I-PadEvaluation-ClaireAnnand
Havingreceivedaday’strainingonusingI-Padsintheclassroom,Iwasinspiredtousethis
technologywithmyclass.Asourschooldidnothavetheequipment,MichaelConlonkindlylentme
4I-PadstousewithmyPrimary2/3class.
FromthetrainingIwaskeentousetheBookCreatorappduringmyHousesandHomestopic.I
initiallyhadtoteachtheskillstothechildrenbuttheyquicklypickeduphowtousethesoftwareand
manywerealreadyfamiliarwiththetechnologyastheyuseI-Padsathome.Thechildrenwereput
intogroupsandthemoreconfidentpupilswereabletosupportandteachtheirpeerswhich
developedtheircommunicationandsocialskills.Allthechildrenfoundusingthemhighlymotivating
andwerealwaysaskingwhenweweregoingtousethemnext.
Thepurposeoftheclassbooksweretodemonstratechildren’slearningandtodothisthechildren
wereabletotakephotos,recordvideosandannotatetheirpictures.Thechildrenalsoparticularly
enjoyedrecordingtheirvoicestoaddsoundfilestoaccompanytheirphotographs.Thefinished
bookswerethensharedwiththecommunityduringthe‘ClayFest’heldinErrolwhichmyclasswere
involvedwith.
IfoundtheI-Padstobeparticularlymotivatingforthosechildrenwhowerelesskeentowriteand
participateingroupactivities.Therefore,thesechildreninparticularwereabletofeelsuccessfulin
theirlearningandhadproducedevidenceoftheirlearningthroughvisualmeans.
IplannedtheuseoftheI-Padsduringmytopictimesandasallchildrenwereunabletoworkon
thematthesametime,itmeantgroupsofchildrenwereworkingonothertasksandIrotatedthem
round.Oncethechildrenwereconfidentinusingtheappstheywereabletoworkontheirtaskfairly
independentlywithonlyoccasionalpromptingandreminding.IfwehadmoreI-Padsitwouldhave
allowedmorechildrentoworkonthematthesametimesoitdidmeanabitofjuggling.
Thechildrenwereveryproudoftheirbooksandlovedtosharethemwithotherchildrenandadults.
Ifeltitallowedthechildrentocommunicatetheirideasandlearninginanenhancedwayratherthan
justdrawingandwriting.Thetechnologycreatedamorevisuallyappealingandcreativeapproach.
SincetriallingtheI-Pads,ourschoolhavenowinvestedin8I-Padsandarecurrentlybeingusedin
everyclassroombytheclassteacher.Itishopedthatwewillpurchasemoreastheyareprovingto
behighlymotivating,easytouseandengagingforallpupils.Asthereisonlyoneperclassitis
difficulttoallowallchildrenaccess,andsomepupilsinparticularreceiveregularaccessasawayof
de-escalatingchallengingbehaviourandasbehaviourincentives.Someofthechallengeshavebeen
connectingtowifiastheylogoutfrequentlyandthisthenrequirestheclassteachertohavetologin
againwhichisalittlefrustrating.Thereisahugerangeofeducationalappsthatarefreeto
downloadandmanymorethatcanbepurchased,allofwhichcanfurtherchildren’slearningand
allowindependentuse.Ideally,wewouldloveaclasssetwhichwouldallowindividualuseto
maximisetheskillsandexperiencesthechildrenwouldreceive.
Belowaresomeofthechildren’sevaluationsfromtheirlearninglogs.
I-PadEvaluation-ClaireAnnand
I-PadEvaluation-ClaireAnnand