David Andrews

David Andrews

David Andrews formed Mr Andrews Online back in 2012 with a vision to deliver better learning experiences for children using mobile technology. Since 2012, he has worked alongside hundreds of schools and teachers, delivering classroom experience days for Primary school children up and down the country. He has recently written a ‘Creative Computing Curriculum’ for a leading Academy, as their previous scheme had become stale and didn’t allow the teachers to exploit cross curricular opportunities. They wanted the scheme to ‘wow the children and be aspirational’.

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Since I started blogging about iPads in education, I've been getting carried away with the positives that this handheld technology can bring to the classroom. However, there's been one major area of concern that I keep encountering during this 'iPad journey': the school's wireless network!

As ICT coordinator, one of my biggest headaches over the last year has been our wireless networking. The downsides are the notoriously unpredictable wireless technology and its performance, which can lead to high levels of frustration for both teachers and pupils. The wireless is going to be central, especially when there could be anything up to 30+ iPads and/or iPods that all need wireless access at the same time and all expecting a fast connection to the internet. A powerful wireless network is therefore essential to a successful implementation of handheld devices in the classroom.

This blog post is going to examine how the iPad was used to improve the pedagogy of a Design & Technology project, and allow child initiated learning by motivating the children to discover new skills and knowledge through project based learning.

The ultimate aim of the controllable vehicle project, and use of the iPads, was to get the children to become more responsible for their own learning and not rely on the step by step instructions that I used to provide at the start of each lesson in previous years.

ArtiKix - Full: £20.99

An engaging articulation app with flashcard and matching activities for children with speech sound delays. The highly requested group scoring feature is available for collecting scores in flashcards on up to 4 children at a time. A group of students can now collect data as they practice sounds in words and sentences with a speech-language pathologist, their parents, or independently.

With a keen interest in ICT and maths, I have been exploring ways in which iPad apps (other than the “I can do maths…. 2+2” type) can enhance pupil progress and motivation. I believe that, when done the right way, gaming can play a huge role in learning.

If you are going to try any of these ideas in class, it's best to be quite familiar with the apps and how they work.

Here are 10 things I have tried:

Photo credit: http://www.angry-birds-game.info

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