IPAD

What the resource is and how it works

An iPAD is a tablet computer. It´s small and weigh very little so it´s easy to bring wherever you´re going. You can use the iPAD as a camera, taking pictures or making movies. You can also use it as a recorder, or play music on it. Or just as a computer, surfing on internet, checking your e-mail or using different apps. It has a multi-touch screen that reacts as soon as you touch it. You can easily add different apps to the iPAD which makes it very suitable for school-activities.

One thing to consider when you´re thinking about getting iPADs as a tool in your school is that you need to have some place where you easily can charge the batteries. Either in a small room or in some kind of a locker. Because it´s very annoying if you´re working with your iPADs and the battery runs out. Another thing you have to fix before using them is that you have to have an apple-account so that you can download different apps to your iPADs.

If you are using the iPADs for surfing on the internet you need to have wireless internet in your school (something I believe most of the schools have nowadays).

How the resource can be used by teachers and by pupils

As I wrote earlier the iPAD can be used as a computer, but you can do so much more than that. As a teacher the iPAD is a good resource because of its small size. You can always bring it wherever you´re going, home, to a meeting, to a class etc. You can write your notes on it, and therefore you know where you have your notes, and you don´t have to spend a hole afternoon looking for them. You can always check your e-mail. You can tell your pupils to send their homework or assignments to your e-mail. Once again you know where you have all the paperwork and you can bring the work home without having to carry a huge bag. After you have correct the works you can easily send them back to the pupils by e-mail.

Since you always have the internet with you in class, you and your pupils can without any problem use the iPADs to search for information about subjects that you´re wondering about. By doing that it´s easy as a teacher to capture the pupils interest instantly.

There are a lot of apps to use in school, in every subject. Of course there are both good and bad apps. It´s important to try the app yourself before letting the students try it. A good tip is to have a cooperation with the other teacher at your school, talk with each other and give each other tips on good apps. Maybe you can have a board in the staffroom or a site on the internet where you can write down which apps you have been using and what the app trains.

During class you can use the iPAD in many different ways. If you´re using it in an English lesson one good thing to do is to record the students, when they are talking or maybe playing an act or something like that. By doing that the pupils can hear themselves afterwards, which is very good when you´re training on the pronunciation.

On big win with the iPAD is that the pupils often finds it fun to work with them, and we all know that if something is fun its more likely that more will be done. And for those pupils that have a hard time with their handwriting the iPAD is a good tool. By writing on the iPAD each pupils work will look just as good, which is a boost for the self-confidence.  

Other considerations when you´re using iPADs.

One thing to consider when you are using iPADs in school is to have rules on how to use it. To make clear for the students that it´s no toy, and that they have to use the apps that the teacher says, and if they are surfing on the internet they should follow the instructions from the teacher. But my experience says that it´s no big problem. The children of today is used to handle these kind of tools, and knows how to use them. They know that when I´m in school the iPad (or computer or other ICT tools) are for my knowledge, and when I´m home I can use it as a toy.

Of course the iPads cost a lot of money, and they will break, and they needs updates sometimes. Therefore it´s a good thing to have someone at your school who can handle all of these things. Because otherwise it will take too much of your precious time, and the risk is that you won´t be able to fix the problems, and therefore you won´t be using them anymore, which is a shame since it´s a very helpful tool in school when it´s working!

/Malin Silén