in western society are growing up with technology as the norm. They don’t know that TVs once were only in black and white and had no remote control. They don’t know that once you had to be at home to make a phone call, and that your movement while talking was constrained by the length of the cable. They are used to having movies and TV shows on demand, and not being restricted by station programming. They are able to unlock their parents’ smart phones and navigate around, perhaps while sitting in a café. They are familiar with touch screens and swiping for navigation. They know that Google has all the answers. They are the digital natives.
How can we harness this innate technological ability in their education?
Key Words:
iPad; Collaboration; Learner; 1:1 devices; digital
Context
At an International School in Germany, a 1:1 iPad programme
is being introduced into Prep and First Grades in the new academic year beginning
in August 2015. The school follows the curriculum of the International
Baccalaureate Primary Years Program and offers a constructivist education based
on inquiry. The school community is mostly comprised of expatriate families
living in Germany due to work commitments.
The school believes that technology empowers students to
take ownership of their own learning and enables personalised, differentiated
learning experiences for each student (School, 2015). To support that belief, this presentation
will show how the iPad programme is relevant and is more than just an
entertainment device, but an essential tool for learning.
Recent developments in mobile technology has resulted in a
wide selection of digital, touch screen learning tools, such as the iPad. These
devices are relatively affordable and so, many schools have identified them as
a suitable option to equip students ready for the demands of ‘21st
Century Learning’ (Falloon, 2015).
POSITIVES:
Prep and First Graders (5-7 year olds) are in their first
years of school. They are formulating what it is to be in a formal school
environment, and have few benchmarks to compare against. They have a wide range
of ability levels, some are reading fluently, yet others haven’t quite mastered
their sounds. Development of their fine motor skills is often still in
progress. Most of their learning until this stage is likely to have been
informal, perhaps through play, travel and simply being with family.
As many children will already be familiar with the operation
of an iPad, either through actually using an Apple iPad or iPod or an
alternative touch screen tablet, and don’t have a fear of using technology, turning
the iPad into a tool for extending learning provides another string to the way
children can create or make meaning for themselves.
In the International School environment there are also
frequently children with a mother tongue other than English or German, which
are the main languages of communication, and so need to learn English as an
additional language to access the instruction.
Bringing iPads into
the classroom provides many areas for learning to occur:
Apps can be used to provide children with the opportunity for
cementing key skills through games. Children
have autonomy in selecting the app to use, perhaps subject to some restrictions,
conditions or instructions. For example,
phonics could be practiced through a range of Apps, including Hairy Phonics or
Espresso and as skills develop, children can progress to different levels.
Maths skills can be refined as well, using programs such as
Mathletics, which also opens children up to being able to ‘compete’ with other
classes around the world. There are many Apps which challenge children with a
series of maths challenges, which often adapt skill levels dependent on the
successes or difficulties the child has.
An online library opens children up to a wide range of
books, at all levels. These are accessible to all ability readers as they are
able to listen to the text being read while they can follow along or they can
read independently. Many online books also provide an activity or quiz at the
end, which checks the child’s comprehension of the text.
iPads are an ideal medium for children to record and share
their voice. For a child who is not yet able to write their ideas
independently, an alternative solution could be to draw a picture, for example
of an activity they did on the weekend, and then take a photo with the iPad,
and record their speech, sharing the events of their weekend.
Using iPads helps children develop critical thinking skills.
They become creators of content and can work collaboratively and will engage
reluctant writers to participate and show and share their ideas (Wilkes, N.D.)
Models for
implementing technology
The SAMR Model, which was developed by Ruben R. Puentedura,
is used by educators to infuse technology into teaching and learning. There is
a risk that in education that new tools or learning environments are
implemented, and educators use those to continue teaching the way they always
had, rather than refreshing and transforming the skills or learning activities
to make better use of the new technologies.
IMAGE AND
REFERENCE.
The first two sections of this model, lead to an enhancement
of teaching practices without diverging away from the original task, but
resulting in an improvement in the way it is executed. For example, children
can use Book Creator as a journal, this is a substitution for an exercise book.
It is also augmentation though, as in the instance the child is not yet able to
write, that child is able to create content through audio or video recordings,
and share their ideas independently.
The second two sections of this model, modification and
redefinition lead to transforming learning, however in First Grade, the
students have little preconceived ideas of what learning and school is about,
and so the children are not necessarily aware of this.
The TPACK model shows the interactions between the three
core components of content, pedagogy and technology.
TPACK model
image.
In the model above, each of these three components has their
space to stand alone, and overlaps, and in the centre, where all three
components meet. These components exist in a state of equilibrium, and when a
new technology is introduced teachers need to confront basic educational issues
and reconstruct the equilibrium among all components again.
COLLABORATION
Students can build on and share their knowledge through
collaboration. Working in groups has long been done but opening up the
classroom with iPads gives the children many more opportunities to work
together. The iPad is a small and light enough device that it is easily carried
from place to place. A recent study in New Zealand, resulted in a number of
reasons raised by the students that highlighted different ways of collaboration
(Falloon, 2015). These included that the
portability of the device means that work can take place anywhere, and easily
be relocated to areas outside the classroom. Children can easily share and work
together as an iPad has multiple touch point capabilities. The class can
collaborate as a group, using a web based App such as Padlet, to share their
ideas together.
POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS
The capacity of the teacher to sort through Apps to find
those compatible to the learning experiences. The Education page on the Apple
website states that “The App Store features over 80,000 education apps”
especially for iPads and for each subject and grade level. This can be a time
consuming process, and involves testing different Apps, past just the first
activity, to see whether it will be a benefit in the class and will it provide
differentiated work.
The ability of the teacher to design and host technological
experiences can be limited by their own experience and knowledge. In addition,
some longer term teachers may demonstrate resistance to change, and be unsure
of their ability to support their students using new technology.
Classroom management is essential to ensure that children
are on task, and not distracted by other activities on the iPad.
DISCUSSION
Recent developments in mobile technology have resulted in a
wide selection of digital, touch screen learning tools, such as the iPad. These
devices are relatively affordable and so, many schools have identified them as
a suitable option to equip students ready for the demands of ‘21st
Century Learning’ (Falloon, 2014).
Over the years touch screen devices have become ‘mainstream’
and an expectation has developed that when a screen is present, perhaps in a museum,
and is without a mouse, keyboard or enclosed in a glass case, that besides
visually, interaction with that screen is through touch, and this will provide
additional information to the viewer.
CONCLUSION
The goal is to take a tool, an iPad, which many children are
already familiar with, and transform it, from being merely a device for
entertainment or diversion into something that benefits learning.
In conclusion, this presentation is intended to explore and
analyse the usage of iPads in an early primary classroom environment. By identifying which phase of the SAMR model
the current practice aligns with, further enhancements can be suggested, to
ensure iPads are a meaningful addition to the learning environment.
References
Diana Wilkes retrieved 12 August 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QOsz4AaZ2k
- SAMR Model explained by Ruben R. Puedentura
School, Elementary Parent Handbook, 2015-16
Richardson, H. http://www.bbc.com/news/education-22571888
Parents use smartphones like a digital dummy, say heads 17 May 2013
Retrieved 14 August 2015
http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/apps-books-and-more/
retrieved 15 August 2015
Falloon, G. Young students using iPads: App design and
content influences on their learning pathways 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2013.06.006
