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Heathrow , Florida
I'm Ashley! I am a teacher to 20 precious second graders, and I love my job more and more everyday. I am engaged to my highschool sweetheart and will be getting married in February 2017! We have two dogs - Tank, our Boxer and Colt, our Mali-Shepherd Mix.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Using iPads in the Classroom

If I had twenty iPads in my class, what would I do with them? How would I use them to help my students learn better and help me teach better? Perhaps a better question is what would I do with them that I could not do with other tools that are available and cheaper?


The iPad has a number of unique features that provide for interesting possibilities in teaching and learning. These are some of the benefits I feel that iPads would bring into my second grade classroom:

• Classroom Apps
There are countless apps available for teachers and students, and many of them free, to tie into ANY subject area.

• Ease of Use
This might be subjective but overall iPads seem to be extremely easy to use right out of the box. There is a very streamlined, organized feel; you have everything you need, and it works!

 Kid Friendly 
Students these days use tablets and mobile devices from an early age, some as early as 1 or 2 years old! By the time they are in school it’s second nature to use a tablet or mobile device or an iPad in the classroom. The iPad will keep their attention and resonate with students by aligning with how the new mobile generation wants to learn and communicate.

Now, I am not saying that throwing 20 iPads into an elementary school classroom is going to cause a big improvement on student’s learning. I feel that having iPads in the classroom can be very effective if the teacher is properly trained on how to use it for educational purposes.

How can we use the iPad to facilitate better instruction? How can we engage our students more by using the iPad? How can I use these iPads to enhance the learning of my students with special needs?

What is your opinion on the use of iPads in the elementary classroom?

3 comments:

  1. Ashley,

    I love the idea of incorporating the use of IPads in the classroom! Not only would it create engaging activities, but it will keep students interested in what they are learning. This is important in today's classroom because many students seem to lose interest easily. Currently in my classroom, we have a class set of kindles. I personally do not like the Kindles, as they are not user friendly like the IPad. Many of my students rarely touch or take home their Kindle. This year, I have had a few students tell me that they do not fully understand how to use their Kindle. I think if we switched to mini IPads, students would be more interested in using them because it is easier to navigate and the apps on Apple products are endless. Yes, the cost is significantly more, but I believe it would be worth it to integrate this technology form into the classroom with properly trained teachers. Thanks for sharing!

    Kaitlyn

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  2. I wish I had iPads, too! I think they are amazing for learning and engagement. They are also easy for students to navigate and many students are already used to navigating on touch screen phones or tablets. Like you mentioned, there are so many awesome educational apps out there and so many of them are FREE! Great post, thanks!

    Kristin

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  3. Ashley,
    I started using iPads in my classroom this year and they have helped immensely! The kids love using them and there are so many apps that can be used in the classroom. I personally, have used apps that help my students practice their multiplication facts. I've also used an app called Plickers, which is amazing! I would definitely look into it, if you don't already know about it. You bring up valid points, often times there is a misconception that just by bringing iPads into the classroom student learning will increase. That is obviously false. How you use the iPads and monitor student time-on-task, is what is important.
    -Annie

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