This year, our school has been fortunate enough to be given iPod Touch devices for each class from P1 - P7. We have been exploring the impact that the tools, apps and general nature of learning and teaching using these handheld devices.
Whilst the emphasis has been placed mainly on the use of apps. My P7 class have been looking at how we can use the iPods in general to replace or improve current systems and make information and resources more available for all learners of various needs and learning styles.
Apps
SimpleMind+
Children have used this mind-mapping tool to organise ideas during writing and topic lessons. I was surprised at how easily children adapted to the small screen and managed to navigate around. I also anticipated issues about the speed of progress due to having to use the on screen keyboard. However, this didn't pose a problem, even for children who I expected to use the paper alternative.
Impact: Children have enjoyed this as a tool and they find it different and fun. However, it loses the group work and spontaneous benefit as children do these mind maps individually and unless the SimpleMnds+ app is also installed on the class Macbook and then connected to the whiteboard, I feel the advantage still lies with children surrounding a sheet of large paper that can be instantly shared and discussed.
KidsMathFun, ArithmeTick, Times Tables
These apps are fun little games to allow children to practise mental maths and times tables. We have used them as fun starter activities at the beginning of maths lessons. Children have also chosen to play them at times where they have finished tasks or during their golden time.
Impact: It is expected that regular and engaging times table practise will pay dividends. Time will tell.
Dictionary
There is no substitute for the good old traditional paper dictionary... or is there. The dictionary app has many more words than our class dictionaries. The app doesn't get creased and torn and compensates for misspelled words. It also has the ability to play a sound file demonstrating the pronunciation of the word.
Impact: Children have been far more keen to refer to a dictionary to aid spelling and comprehension when using the iPods. However, this means that the teaching of alphabet and dictionary skills begins to lose relevance to the children.
French, FR Lite
I installed these in case children were interested in developing or testing their French language learning in their own time. Some children have but it has not been widely used.
Impact: this has had little or no visible impact although I plan to work more closely with our French specialist to see if there is a way it can aid teaching & learning in her class.
LetsTans
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| LetsTans |
I installed this app as an extension activity when we were looking at shape. The children immediately engaged with it and spend the next 5 - 10 days working through the many levels, competing with each other. was very pleased to see their enthusiasm.
Impact: A huge motivational tool which really got children into competitive problem solving. As extension tasks, I will definitely look for more puzzles like this related to future maths topics.
Banner
Inspired by the 2012 Olympic Games, we used the Banner app in our class assembly to recreate a version of the matrix boards used around the seating of the Olympic Stadium. It was... fun!
Angry Birds
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! Children have made very good arguments for using Angry Birds as a maths tool through the use of estimation and angle. Fair play to them.
Smart slides
When teaching, I use the interactive whiteboard heavily. I find it drives the pace of the lesson, keeps children engaged during the 'teacher talk' part as well as allowing a clear display of modelled/shared tasks, success criteria and word banks. In this current climate of budget cuts, it is not possible to photocopy SCs, word banks etc for each child. Especially when much of this ends up being used for scrap or in the recycling box. The value of these aids last only for a couple of lessons at the most.
With SMART Notebook software, any slides created can be exported as image files or PDFs. This means that all the slides can be copied across to iPhoto on the Macbook and synchronised to the iPods very quickly. I have done this often in writing tasks and have even managed to do this after we have annotated the slides. In the 3 minutes that I give children to write the date, title and get started, I can sync the iPods and have them distributed. Children then have the most up to date versions of the slides to reference as they need.
Impact:
I have seen a great impact especially on writing. I have found in the past that children constantly need to flick between models, shared-writing as well as copying success criteria. Word banks were generally only given to those children identified as benefiting from them. Now, children are in complete control, flicking to and fro between the information that they need. They are borrowing the ideas from the shared writing, reminding themselves of vocabulary and all have access to SC, word banks, sentence starts etc. All without having to print or photocopy anything. (I always have a couple of paper copies for any child who finds it difficult to use the ipods. The rarely need them) I feel that the quality of writing has increased through the use of the ipods.
Multimedia
The multimedia element of iPod Touches in the classroom has been very beneficial to children's ability to engage with cross-curricular projects. For our assembly I imported the music that accompanied their singing into iTunes. I then copied the PDF of the song words and assembly script into Dropbox. This meant that, with headphones, children could listen to the backing tracks and follow the song words at the same time. All children had copies of the scripts which could be updated and refreshed by me at any time. At this point the iPods were not being allowed home but had they been, it would have made a huge difference to the extent to which children could engage with the assembly.
Likewise, for history-based lessons I imported Chamberlains declaration of war speech and an edited version of Martin Luther King speech accompanied by images of him making the speech. This way, children could engage with primary sources that were far more meaningful, with far more impact than a typed page.
Impact:
Children have engaged with primary sources in a way that they would not have if given photocopies or reading from a book. The personal nature of the devices mean that the children have had the freedom to revisit, reconsider multimedia texts. This has meant, for example, that there has been a crossover during children's work where they refer back to these resources to enrich other, but related, tasks.
Calendar
Since children are now able to take the iPods home, I have explored the possibility of replacing the diaries that children have previously taken home. The diaries have space for 'things to remember', 'keep in touch' and 'homework tasks'. I have set up the calendar so that the iPods themselves are set to their own, independent calendar that children can edit and update themselves. I have also set up a P7 calendar that automatically syncs from the Macbook. This is where I can put general events that are synced to all iPods such as itineraries for trips etc.
Impact:
This will take time to become a habit but my hope is that it will become a more reliable way to communicate between home and school as well as helping children to be more organised. Children often forget their diaries though, to date, have never forgotten their iPod.
Dropbox
I have mostly used iPhoto to provide children with images of SMART slides or photographs of worksheets or other, photocopied resources. However, iPhoto will not accept PDFs and since many of the resources we collect from online sources are provided in PDF format (or at least can be converted from word) I have used Dropbox to make these available to all. Since children only have to log in once, there is little chance that they will not have access to the most current files in Dropbox and this gives it an advantage over GLOW documents as children still seem to have problems with the log-in process, especially at home.
Impact:
The impact of this will not be clear until we have tried it for longer.
Limitations
- The screen size is small and therefore, while there have been few complaints from the children, the long term effects of this are worth considering.
- The firmware on the devices are becoming outdated meaning that many of the modern apps will not work on the devices. This is not known until after they are installed (and paid for).
- The lack of a camera does limit the uses with regards to augmented reality applications, QR codes and most pressingly the uploading of images of pupils achievements to their online e-porfolios.
Each child is given a laminated Blockbuster card appropriate to their depth of understanding. The cards are made up of a grid of hexagons providing a pathway from left to right. Each hexagonal cell contains a Book Detective task. The idea is that children choose their own path with tasks getting 'meatier' as they progress. There is a mix of visual and text-based tasks avoiding too much repetition of the same task.
