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"Regardless of whether you think every infant needs an iPad, I think we can all agree that technology has changed education for the better. Today's learners now enjoy easier, more efficient access to information; opportunities for extended and mobile learning; the ability to give and receive immediate feedback; and greater motivation to learn and engage. We now have programs and platforms that can transform learners into globally active citizens, opening up countless avenues for communication and impact. Thousands of educational apps have been designed to enhance interest and participation. Course management systems and learning analytics have streamlined the education process and allowed for quality online delivery. But if we had to pick the top ten, most influential ways technology has transformed education, what would the list look like? The following things have been identified by educational researchers and teachers alike as the most powerful uses of technology for learning. Take a look. 1. Critical Thinking In Meaningful Learning With Technology, David H. Jonassen and his co-authors argue that students do not learn from teachers or from technologies. Rather, students learn from thinking-thinking about what they are doing or what they did, thinking about what they believe, thinking about what others have done and believe, thinking about the thinking processes they use-just thinking and reasoning. Thinking mediates learning. Learning results from thinking. So what kinds of thinking are fostered when learning with technologies? Analogical If you distill cognitive psychology into a single principle, it would be to use analogies to convey and understand new ideas. That is, understanding a new idea is best accomplished by comparing and contrasting it to an idea that is already understood. In an analogy, the properties or attributes of one idea (the analogue) are mapped or transferred to another (the source or target). Single analogies are also known as sy

" Apple has long touted its device's assistive technology as a powerful tool for the educational development of physically and mentally disabled children. The iPad's touch screen makes it easier to manipulate than more traditional educational tools. For children with autism, "the iPad is not a toy, but a tool that works best when there is a 'team effort' between parents and therapists encouraging its proper use," said Marc Reisner, co-founder of Reach for the APPs. "Our goal is to provide schools with iPads so they can reach every child on the autistic spectrum." Reach for the APPs built their site with an initial donation from Managed Digital. Now, they're seeking out donations of money and/or iPads from both individuals and corporations to propel the program forward. According to reports from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1-in-88 children have some form of autism, up 78 percent from just a decade ago. The demand for augmentative communications devices is growing. But the schools can't meet the demand, so the children are losing valuable time during critical developmental years. Lois Brady, a speech language pathologist and assistive technology specialist, said apps can help develop fine-motor skills, which will in turn make functions like writing and manipulating small objects easier for the students. "I have spent years working with the most challenging students that are considered profoundly disabled," she said. "And I have seen some small miracles when I introduce the iPad into our therapy, as the children have made huge gains in attention, focus, communication, language and literacy skills." Some experts also say that the iPad can lessen symptoms of autistic disorders, helping children deal with life's sensory overload. Brady will be contributing content to the Reach for the APPs website to inform therapists about the latest-and-greatest apps for children all over the autistim spectrum. Apps must be tailor

"With the recent announcement that Google Classroom will be available to all Google Apps for Education schools by the week of August 11th, schools that have also adopted iPads are interested in exploring the platform to determine if it will integrate into their existing deployment to provide a helpful and approachable workflow solution. While there are currently a number of workflow solutions and Learning Management Systems that work well with iPads, Google Classroom will likely become a top contender for iPad classrooms because of the integration with both the Google Drive and Google Docs iPad apps as well as any number of iPad creativity apps. While there is not an iPad app for Google Classroom, the web interface works seamlessly and allows students to turn in any assignment or file that is in their Google Drive account as illustrated by the video below."

"A great day of shared learning at Corpus Christi Primary Cranebrook to explore iPad use across the curriculum for student learning. Corpus Christi currently has about 60 iPads across the school, and held a professional learning day for staff to extend the use for student learning they already have with their iPads and develop more iPad lesson plans."

"I'm often approached by educators looking for the best iPad app.  While my students have their favourite go to apps, what works for my students may not work for theirs.  In fact even my own students can't decide which app is best because each has their own preference depending on what they are trying to do. It's far less about the specific app, then what that app can do to show learning. For me, the beauty of the iPad and more specifically the apps available for it, is that it allows my students to create, and show their learning in ways that work best for them.  For this reason I have created an iTunes U course titled Show What You Know with iPad: Using an iPad to Create and Self Assess in the Early Years.  This is a free course but does require an iOS device to access it through iTunes U . It can be downloaded onto  an iPod, iPhone, or iPad."

"Game-based learning is an educational trend that has gained so much popularity in recent years. At its core, game-based learning involves the use of the learning principles underlying games' play in learning situations. In his book " What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy", James Paul Gee mentioned a number of these principles all of which are geared towards improving learners' critical thinking skills  and  enhancing their problem solving competencies. Marc Prensky is another thought leader in this field and his book "Digital Game Based Learning" provides a very good explanation of the basics of game based learning. For those of you using iPad in their teaching, here is a set of interesting apps you can use to incorporate the ethos of game-based learning in your classroom.   These are some excellent educational games  to engage students in different learning scenarios. We invite you to check them out and share with us what you think of them. Enjoy"

"By now, saying that "the iPad is a great tool for customizing the classroom" wouldn't exactly be breaking news. But while this holds true for every student, each of whom learns in their own way, iPads are truly a lifeline for students with learning disabilities and the people who work hand-in-hand with them. For these students, iPads act as a translation, communication, and individualization tool with unrivaled effectiveness. In so doing, these devices reduce frustration, build confidence, and, well, just work in teaching students the skills they need to learn to thrive. Let's take a look at a few more ways iPads are altering the classroom landscape for students with learning disabilities."

"For the past couple of years I've been really fortunate to have access to iPads in my classroom. The increased access to this mobile technology has provided my students with that many more individualized opportunities to show and share their learning. Now if you're new to this blog you may not realize that student choice and voice is something I believe very strongly about. Very strongly. This means I am constantly looking for apps that allow my students to learn, show, and share their knowledge in innovative ways. As a result I purchase and download many, many iPad apps for my work iPad. I take them for a test drive sort of speak before they make their way onto the iPads my students have access to. The reality is very few apps I test drive end up on my student's iPads. But why? Below you will find some of the questions I ask (and why) before an app will make it on my students iPads. I am hoping this information will be of benefit for both teachers purchasing apps for their students, and developers creating apps for students. Here are my top eight questions."

"Using Google Apps on the iPad can get sticky! Historically, Google and the iPad have not played well together. But we have come a long way in the last couple years! There are now tons of apps for iOS devices that integrate well with Google, and Google has release several official apps for the iPad. There is hope, Obi Wan, Google and Apple can play nice! The infographic embedded below details the most useful Google apps for the iPad. These are the apps that I find most useful not only for teachers, but any Google user. Take a look, download, and explore the wonderful possibilities of using Google Apps on the iPad! (Note: There are a few apps that were designed for the iPhone, but worth mentioning for the iPad as well.)"

"iPads are amazing learning instruments that can improve instruction and student engagement dramatically. Those of us privileged enough to work in 1:1 iPad classrooms can attest to that. But lets be realistic: most classrooms around the world do not have access to the funds and resources necessary to equip a full classroom with iPads for each student. There are numerous teachers who have access to only one iPad at school, or they just own an iPad and think it would be a great idea to be able to use in the classroom. Luckily, there are several EdTech tools teachers can use in the One iPad Classroom in order to create lessons that are exciting, and provide unique educational experiences for all students."

"Using Google Apps on the iPad can get sticky! Historically, Google and the iPad have not played well together. But we have come a long way in the last couple years! There are now tons of apps for iOS devices that integrate well with Google, and Google has release several official apps for the iPad. There is hope, Obi Wan, Google and Apple can play nice! The infographic embedded below details the most useful Google apps for the iPad. These are the apps that I find most useful not only for teachers, but any Google user. Take a look, download, and explore the wonderful possibilities of using Google Apps on the iPad! (Note: There are a few apps that were designed for the iPhone, but worth mentioning for the iPad as well.)"

"At first, I have to admit I was not the greatest fan of the iPad. Aside from its obvious advantages, like the battery life and the time gained from not having to get the class to 'log on', it seemed like an expensive gimmick. However, after experimenting with iMovie, I began to see some of its potential and I was hooked. I soon found that many of the content-free apps, such as iMovie, Keynote and PuppetPals provided me with a medium through which I could teach in an inspiring and innovative way. Three years on, the school now has one iPad between two children and the opportunities to use the technology in a creative way have multiplied. The iPad is a valuable and powerful resource which has changed my approach to teaching and learning. My lessons are now more dynamic, with greater opportunities for the children to make decisions and choices for themselves. The pupils are often scattered around the school working in small groups to develop creative ways to record, present, evaluate and explain. My role as a teacher has also changed as I have become a facilitator and guide, providing quality control and advice. I have been able to introduce longer integrated projects combining different subjects and skills where the iPad is a key tool in the process. The iPad has been invaluable in enabling me to make the curriculum change I wanted. I can now say the skills of curiosity, collaboration, critical thinking, reflectiveness and creativity are being practised on a daily basis through this technology. However, it is the ease with which you can create on the iPad that has had the most impact in my classroom. The controls are so intuitive that very little time, if any once an app has been introduced, is spent teaching the children how to use the technology. This means that tasks that would have seemed too complicated or time consuming in the past are now possible."

"A few weeks ago, I did a workshop on Creating Authentic iPad Learning Stations for Primary Students.  I thought I would share some of the things that I spoke about and some of the key points that I tried to get across in my workshop. First, an iPad Station does not consist of handing a child an iPad, putting them on an app and letting them click away.  Come on people, aren't we past this by now?  In the past, I have had colleagues come ask me if they can use the iPads in my room the following period.  When I replied yes, their next question was, "What apps do you have on them?"  WHAT!? Integrating technology doesn't mean that you hand a child an iPad for a period because you have nothing planned.  Using technology needs to be purposeful.  It needs to be thought out, and there needs to a reason to use it. "

"Since November I've had the privledge of teaching with an iPad in my grade one class. Along the way I have discovered a lot of great ways to use it to help my students have their individual learning needs met.  Having just one iPad did bring about its own set of challenges but we were very lucky to have access to some additional iPads in the final term of school.  Next year we will have  iPads again thanks in part to my participation in my school's successful innovative learning grant application and another special project I'm involved with at the school district level.  Needless to say my head has been spinning all summer with ways I can integrate this technology into my classroom with out loosing sight of the important non technology based teaching and learning my students need too."

"This week, we completed our 10th Annual Summer Teaching with Technology Workshop Series. During that time, we taught five iPad workshops ranging from Leveraging iPads, Laptops, and other Digital Tools to Create Differentiated Learning Environments to The iPad Classroom to iPads, ePubs, & iBooks Author. We often say that we learn as much from our participants as they learn from us. To prove it, we've compiled a Top 10 List of what we learned this summer."

"There is no end to the uses of the iPad in education. I've discussed that ad nauseum on this blog. As a learning tool, it has the potential to make a great positive change to learning. The only problem is Apple designed it for individual use. Schools are designed for ( or budgeted for) shared use. Conventional wisdom is for iPad use to occur in a 1:1 or BYOD Environment. In the best case scenario, I wholeheartedly agree. Unfortunately, financial realities will often dictate that sharing is the only viable option if we want our students to enjoy the benefits of the iPad. It can be done effectively - I've shared my thoughts early in the year about the pros and cons of shared iPads - but doesn't happen without some time consuming workarounds. What follows is my take on the pains (and remedies) of sharing iPads in a rather large Primary (elementary) school."

"Weebly, a popular website creation service, has offered an iPhone app for a couple of years. This morning I learned that they now offer a free iPad app too. Weebly's free iPad app allows you to create a new website from scratch. After creating your website with the app you will be able to manage nearly all aspects of your site from your iPad. The drag-and-drop website building process that made Weebly popular as a browser-based tool is found in the new iPad app. Select a site component from the menu of options and drag it into the editor to build your site one component at a time. Watch the video embedded below for a short overview of Weebly's free iPad app. "

"Although some schools are going one-to-one iPads, there is a growing trend of teachers purchasing their own iPad and bringing them into the classroom. This is a different proposition. Where I have written about how an iPad can support teacher's professional and personal learning, I have not written about how iPads can be used to support learning within the classroom. I therefore put out a call for thoughts and ideas on Twitter: If u only had ONE iPad in a room, what would u do with it? Looking for links/ideas - Aaron Davis (@mrkrndvs) June 2, 2015"

"Looking for the best iPhone apps and Best iPad apps to help you learn a new language? No matter what language you want to learn, there are hundreds of options available in the App Store. Whether you're getting ready to travel the world or just feel it's important to know another language, it's never too late to learn. Luckily, the days of having to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars for online or tape courses are long gone. However, that doesn't mean all language learning apps are created equal. These are the language learning apps for iPhone and iPad that we think are the absolute best"

"Have you just unwrapped your new iPad and you're still wondering where to start from? Or are you a seasoned iPad user looking for great tricks to use your iPad more efficiently? Then you came to the right place, because in this article you are going to learn a lot of cool things that you can do with your iPad that most people don't know about. These tricks will leave you glued to your iPad craving for more."