I have not worked in a class that used iPads for all students. I did see how a special education classroom with severe disabilities used iPads for students to communicate or learn in ways that fit their needs. That was one revolutionary way I had never thought of using an iPad. How powerful was it for these students who couldn't speak to now be able to communicate through selecting pictures? Games were always on my mind! On that subject, there was a 5th grade classroom math teacher at the school where I was student teaching at who wrote a grant and received 2 iPads. She used these at station time. Students had a series of individual work assignments they had to complete in a week. Each day, she selected two students to use the iPad during individual work time. They played games that used multiplication, geometry, and algebra. They were excited to play! iPads help students keep engaged while practicing necessary skills.
While on following Cool Cat Teacher Blog on Google Reader, I found a website to a remarkable app called Nearpod. Here is the link: http://www.nearpod.com/. Now, Nearpod has a teacher's version and a student's version. The teacher is control of what is seen on the students' screens. There are even assessment data aspects of this app.
The possibilities! This little app brings instruction much closer to the students - in their hands! Check out this video for this app's abilities in motion. This is a bilingual school, too.
Check out this video. It has teacher testimonials from using Nearpod in all different kinds of grades! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IspEB1nutG0
This app alone has almost seemingly endless uses and possibilities. iPads has thousands of apps that teachers can use to help their students. From helping students communicate through pictures, to reinforcing skills through games, to encouraging fluency through interactive books, to allowing students with visual problems to see the instruction up close; all of these are applications that can be used with iPads. The even cooler thing is, that as time goes on, more and more apps are being produced!
iPads are awesome! I have three in my classroom that we use every day. How great would it be to have enough iPads for all students to manipulate! I can dream big, right? The students in the video that were learning with the iPads were engaged and were answering questions enthusiastically. The thing that surprised me the most in this video was how easily the students manipulated their iPads. They have obviously had a lot of practice working with them. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI'm like Tabitha, dreaming of a day when all students in my class will have an ipad :) I am always so excited when I hear about a new app that will benefit my students! The ipads work wonders for some of our special ed students it really opens up many possibilities to them.
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