Apps for children with Special Educational Needs
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.
Student workflow on iPad in your lessons
It has been obvious to me for some time now that any learning that is based around use of an iPad should really not be hung on one particular app. That it is about a flow of work, be it individual, or collaborative. Yes, there are some powerful productivity apps that will assist with note taking and organising oneself such as Evernote, OmniFocus, OmniOutliner, Paper, Penultimate, so forth and so on. There are also amazing apps with content such as Solar Walk, Star Walk, The Elements, Wonders of the Universe, etc, but actually – in an environment where students, or groups even, have access to iPads – we want them to be able to demonstrate their understanding and ultimately their learning through the generation of their own content.
With that in mind, I’ve been thinking that really, there are two main tiers of creation based apps for the iPad. There are those that are compilers and those that are the creation tools, i.e. those tools that take all of the various elements that you have created (creation tools) and those that put all of those things in to a combined format (compilation tools).
Why iPad?
If you want to enhance learning for students then use an iPad. There, I’ve said it. Colours to the mast and no doubt scrutiny abounds. Whenever I find an issue there is a solution. Whenever a question is posed, there is an answer – for students and staff.
It’s a tool – another weapon in an educator's arsenal. The iPad is not the answer, the be all and end all, the cure to educational woe. It will enhance learning when used appropriately, at the right time and for the right reason. The point is, the iPad provides opportunity that hasn’t existed in mainstream education.
iPad trial – reflective discussion
iPad Trial Considerations:
1. Wireless network
2. Support
3. Listen (reflective discussion and concerns)
Wireless network
The number one consideration for iPad implementation is a wireless network. When the network functions, any issues with iPads can be overcome and usually are linked to the user not the technology. However, if the wireless is intermittent, learning with the iPad can be really hampered for some, particularly those who don’t have a firm grasp on use.
I have no doubt that when students and teachers are more comfortable with the technology they will be able to adapt to any wireless issue as the iPad has a myriad of applications for learning. However, if you have planned to use the browser, Socrative or Dropbox for example, then the network can provide a reason for apathy and barriers are formed.
6 ideas for teachers when launching an iPad deployment
Here are six pieces of advice I would pass on to anyone leading the teaching and learning side of an iPad deployment. I’ve learned as much from our successes as our shortcomings and hope you find this helpful.
1. Start with the learning
Bringing new technology into your classrooms will evoke change, but it won’t improve poor pedagogy. It may provoke new reflection as the old routines and engrained habits are challenged: refreshing for some and unsettling for others. No one wants to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so looking at planning, schemes of work and learning objectives, teachers still need to ask “Where is the learning?”
iPad and the lesson observation
With the spectre of OFSTED hanging over schools and the new framework unsettling leadership teams across the land, it seems pertinent to link the ‘Quality of Teaching’ grid to my technology filled ‘flipped’ lessons.
The ‘flipped class’ is best summed up by Jon Bergmann, Jerry Overmyer and Brett Wilie in The Flipped Class: Myths vs. Reality (2012).
A device that students really want to use
Why the iPad for Education?
This question has become a hot topic for a lot of blogs and news outlets that I follow. Some tout how much more students learn with the device and others warn against the overuse of the device. In the end, I’m pretty sure that this leaves wary school administrators and technology decision makers apprehensive about investing in the device. All of this noise distracts these well intentioned people from a fact that is right on Apple’s Education page:
107 favourite iPad apps for learning
Tablet computing and mobile devices promise to have a dramatic impact on education. A growing number of schools across the world are jumping on the digital bus and embracing iPads as the latest tool to teach literature in multimedia, history through games and simulations, and maths with step-by-step animation of problems.
In my school, we have been rotating one set of iPads this year and it gave me an opportunity to collect quite a few apps on a variety of subjects. Here's my favourites - all 107 of them:
Tips for managing mobile learning in the post-PC world
Earlier last month, Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, marked the launch of the new iPad by declaring that we live in a ‘post-PC world’. Regardless of whether you agree with Cook’s statement, it would be difficult to deny that ICT in schools has moved far beyond desktop computers.
Tablet PCs, MP3 players and even handheld gaming devices are being used increasingly in UK schools to deliver learning in engaging, inspiring and flexible ways. Although using mobile devices in the classroom can benefit both pupils and teachers, just like traditional teaching methods, mobile learning needs to be properly planned and managed.
Here are my five tips for managing mobile learning in the post-PC world:
Is the laptop dead?
Looking around the stands at the BETT Show in January, it was clear to see that some of the bigger companies - like Apple and Google - are changing the way in which education, in and out of the classroom, is being delivered.
The gradual dissolution of Local Authority support and guidance brings new challenges for schools. With IT budgets constantly shrinking, schools have to figure out new ways to manage their IT network more effectively, for less money, and to keep up with the evolution of new technology in the classroom. There has been a huge increase in the sales of iPads, iPhones, Blackberrys, Androids and other hand-held devices. Many of these devices are being used in schools and educational establishments to support teaching and learning, and administration. These devices are multi-functional, up-to-date, user-friendly and portable. Working on the move is much easier and accessible than on a laptop. Wireless appliances can be utilised across a range of academic subjects and in some schools students are now able to bring their own devices. This means that they are no longer dependent on access to a school-based machine; therefore, improving access to key applications and revision at home. If the appropriate server is in place, wireless appliances enable staff and pupils to access the internet, e-mail and the school’s intranet regardless of location within the school's grounds.
