Ipad in the classroom

Ipad in the classroom  

Introduction of the iPad in 2010 marked significant steps in the development of tablet computing and mobile devices in education. Children today live in a world where ICT is a part of everyday life. The iPad’s large size touch screen provides easy access and allows for supported engagement. Young children explore and learn in ways that are natural to them such as touching, repeating and ‘make silly things happen’.  Today, children as young as two years old access play and learn a using touch screen device which is something beyond our imagination when we were growing as children. Touch screen technology and digital Apps offer an accessible and meaningful media platform for children.

Overall, children are enthusiastic about iPads Including ICT into learning opportunities at kindergarten allows teachers to support children connecting with and making sense of the world around them.  At one of my teaching practices in a kindergarten, children had access to an IPad. As the children arrived in the morning, a selected amount of children would rush to the list where they would write their names for their turns on the Ipad. It was the first time for me to experience this amazing technology be available to the children to play, I was captivated by their capabilities.  I would sit beside them and watch as they would turn on the iPad, scroll through the pages, select a game to play; they even found their own pictures and showed them off to their peers.  It was amazing to witness this process and I was very impressed with how these children were able to independently use the iPad, socially interacting and communicating with each other and having a timer available was great as all the children had equal opportunities and turns.

 

I realized that the iPads were educational in many ways,cognitively, linguistically, numeracy, creative art and much more. Some of the applications support learning by providing children the opportunity to see or visualize what would normally be impossible.

Comparing the children’s interaction from other activities throughout the day at the kindergarten, I found that children were interacting cooperatively and socially active. This is highlighted by Kumtepe (2006) who says that the use of technology such as Ipads increase children’s social skills. “Technology makes enterprising use of its own particular knowledge and skills, together with those of other disciplines. Graphics and other forms of visual representation offer important tools for exploration and communication” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 32). These interactions between the children showed children sharing their ideas, helping each other to navigate between games and other applications and asking lots of questions. Vygotsky’s social learning theory was visible as children were learning through social interaction and play (Santrock, 2011). As children participate in meaningful experiences, this creates opportunities for children to internalize the language and understanding used, Arthur, Beecher, Death, Docket, Farmer, (2008).

There are social-emotional benefits as well as children have control when using technology. They decide what to do and where to go adding to their confidence, Child Family Development Resource Centre, (2012). Use of Ipads is very educational and this particular technology in my view is definetly enhancing early childhood education which is validated in Ministry of Education (2007). Touch screen technology has introduced a first generation of tools that afford remarkable access and potential for creative use among young children. The educators were adding value to children’s learning by providing the Ipad to children, they were providing opportunities for children to be creative and express their abilities by solving problems, to increase their thinking and independently making decisions through play. This means that they are following the Ministry of Education (1996) early childhood curriculum that suggests “Children us a variety of technologies for different purposes as they explore their world” (p. 98).

Click to the link below to watch a 2 year old child using the Ipad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGMsT4qNA-c

References

Arthur, L., Beecher, B., Death, E., Dockett, S., & Farmer, S. (2008). Programming and planning in early childhood settings (4th ed.). Victoria: Thompson.

Child Family Development Resource Centre, (2012), Ipads and Preschoolers, retrieved from http://www.easternct.edu/cfdrc/documents/julyaugust2012.pdf

Images: Retrieved on 30/03/13 from www.googleimage.com

Kumtepe, A.T. 2006. “The Effects of Computers on Kindergarten Children’s Social Skills.” The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology 5 (4): 52–57.

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa . Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand curriculum for English-medium teaching and learning in years 1-13. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media.

Santrock, J.W. (2011). Life-span development. (12th Ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill