I was reluctant for many reasons to apply for the 1:1 iPads 5 years ago. iPads weren't in classes very much at that time in our SD so there was a great deal of uncertainty. Only a handful of educators applied & were accepted. My biggest concerns were about the possibility of increases...in distractions, student isolation, fewer interactions etc. I also recognized there would be a steep learning curve for myself. However, I had also learned a great deal teaching students with Autism about what engaged & assisted their learning. I new most had a great deal of technology at home already and were very interested in their gaming systems and often shared what they were playing at home. We even wrote several HOW TO GUIDES on their personal systems. They loved that unit! High interest. I also knew that the visual, multi media nature of the iPad was a powerful way to engage my students. The nature of the iPad would give me the ability to individualize & differentiate in more interesting ways. I applied and have never looked back. Engagement & Time | Hearing and seeing himself for the first time. A child who barely spoke found his voice!The positive impact of the iPads on myself and my students was profound and altered my teaching & their learning dramatically. I too became a learner and they often became my teacher. Collaboration, Problem Solving & communication soared.They were so thankful & eager to learn. |
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We are fortunate to have a class set of iPads which we are beginning to bring out for projects . One of our most used Apps is Puppet Pals. This App is versatile and the children like it. It is also an app that requires some planning, sequencing and use of other apps. This first assignment was to teach our parents about our five rules. ( See the class video here. ) The children were given simple guidelines to complete this early project. The 'experts' helped the younger students learn the App, how to save their finished work and share it with me so I could post it to the website. We then shared them using our Apple TV & discussed how many backgrounds , puppets and techniques were used. They enjoyed the sharing with their peers and learning more about what this App can do!
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