Ipads in grade 1

[allison]

Hello all-

This is my first post. I teach grade 1-2 and will be incorporating iPads into my teaching. I have spent a vast amount of time researching apps appropriate for my students and think I have a pretty good collection. What I am seeking are any other teachers that have used iPads with children and what type of management routines have you found useful. Also, any pitfalls of this technology. Thanks

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

Good to hear from you. You’ll find a whole bunch of iPad enthusiasts in this Forum who are only too willing to help other iPad owners and to hear of their experiences. Don’t be afraid to post any questions you may have or use the ‘Search’ button near the top of the Forum web page. I usually find I discover one new interesting and useful piece of information about my iPad every day - and often not even what I was looking for!!

Hope to hear from you soon with your thoughts about the iPad.

Have fun and enjoy your iPad


If you don’t already have it you can download a copy of the iPad manual for free.

Apple - Support - Manuals

Please read the rules too!!

http://www.ipadforums.net/forum-rules-help-info/2119-forum-rules-everybody-please-read.html

Tim
Scotland

 

[epacor]

I am the grandfather of a 8 and 6 year old girls and have been looking for iPad applications to help educate them.
You mentioned some good programs.
Would you be prepared to share them?
I haven't found any programs that are easy to use for that age, are good in educating and that are exciting for them to use.
Most are rather complex and boring.

 

[allison]

Good iPad apps

I am the grandfather of a 8 and 6 year old girls and have been looking for iPad applications to help educate them.
You mentioned some good programs.
Would you be prepared to share them?
I haven't found any programs that are easy to use for that age, are good in educating and that are exciting for them to use.
Most are rather complex and boring.

Are you looking for a specific subject area? Such as reading, math, letter recognition, etc?

Let me know and I will pass on what I have.

 

[epacor]

Mainly reading and maths
Thanks

 

[slo_cookie]

Hi Allison,
I'm new to Ipads in 1st also. I was just given the Ipads a few days into the school year and told to use them. I have 8 for a class of 18 this year. I had a vision of what I wanted to do with them but none of it is coming to fruition because you cannot download the plug-ins needed. I wanted a reading comprehension program like RazKids and have my students watch the videos by Scholastic News but can't do any of that.
So what am I doing? When I'm working with small group, we use Sparklepaint program like whiteboards. Students do things like answer math problems, write rhyming words, practice contractions, etc. The children practice their math facts using Math Bingo and other math fact games. I also have plans to have students read stories into the machines and have them listen to themselves and try to improve their fluency and expression.
What about you? What are you doing?

 

[jsh1120]

I am the grandfather of a 8 and 6 year old girls and have been looking for iPad applications to help educate them.
You mentioned some good programs.
Would you be prepared to share them?
I haven't found any programs that are easy to use for that age, are good in educating and that are exciting for them to use.
Most are rather complex and boring.

I'll make my usua l:thumbs: for the khan academy videos. Take a look at Khan Academy on the web and/or the khan academy apps from the app store. They are wonderful and many are designed for elementary school math and science classes. In fact, Salmon Khan, their originator, designed them initially to help his young cousins with their math. One of their great strengths is that they are designed to be short and focused on specific topics. They work very well with the short attention spans of today's youngsters.

Also check out Mom's with Apps in the App Store. Lots of reviews of useful educational applications.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Good luck and all that, but, Bob must be mean.

Smiley Smiley.

I do not think iPads belong in the first grade. If, I say if, you want each kid to have an iPad. If this is what you intend, I disagree with the idea that a room filled with little kids cannot be taught old school. So clarify . . . what specifically are you looking for? I think teachers want iPads because they are cool. Apple wants schools to have iPads because they think revenue is cool. I do not want it because I am a cranky old fart. I learnt my ACFs and my mathemeticals and me spelling and grummer the old ways. No fancy new fangled learnin' things for me and I turned out quite average.

My concern is they will be expected and not every school can afford the technology. Budgets will increase and we will still be stuck with poorly educate young'uns. With school budgets being what they are these days, I do not want my tax dollars shelled out for useless technology. Did I say useless? Hate me yet?

I will not be surprized to one day read where my poorly funded school will suddenly find thousands of dollars for iPads. They will find money they could not seem to find the last time the school budgets were drafted and teachers needed new typewriter ribbons, number 2 lead pencils, and floppy disks.

Not sure anyone will agree with me, so recognizing that, I'll continue my rant.

Smiley, Smiley.

Here is where it gets really bad and I overstep a tad. My fear is when a school adopts iPads, their test scores will go up, thus proving iPads in the school do work. Then I'll discover the test scores were fudged just to justify this unneeded tech and millions of hours were logged playing 'Angry Birds Learning Edition.' I see kids cheating. Unless the iPads are setup to eliminate access to things like Facebook, Twitter, Google. It is easy to find the answers to any question the teacher puts into his or her test. So with iPads comes the need to lock them down.

If it works, I'll recant the rant. I suspect I could be either right, wrong, or my jaded view of everything is shining through.

Bob

 

[jsh1120]

Bob,

I don't entirely disagree with your sentiments. There is definitely a tendency to confuse the value of content delivery with the content itself. And the appalling level of support for the public schools is a major concern of mine, as well. Though frankly, I fully support my daughter's elementary school not budgeting a dime for "typewriter ribbons" or "floppy disks."

By the same token, however, I think it's easy to toss around figures about the cost of technology without doing the arithmetic. Perhaps that's because some of us who went through school with slates and chalk didn't really "get" arithmetic. Consider the following scenario.

My daughter is in the first grade in a class of 24 students. Assume that the school purchases 12 iPads for the class at a total cost of say, $6000. Given the way her class is organized with groups of kids working on different subjects, topics, projects, etc. I don't think it makes sense to have an iPad for every student but a single iPad for every two kids does, I think, make sense. Now let us assume that the iPads have a (conservative) life span of three years. That would mean that 72 kids could be served over the life span of the iPads. $6000/72 = $83 per student per year.

Now $83 is a significant amount of money to spend if the only value is a "cool" device. But that hasn't been my experience with my daughter. Her class is studying planetary systems at the moment. I've found both the NASA app and the Moon HD have been extremely valuable in enabling her to supplement her classroom experience in those areas. And that's only the tip of the iceberg. Electronic books, math exercises, and a wealth of other educational content is available is available at less cost than providing those same resources in "hard copy" form. Furthermore, I can only speak for my daughter's school (where her mother and I are frequently in the classroom) but I can assure you that her teacher would be aware of her students playing "Angry Birds" rather than doing productive work. And it wouldn't last long if it occurred at all.

In short, I'd strongly support adding iPads to my daughter's classroom. (The class currently has three aging laptops shared by the students.) I'd be more than happy to contribute $83 per year to enable all the students in her class to have access to the content the iPad can deliver. And I have a lot of faith in my daughter's teacher to make good decisions about how that technology's value can be optimized to meet her student's needs.

 

[Heaviside]

Well, both Bob and jsh 1120 have good points.

I definitely agree that school admins are too interested in getting bucks as the be all and end all in education. Kids and learning are just necessary evils.

I have to agree with Bob about the need for each kid to have an iPad. One has to consider personality differences. The more agressive and extroverted kid will commandeer the iPad, while the shy introvert will do without unless there is one per student.

But I agree with jsh1120 about the use of technology. Although admins are generally only interested in its glamor and glitz, a judicious use of technology can greatly expedite the learning process.

Back to the OP's original question: please look at the thread you started on this topic in another subforum---a couple of the apps I recommended there should also be great for your grade level.

 

[Bob Maxey]

I run a review site for children's iPad book apps and also handpick sale/free education apps for elementary age kids - since I'm a former professional in the education field, I have a lot of contacts through Twitter in particular that I could recommend that are using iPads - I'm at @iPad_Storytime and follow most educators and school librarians. You can also find my site for resources at Digital Storytime - Reviews of Childrens Picture Book Apps for iPad or email me for more specific questions at: [email protected]

My question is a simple one: can you (anyone?) prove that children taught with an iPad or other device are better off than those taught 'Old School?' Great teachers can teach the little ones with books, pencils, paper, and enthusiasm and they do not need computers or other such devices. Me thinks teachers and administrators and perhaps some parents want iPads because they think the technology will create smarter kids. I do not see actual proof of that. And proof is likely hard to find.

About all you can do is look at test scores from both camps and see if there is a differrence over the long run.

 

[jsh1120]

My question is a simple one: can you (anyone?) prove that children taught with an iPad or other device are better off than those taught 'Old School?' Great teachers can teach the little ones with books, pencils, paper, and enthusiasm and they do not need computers or other such devices. Me thinks teachers and administrators and perhaps some parents want iPads because they think the technology will create smarter kids. I do not see actual proof of that. And proof is likely hard to find.

About all you can do is look at test scores from both camps and see if there is a differrence over the long run.

A couple of points in response to the two posts above.

() While I can understand the need to prevent this board from being inundated by what amounts to free advertising, the universal application of the "no external links" rule diminishes the value of this site significantly. In Carisa's case, I discovered her site through posts here. She has not abused the site by posting references to her site. In fact, she has provided a valuable service in citing her own website. Likewise, the (very spotty) enforcement of the rule in the accessories forum makes it difficult in many cases to answer the questions raised there. End of rant. I just find the inconsistent application of this rule to be very annoying.

() There is no question that "great teachers" can accomplish superb results without the assistance of technology. Now if someone can figure out how to populate the schools exclusively with "great teachers" perhaps we can forget about assisting those who aren't so "great." And when that goal is accomplished, we can turn our attention to being sure that nothing but "great physicians" and "great engineers" exist. Having been educated in the K-12 system of the state of Oklahoma, I can assure you that "great teachers" were few and far between. That may well have been the result of the conditions that led one "great teacher" I had to quit his job to sell used cars in order to support his family.

 

[hanadave]

Getting back to topic- You could check out the app:
Word games for kids: Futaba
Lots of teachers have met success with this app in their classroom.

 

[arhillestad]

Hello Allison,
I am an technology integrationist at an elementary school and have used iPads with grades K - 5. I love to see how the younger children catch on so quickly! I guess I began with introducing the iPad and giving the class the rest of the time to explore the iPad. Since that first day I have made sure to tell the class what we will be doing. I have learned that when giving free time you often see students start an app and close out and they never really choose something and there for really aren't learning anything. I try to make sure students are also in the app they were told to be in. Since this is 3 months after your first post I am sure you have figured out a routine. What are some types of management that you have found useful? I usually have the classroom teacher also in the room so this has helped greatly, but what do you do when you are on your own? The only pitfalls that I have come across in my experience has always been with the app. Such as apps freezing up or suddenly closing out.

I would love to hear more on your experience with finding apps also. I have recently put together a list for new apps for our iPads. These ranged from K - 5 also. How did you go about researching your apps and are there any that you would highly recommend?

 

[PrinceOfWales]

There are some really great free maths apps out there like Maths Trainer Vs and Easy Math HD