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Students learn in different ways

The iPad can provide visual, audio and tactile learning; reaching many students’ learning styles.

The iPad is often used as an individual tool in isolation

But please, don't put the child in a quiet place and just hand them an iPad without a true purpose. Let's get creative with its use. How to use an iPad in the classroom with a group? A couple of thoughts - Teacher directs, students watch.  Teacher directs, with iPad in the middle of the group and students touch with instruction.   Teacher instructs and iPad is passed between students. Use as part of your lesson, part of your center activity.   Teacher instructs and the students use, independently or in a team situation.    Team learning situations. Hand a group of students an iPad with a purpose. 

Most of us will not have enough for all our students for a while.

ideas

ideas

be careful to not have the iPad become what we have seen so many computers become in education: a glorified toy.

What are some of the benefits we are seeing? We are seeing that the iPad often encourages interactivity. Students will share a lot of what they're doing, ask each other "How did you do that?" or, "Oh, look what I did!"  They want to problem solve together. It encourages group discussions between the students. They tend to help each other a lot more.  It is affordable, comparatively speaking (see below.)  

For special education students, some are saying it is the best tool that has ever been designed. Here are a few reasons why we might prefer an iPad over a desktop computer: Ease of access – no need to be able to operate a mouse, a switch or to need to sit a certain way. The iPad can easily come to the student, be placed where they need it and the touch required is extremely friendly. (Not for all!! Remember, this is very individual.) Simplicity of programs – from very basic to more complex, many apps are design to be user friendly. For the moderate to severe population of students the amount of simple apps is huge, plus they are extremely inexpensive and visually draw students in. Simplicity of use - many who cannot understand how to operate a computer, can understand how to operate an iPad. (Even your grandmother!) Low cost of programs – compared to the cost of software programs for a computer, there really is no comparison (unless you consider the abundant amount of free programs available on the Internet. And yes, please continue using those!). There are apps designed specifically for our population (see other postings to right). Designing apps for education has become quite the market. The amount of apps designed specifically for special education has grown so much that there is now a category for it that stands alone in the iTunes Store. Assistive Technology and Communication Apps are available that help to make this a tool for access support, not just a tool for learning (i.e. audio books, word prediction, visual prompts, etc.) It can be loaded with many adaptive technology gadgets and programs, thereby reducing the need for multiple devices. Talk about UDL (Universal Design for Learning)! This is a tool that can level the playing field for many. There are apps that are inexpensive and exciting to increase vocabulary, sight words, math facts, reading comprehension, organizational skills, and drawing skills, just to name a few.It can be very educational and in the classroom, this is what we want: exciting, fresh, innovative teaching tools. Built-in accessibility tools such as zoom and high contrast display make this a tool to support visually impaired. The built-in VoiceOver screen reader works as well on the iPad as on the iPhone. For our VI population, the options are growing and growing. (However, it may be the iPhone that is the best solution for those with significant vision impairments.) Programs such as Dragon Dictation is free, no paper and pencil needed if one can speak clearly, for writing text messages, e-mail, maybe documents. (Must have Internet/WiFi connection for this to work however and it is not the best option for longer texts.) The brilliant screen of the iPad which creates and supports visual interest - with the ever improving HD colors which are bright and the HD video and/or camera- tools at our fingertips that can be pulled into our educational artillery in so many new and innovative ways.  The right case can make it much less indestructible. More and more tools are being developed to help with access. (Mounts, switch access, adaptive styluses, etc.) Light weight (iPad = 1.5 lbs.) Instant Response/Instant On/Fast Processor. Consider this: Combine the touch screen, ease of use, and cool factor of the iPad and you have a pretty interesting format for communication device

AT is intended to enhance performance of an individual with a disability.  It is why we have to carefully match what we recommend to the user's strengths and needs.  The iPad cannot do that on its own, it is the recommendation of the appropriate Apps that ultimately improve the performance of a student.  Thus, the iPad itself is not the Assistive Technology it is the Settings and the Apps, the case, the special stylus, that offer enhanced performance. Improving performance of a student with a disability through AT (Apps or otherwise) means looking at the student, identifying the task that needs to be performed and identifying where the student will use the AT - i.e. the environment, effects of time etc

This is a list of iPad pros, from a student’s point of view (wish I knew the student’s name so I could reference her. My apologies!):

iPads with Moderate to Severe Students:

Videos worth watching:

Articles worth reviewing:

Now go out and make this tool a wonderful addition to our educational world!

ntegrating technology into a high school classroom isn't a one-step process. "You can't just slap a netbook [computer] on top of a textbook and say, 'Great, now we have technology,"

digital learning starts with teachers,

performance is enhanced by technology

he first annual Digital Learning Day falls on February 1 and will celebrate innovative K-12 instructors who successfully bring technology into the classroom by assigning online course content,

When a school says, 'OK, we want to use technology better,' you have to develop your goals and what learning outcomes you're trying to reach,"

As technology evolves, so must the teachers. "For the last 100 years, teachers have essentially been the sage on the stage," Wise says. "They're the only access point of knowledge."

Login Welcome, {{name}} Logout Rankings & Advice Education Health Money Travel Cars Law Firms News U.S. News Home education Facebook Twitter Education Rankings & Advice Home Colleges Grad Schools High Schools National Rankings State Rankings High School Notes Blog (function ($) { "use strict"; $(function () { var $metaCurrentState = $('meta[name=current_state_abbreviation]'), $headerSearch = $('#headerSearch-highSchools'), $headerState = $('select[name=bhs-school-state]', $headerSearch), $headerStates = $('option', $headerStates), currentStateAbbreviation = ''; if ($metaCurrentState.length > 0) { currentStateAbbreviation = $metaCurrentState.attr('content'); $headerStates.each(function () { var $state = $(this), text = $state.text(), value = $state.val(); if (text === currentStateAbbreviation) { $headerState.val(value); } }); } }); }(jQuery)); (function($) { $(document).ready(function() { function autocomplete_school_name_widget() { var state = $("#bhs-header-state option:selected").val(), url = 'http://' + window.location.hostname + '/education/best-high-schools/' + state + '/name-autocomplete?timestamp=0&limit=10', redirect_url = 'http://' + window.location.hostname + '/education/best-high-schools/search-bounce'; if ($.fn.usnAutocomplete) { $('#bhs-header-school').usnAutocomplete({ responseFormat: 'newlineList', autocompleteOptions: { serviceUrl: url, paramName: 'q', onSelect: function() { window.location.href = r

3. Become an educational designer: As technology evolves, so must the teachers. "For the last 100 years, teachers have essentially been the sage on the stage," Wise says. "They're the only access point of knowledge."But now, Wise says, teachers are more like designers, who get to choose and develop what kinds of content their students access and which technologies they use. Wise says that with new content technologies, too, teachers can quickly see assessment results of their students."They have tools so that instead of seeing 25 students sitting in front of them looking the same," Wise says, "they now know that this student needs this particular assistance, and this student needs that something else."

Warringa Park School, a special needs institution in Hopper's Crossing, Victoria, Australia, has a list of apps which have been particularly successful in teaching students who have special learning needs.

Mad Addition, Mad Subtraction and Mad Multiplication help students learn math and have fun while doing it. Red Fish 4 Kids assisted students in learning how to spell.

nternet

Email

Videoconferencing

Digital Camera

Presentation Software

Web Page

Digital Video

Word Processing

Word Processing

Internet 19. Go on an Internet Scavenger Hunt 20. Explore places you could never visit through streaming video 21. Investigate any situation through a WebQuest—created by someone else or you can create your own 22. Track data—the weather over time, or in different places, or changes in the Stock Market 23. Start the day or week with "Current Events," even in a content area, from major news sources 24. Watch or join an adventure online 25. Contribute to a research team—student data contributions and tracking are used for many projects 26. Research what happened the day you were born 27. Play a role in an online simulation—there is even a United Nations simulation for Middle School 28. Test your knowledge with daily quizzes—the National Geography Bee posts new questions daily 29. Become a "Jason Project" member 30. Follow the Iditarod

use Facebook or Twitter to post a topic for discussion and get all students involved and interacting with one another

Having students post their work in blogs is a great way to allow student to showcase all their hard work or works-in-progress. Students can help each other out by posting comments and suggestions for each other.

You can easily create and post podcasts for students who want to review or were absent so every student has the opportunity to soak it all in.

peak with virtual guest lecturers, and make friends and interact with others in different countries.

A great way to optimize collaboration is to use mobile devices in the classroom by letting students use them in group work.

Use of digital microphones in the classroom

Use of smart interactive Whiteboards

Use of online media

Use of online study tools

edcanvas   (Now known as Blendspace ) Edcanvas is a connected space where students and adults can organize, present and share information. Gather, annotate and share presentations easily by dragging and dropping images, movies, maps, audio and text and embedding hyperlinks onto a blank canvas. Use multiple frames on each canvas to pre-teach a topic, provide 1:1 and differentiated instruction, and share pathfinders and explore connections. Use your own content or searching on the Internet, without leaving the Edcanvas page to create collaborative projects. Older elementary and secondary students can create collaborative projects by copying individual canvases to make a complete dynamic canvas. Grades 6-12.

Curriculum Collaboration

Standards for the 21st-Century Learner 1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within a learning community. 3.1.2 Participate and collaborate as members of a social and intellectual network of learners. 3.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess. 4.3.1 Participate in the social exchange of ideas, both electronically and in person

Codecademy   What happens when you combine the knowledge and talent of a handful of techies that want to make a change in education? Visit Codeacademy and participate in the teaching and learning experience of the future! Codeacademy has set out to create an online social instructional experience that teaches programming to people around the world. Learn the fundamentals of various programming languages, participate in online coding language labs, and learn how to start a coding academy at your own school. Grades 6-12.

The 2013 Best Websites for Teaching and Learning foster the qualities of innovation, creativity, active participation, and collaboration. They are free, Web-based sites that are user friendly and encourage a community of learners to explore and discover.

inklewriter   Are you searching for technology that will motivate budding and reluctant writers to author the next great story? Inklewriter provides the format for writing interactive branched stories. While students focus on writing, Inklewriter handles the story paths that end and those yet to be developed. Students who love the "choose your own ending" stories will enjoy writing, editing and reading on this dynamic site. Branched stories with the potential for multiple endings will also intrigue those interested in game development. Finished projects can be shared with a limited or global audience at the author's discretion. Tip: Use Inklewriter to explore decision making and consequences in secondary Health, Social Studies, Science, and English classes.