iPads and opportunities for teaching and learning for young children (iPads n kids) (original) (raw)
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This paper reports on a qualitative study exploring ways teachers can adopt iPads to provide opportunities for young children's learning and exploration in an early childhood education and care setting in Hamilton. Interviews with teachers, children and their caregivers as well as observations of teacher interactions with children and copies of children work produced on the iPad informed the study. The findings focused on two teachers' practice to reveal the different ways teachers can make use of the iPad to expand children's learning opportunities and foster closer home-centre links. In particular, four key iPad-supported practices were observed -use of the iPad as a relational tool, as a communicative tool, as a documentation tool, and finally, as an informational tool for supporting child-led learning. These strategies were however contingent on teachers considering the interplay between the opportunities that iPads 4 offered, their own pedagogical views and children's learning needs and contexts. Implications for practice for teachers of early childhood services and new entrant classes are offered.
Children's journey with iPads in the classroom
2011
In this paper, the adoption and use of iPad in the elementary school classroom is discussed. One 4th grade class of 26 students was equipped with 6 iPads. The goal of the study was to see what effect these artifacts have on learning, play and possibilities of influencing the preset curriculum by the students. Instead of the technology adoption model (TAM), we use classroom information ecology framework. The investigation method we chose is based on ethnography. Additional information was collected through interviews with the teacher, families and students, as well as from several short surveys. Two workshops were conducted in order to gain deeper understanding of how iPad may be used to support creative processes and search for information. Our initial results show that the students are very interested in creative activities supported by iPad. The main obstacle to fuller use of iPads is the language (the children are not native English speakers). In spite of the language problem, teaching was enhanced in several ways. The children became very skilled in the use of their iPads, in particular when searching for information or using Apps in class. The teacher found it faster and easier to teach with the iPads as the children could accomplish more tasks on their own. The overall conclusion from this study period is that the use of iPad is working exceptionally well as a complement to traditional ways of teaching, with interesting possibilities for giving children a larger role in influencing their own curriculum.
http://ecl.sagepub.com/content/14/2/147.full.pdf+html, 2014
With the revolution that has taken place in the functionality and uptake of portable networked ‘smart’ technologies, educators are looking to see what potential applications such technologies might have for school education. This article reports on a study on the use of portable personal computing devices in the early years of schooling. Specifically, it focuses on emerging patterns of use of Apple iPads in an Australian Preparatory (first year of compulsory schooling) classroom during the first year of implementation of these devices. We draw on student and teacher interviews and classroom observation data to provide a research meta-narrative of the intentions, practices and reflections of a ‘first year out’ teacher, and to discuss points of tension found in the contested space of early years literacy education, which are highlighted when potentially transformative technologies meet institutionalized literacy education practices. Our findings suggest that the broader policy and curriculum context of early years literacy education, and institutionalized practices found in this space, is potentially at odds with teacher-held intentions to transform learning through technology use, particularly with respect to tensions between print-based traditions and new digital literacies, and those between standards-based classroom curricula and more emancipatory agendas.
Touch, learn, play : what children do with an iPad in the classroom
This thesis presents a case study of technology acceptance of iPad as a classroom tool. The study spans an eleven months period within the context of a rural Norwegian elementary school. Six iPads were introduced in to classroom information ecology of a fourth grade class.Through ethnography-based observations, workshops, questionnaires and interviews , changes in the classroom information ecology are documented. In cooperation with the teacher, some parts of the curriculum have been adapted to this new platform. Observations were made around the use of iPad both in the classroom setting as well as at home for the purposes of learning, entertainment and socialization.
Computers in New Zealand Schools: Learning, teaching, technology, 25(1–3), 38–55
"In New Zealand, there are growing numbers of schools which are investing in iPad deployment, ranging from schools who have made a strong commitment to iPads through to those who have purchased a small number for student groups to use. Recent studies have comprehensively reflected the kinds of affordances that iPads offer, such as mobility, flexibility, ease of use, and range of applications. It is timely to begin to consider the type of education that might be afforded by such technologies. Using three future-focused themes—diversity, connectedness and coherence (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, 2012)—as lenses for analysis, this paper presents three vignettes from junior classes that reflect the way iPads might afford deep, personalised approaches to learning to support young people effectively as they move through their school years. The analysis suggests that, where educators adopt a learner-centred pedagogy as part of a whole school systematic vision for learning, iPads can offer a powerful tool for engagement. "
iPads as a Literacy Teaching Tool in Early Childhood
Considering the increased influence of digital technologies on daily life (Fallows, 2004) and young children’s increased use of interactive technologies (Children Now, 2007), early childhood educators are beginning to think about the role of technology in their classrooms. Many preschool programs are beginning to purchase iPads, or similar tablets, for classroom use. Thus, it is important to consider how iPads, or similar tablets, can be used in a developmentally appropriate manner with young children. To this end, this article describes the use of iPads in two preschool classrooms of four and five year-old children.
Connections, diversity, coherence: Three vignettes exploring learning with iPads in primary schools
2013
In New Zealand, there are growing numbers of schools which are investing in iPad deployment, ranging from schools who have made a strong commitment to iPads through to those who have purchased a small number for student groups to use. Recent studies have comprehensively reflected the kinds of affordances that iPads offer, such as mobility, flexibility, ease of use, and range of applications. It is timely to begin to consider the type of education that might be afforded by such technologies. Using three future-focused themes—diversity, connectedness and coherence (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, 2012)—as lenses for analysis, this paper presents three vignettes from junior classes that reflect the way iPads might afford deep, personalised approaches to learning to support young people effectively as they move through their school years. The analysis suggests that, where educators adopt a learner-centred pedagogy as part of a whole school systematic vision for learni...