I found these articles incredibly informative, and helpful. I have always seen teachers using ipads in their classrooms, but have been a little wary of how useful they can be. Reading these articles showed me that ipads can be not only very educational but also very reinforcing for students. Students are excited to use the ipad, even if the activity they are doing on it is reading. The article did a great job showing a variety of ipad apps and going into decent detail on how effective they are in the classroom. I was interested in the iBooks app and the ability to pre-load the ipad with books the students can read. This would be a very effective tool in any classroom, because it can accommodate students who may need larger text.
I liked the connection to transliteracy as well. When educating children today we need to make sure they are not just able to read, but able to effectively use technology in an educational or work setting. Having ipads in the classroom is a great way to reach both learning standards and technology standards. One important take-away I gained from this article is to carefully monitor what the students are doing with the ipads. Even though they are using educational apps, the teacher must make sure that the apps are at the students' level. Ipads can be a great way for teachers to combine multiple standards at once, but should also be actively monitoring and assessing their students to make sure they are actually reaching those standards.
I agree with you completely about how it is important that teachers monitor the students while using the IPads. I can see how a lot of teachers may take advantage of the time away from instruction to catch up on grading or start planning for the next activity but it is important that even if we are not giving the student direct instruction that we are still their teacher and they need our guidance and support. It would be a shame to use all the great technology we have to just give our students something to do instead of always trying to teach them as much as possible whether it just reading or how to use the technology we have given them appropriately.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was great how you mentioned the connection to transliteracy. I totally agree with you that we need to make sure that our students know how to use technology in the educational setting because it can be such a great tool to aid in student learning. I think that there needs to be that balance-so the teacher still knows what is going on in the classroom and that students are not only relying on technology to learn but at the same time technology allows students to learn in a fun and interactive manner.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to hear how much you have seen teachers using iPads. I surprisingly have not! I think the first time I experienced it was last quarter with Linda Schleef. I definitely think you're right, it is sometimes hilarious how reinforcing just using a iPad can be, no matter what the intentions are. It certainly used to be that way with me when we would get to use those lame keyboard things in elementary school, then how exciting it was to go into the computer lab, then use our own laptops, and now I own an iPad that I hope to one day use with my students! Great response Jason!
ReplyDeleteJason~
ReplyDeleteI really like your outlook on iPads in the classroom and how you talked about trans-literacy and iPads. I agree totally that we need to make sure our iPads our being used as a tool of education to aid students learning and not as just a reward to play games on. iPads can be really reinforcing for students and help them learn while still being interactive and fun. I like the idea of iBooks also. Having a bookshelf full of books can be great but having everything backed up on the iPad can be very consolidating and give you the ability to have books in electronic form.
Katelynn