iPads can be a beneficial tool in classrooms. An iPad is a touchscreen tablet made by Apple. It can connect to the internet and apps are downloaded from The App Store. The school district I work in provides iPads for all students in grades Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten, and First Grades to use. The apps on the iPads are controlled by the district technology department. Teachers and students can choose from a selection of approved apps to download onto each device and can request for an app to be added.
I
chose to evaluate the instructional use of iPads using the RAT Model. “RAT is
an assessment framework for understanding technology’s role in teaching,
learning and curricular practices” (R.A.T. Model, 2016). The letters in
RAT mean replacement, amplification, and transformation. (R.A.T. Model,
2016). Replacement refers to using technology to replace an activity that is
already done in the class, Amplification is when technology is used to enhance
or “beef up” an existing activity, and the term Transformation is used when the
technology changes the activity. (R.A.T. Model, 2016)
An
iPad can take a lesson plan through all parts of the RAT Model. Instead of a
teacher reading a story aloud to the students, they can listen to the story on
their iPad; this is an example of replacement. After a class discussion about
the story elements and their favorite parts of the story, students can use an
app to record their answers. This can be done using an app like SeeSaw or Padlet
and would increase the impact of this lesson. By using online catalogs of different
text like Sora or Epic! Books, students can compare different stories they might
not have been able to access without their iPads. This would transform the
lesson and extend it.
There
are many other ways to use iPads in the classroom, especially in elementary
schools. Technology can increase the impact of lessons and expose students to
more opportunities. Here are links with helpful tips and more ideas for technology
integration with iPads.
This link has 5
helpful tips for using iPads in the classroom.
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This is a link
for a technology equipment and accessories company. However, the list of 10 ways
to use iPads in the classroom is applicable to all classrooms, with or without
this company’s equipment.
https://www.bosstab.com/blog/2019/10-ways-to-use-ipads-in-classrooms/
Resources
R.A.T. Model. (2016, June 24). Dr. Joan E. Hughes | TechEdges | Technology Integration Research. https://web.archive.org/web/20190612101737/https://techedges.org/r-a-t-model/
The iPad is an amazing tool! I am blessed to have around 50 iPads in my elementary library; however, our school district is in limbo as to how to use them. So, for right now, we aren't allowed to use them until they devise an acceptable use policy for them. To me, it feels like such a waste of an incredibly valuable resource. Having read your post and investigating iPads closely throughout this course, I plan to advocate strongly for the reinstatement of iPad use as soon as we go back to school. It truly bothers me that we have such valuable tech resources sitting unused in a storage room! Thank you for your ideas and the reminder that it's worth the time and effort to make sure that our students have access to this valuable tech tool.
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