Ipads

To iPad or not to iPad
Tara Fagan and Tania Coutts
CORE Education
Christchurch
New Zealand
Introduction
The introduction of the iPad in 2010 marked significant steps in the development of
tablet computing and mobile devices in education. Their intuitive touch screen
interface, portability and extended battery life make them an appealing option for
students of all age levels. In this pilot investigation, the authors observed how two
early childhood services (one kindergarten and one childcare centre) used iPads to
extend the range of learning opportunities they offer for children up to five years
old. The centres involved provide a varied curriculum guided by children’s interests
and adults’ provocations. Both centres are part of the Healthy Heart Awards
Programme with a philosophy around promoting fitness, outdoor exploration and
learning through play. There is a history of the integrated use of digital technologies
for teaching and learning purposes and in both cases a catalyst for this has been the
centre leaders who have a strong interest and competence in information and
communication technologies. The thoughts and recommendations shared are
gleaned from the authors’ on-site observations at the two centres as well as
discussions with both teachers and children about the use and value of the iPad.
This pilot investigation is intended to provide early childhood teachers who may be
contemplating the use of iPads with some pointers regarding why and how these
devices might be used. It also recommends some apps that complement the
pedagogy underpinning Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996).
An educational case for iPads
As iPads are such a recent phenomenon, there is scant research on their use and
value in early childhood contexts. However there is a body of literature that
supports the educational value of digital technologies in general and which is
relevant to this investigation. In a literature review, Bolstad (2004) argued that ICT
deserved serious consideration in early childhood contexts because it was already
part of the lives of children born in 21st century. Eight years on this argument is
even more compelling although as Bolstad inferred, and we would agree, this alone
is not a sufficient justification for their use in centres. Bolstad concluded that under
certain conditions ICT can enrich or transform the everyday learning, roles and
relationships experienced by young children. One of these conditions is educators
having clear learning intentions for children as a prerequisite to the selection of ICT
tools. In Aotearoa/New Zealand such intentions would logically flow from our
national curriculum, Te Whāriki (Ministry of Education, 1996).Siraj-Blatchford and Siraj-Blatchford (2006) suggested that ICTs work well in
supporting communication and collaboration, creativity, socio-dramatic play and
learning to learn (metacognition). However, for these learning achievements to be
realised, achieving quality adult interactions is more important than the tools
themselves. Similar conclusions were drawn in a report summarising practitioner
research in sixty early childhood centres in Aotearoa/ New Zealand (Hatherly, Ham
& Evans 2009).
In a more recent UNESCO Study (2010), seventeen early childhood centres from
nine countries were invited to share case studies highlighting the ways in which
ICTs, including tablets could be intentionally integrated into play and learning
activities rather then used as ‘edutainment’. What was uniformly apparent in the
case studies was that the digital technologies facilitated more complexity,
collaboration and creativity in the activities and this occurred because the children
were the ones in control of the devices and therefore their learning. Through a
combination of the tools and thoughtful teaching strategies, children were able to
try out alternative ways of doing things, make connections between elements, create
new story forms, solve problems together, rehearse and modify their work and see
things from others’ points of view.
Getting started with an iPad
The teaching teams spent time discussing the educational merits of an iPad prior to
purchase. Furthermore, the parent communities were consulted on their views. The
teachers considered how the iPad would work with their existing technology and
how they would use it within their environment. Both centres settled for openended apps that fostered creativity, collaboration and were interactive.
Prior to its introduction to children, teachers took the iPad home to explore its
functionality and some of the apps that they intended introducing to the children. As
one teacher said,
“There are so many apps available and not all of them support
children’s learning. It is our responsibility to ensure that we provide
the very best for our children. Using an iPad for learning is like all
teaching, we need to plan our learning experiences”
At the time of our investigation, each centre had one iPad. In both cases these were
available for children’s use although they were kept in a cupboard and the children
asked a teacher when they wanted to use them. (This has since changed with
children’s growing competence and now children access the iPads themselves).
When asked about the care of the iPad in children’s hands, teachers were
unanimous that children used the iPad with the utmost respect, often tutoring each
other in the appropriate ways of working with it. How the iPads were used
Our observations and discussions with teachers in the two early childhood centres
suggested a variety of key benefits to children’s learning.
Supporting Collaborative learning approaches
On the whole, children collaborated rather than worked in isolation with the iPad.
At one centre, the iPad could be projected onto the big screen and this encouraged
children to work on ‘projects’ together, providing each other with feedback and feed
forward. Collaboration between teachers and children was observed as they
explored and learned together. The iPad also promoted collaboration between the
teaching team as they discussed and critiqued apps.
Supporting creativity
Because of the nature of the apps selected by the teachers, the iPad provided
children with another avenue in the curriculum for exploring creativity. Many of the
apps were designed for creating stories, incorporating visuals and audios that the
children could produce themselves. For example, teachers were able to engage a
group of boy ‘architects’ to record their own detailed stories about their block
creations by encouraging a ‘photographer’ to take photos of their work as it
progressed. Their creations were valued and became part of a permanent record
that could be revisited through the stories.
A teacher in one centre, who is an artist, commented that many artists pre-plan their
work. For instance a jeweler plans and designs a piece of jewelry prior to shaping
the metal. She noted that the iPad provides children with opportunities to do this
too. An example of this was the use of a pottery app where children could plan their
sculpture before sculpting with real clay. Another example of this is a woodcarving
app where children could manipulate and carve a piece of wood. This led to two
children, who had never accessed the centre woodwork area, to create with a real
piece of wood
Inspiring Learning
The bonus of working with an iPad appears to be its intuitiveness. The all ‘touch’
function is appealing to both children and teachers. A teacher, in one of the two
centres, was not at all interested in using technology. The ease of the iPad however,
enticed and encouraged her to support the children and further her own learning.
She articulated her newfound passion of how the iPad worked for her learning
style. Clearly, there is something appealing about the iPad for inspiring learners. In
both centres, teachers noted that children who were reluctant to be part of literacy
experiences, regularly engaged in literacy learning via the iPad.
Documentation and Assessment
Teachers reported the value of the iPad as a tool for documenting and assessing
children’s learning. The portable nature of the iPad enabled teachers and children
to work alongside each other to record their learning. The iPad was able to add the
‘child’s voice’ with ease either written or recorded depending on the nature of the app. An example of this was a group of children spending time in the sandpit
creating drains and roadways. Their work was captured through video, photos and
written text in one app and then shared with the children and their families.
Feedback from teachers highlighted that the iPads provided opportunities to
capture ‘in the moment’ documentation of children’s learning.
Communication with Families/Whānau
Fostering and building relationships with parents/whānau is an integral part of
everyday practice at early childhood centres and where these are strong positive
outcomes for children are more likely. The iPad is another tool that can enhance
communication between centre and home. Many apps provided children and
teachers with the option of sharing their work with parents/whānau. Teachers
reflected on the fact that the ease of using the iPad made it a perfect communication
tool. It enabled families to access information immediately, with the bonus of
documentation shared not just having to be paper based. Parents/whānau also had
the option of sharing their children’s learning further. For example emailing
Grandparents video snippets and/or learning stories. This was a feature that both
centres talked about.
Leadership and Peer Tutoring
As teachers we understand that supporting others learning reinforces our own
learning - ako in action. We observed aspects of leadership and peer tutoring when
in the centres. Children assumed responsibility for the iPad, reminding their peers,
and sometimes teachers, of the ‘rules’ about looking after the iPad. The nature of
tuakana/teina (older/more experienced supporting the younger/less experienced)
was also evident when children used the iPad. Individual children became experts
in particular apps and other children approached them for assistance when needed.
This leadership included child to child and child to adult.
Some of the apps recommended by teachers in this investigation
Sock Puppets is storytelling app in which children can create a short story by using a
range of characters, props and backgrounds and then recording their voice. This
app automatically changes children’s voices to ‘puppet talk’, providing a humorous
aspect that seemed to particularly appeal to those children who are not confident to
speak aloud. Teachers encouraged children to script out their story being ‘acting’ it
out - this brought in the foundation skills for early literacy and mathematics.
My Story provides children and teachers with the option to upload their own photos,
draw their own pictures, add their own text and/or record their own voice. My
Story provided a great opportunity for oral language as well as exploring their
creativity through a different art medium. This app gave the option of saving the
story in the iBooks library. iBooks enables centres to build up an online library of
digital stories created by the children. In time, this will be an incredible resource for
children/parents and whānau to revisit and retell authentic stories.VidRythm was another popular app that supported oral literacy and creativity
through music. Children sounded out letters or sounds, while taking a video of
themselves. These recordings of the children’s voice are put to music and a video
produced. Like other apps, this is great fun while also having the important aspect
of oral literacy behind it.
Strip Design was another app that was trialed as it enabled children to take photos,
add stickers and text. Children enjoyed playing with this app, identifying letters in
their name and spelling out words, often with teacher support. Like most apps, it
provided the ability to email their work to their families. Strip Design was also
valuable as a teacher’s tool for writing basic learning stories. The ease of use meant
that children could have an active role in writing their learning stories alongside the
teacher, giving children real ownership of their learning and assessment. Children’s
voice was evident in these stories.
Pic Collage enabled children to add photos from the library or take photos utilising
the camera. Children could easily manipulate photos - size, effect and borders - as
well as change the background and edit text. This app proved very successful for
children taking photos of their creations, both in the block area and art area.
Children were able to add their photos and with the support of the teachers tell
‘their story’ about their creation. This was a great app for encouraging oral
language and encouraging children to document their work. There was also the
ability to share their work with parents/whānau through email or uploading to the
centre blog.
There are many eBooks available for the iPad, including traditional favourites.
eBooks have a range of options including reading the book yourself, having it read
to you and following along with the text or telling the story yourself. Some have
interactive features including Morris Lessmore, which encourage children to explore
the story and others like Pirate Scribblebeard (a favourite in both centres) use the
child’s drawings as the illustrations. While these books had an appeal, interestingly,
children’s overall preference in one of the study centres was for reading a paper
book rather than the iPad. The eBooks did prove popular when played through the
big screen allowing for big group storytelling.
Conclusion
This small-scale investigation would indicate that there are benefits to iPads in early
childhood education when integrated into the everydayness of an early childhood
curriculum in a centre with a strong teaching pedagogy.
Both teachers and children were overwhelmingly positive in regarding iPads as part
of the centre environment. In these two centres it would seem that the iPad
contributed to a rich curriculum of learning. In making recommendations, the authors of the UNESCO report suggest that
realizing the potential of digital technologies in early childhood learning most of all
requires strong will and critical approach to teachers’ own pedagogical experience,
perception of modern knowledge about the role of ECE, courage and the need to
innovate, reverence of children and their parents and – last but not least – curiosity
and the itch to explore the potential of ICT to support this kind of transition. (p 104)
Tara Fagan Tania Coutts
Tara.fagan@core-ed.org Tania.coutts@core-ed.org
@Taranz1 @Tarnzc
References:
Bolstad, R. (2004). The role and potential of ICT in early childhood education. A review of New Zealand
and international literature. Wellington: NZCER.
Hatherly, A., Ham, V., & Evans, L. (2009). Effective learning in early childhood education? The impact
of the ECE ICT PL Programme: A synthesis report. Retrieved 20 October 2010 from
http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/ict/41987.
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: he whāriki maturanga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa.
Wellington: Learning Media
Siraj-Blatchford, J., & Siraj-Blatchford, I. (2003). More than computers: Information and
communication techology in the early years. London, U.K.: The British Association for Early Childhood
Education.
UNESCO. (2010): Recognizing the potential of ICT in early childhood education: Analytical survey.
Moscow, Russia: UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education