With an iPad, students are exposed to numerous educational apps that help them learn in their own learning style. Students are able to access numerous podcasts, videos, games, apps, ebooks and social networks to learn from anywhere and at any time. Many educational institutions have recognized the importance of iPads in the classroom and are ready to implement them as soon as possible. If you’re an educator in such institutions, you’re now at the right place. Let me share a few tips with you that will help you use iPad effectively in your classroom.
Don’t expect iPad to work like a Laptop:
Many educators are aware of the usage of desktop computers and laptops, and they find them very useful in learning. iPads are designed to kinesthetically connect students with their work and not just for watching video tutorials or doing documentation. Do not expect an iPad’s functionality equivalent to a laptop’s, instead, focus on the ways you can best use the iPad. The tactile features such as using fingers to zoom in and out, rotate, swipe across or tap involve students effectively with many interactive educational apps. With iPad, students take pictures or videos, create podcasts and other multimedia. And the best part is the battery backup.
Get well-trained to use iPads in the classroom:
What many institutions fail to do is to provide educators with proper training to use iPads in the classroom. Many educators don’t know the effective use of iPads and the point that should be highlighted here is that knowing the usage of apps is different from knowing how well those apps are used in the classroom. Educators need to get well trained on how to incorporate the devices into the learning process, hence professional development is important.
Keep selective apps instead of collecting many:
What most of the teachers do is that they start collecting many apps to use in their classroom. The educator I have spoken to recommend you not do to this as this is never an effective way. Instead, invest your time in finding some good creation apps that are well suited to your classroom environment. Apps namely, Edmodo, Explain Everything & Evernote are the most recommended ones for educators.
Don’t be subject specific in finding apps, instead be thematic:
There is no effectiveness in searching for the subject specific apps because there are numerous common apps educators can use in anyway for anything. I’ll share an example from an article on Edudemic , by Tom Daccord, an edtech author:
In that, he mentions about a Latin teacher who declared the iPad useless as he couldn’t find a Latin app. He also suggested the alternative apps: VoiceThread app to record his students speaking Latin, or perhaps create a collaborative discussion of Cicero. Or use the Animoto app for a lively student presentation on Latin vocabulary, or the Socrative app for a Latin quiz, or the Explain Everything app to create a grammar tutorial.
Have a clear idea about “Why iPads”:
While implementing such advanced technologies, you’ll not only get compliments but also the comments. So, be ready to explain all the hesitant teachers, parents and students about why we need to adopt iPads in the classroom. Explain them about the current learning strategies, 21st century classroom tools and the need of encouraging digital works.
Some useful iPad apps:
You may refer to our previous articles relevant to iPad apps. They’re as follows:
7 iPad Apps for Students with Reading Disabilities
5 Great Augmented Reality iPad Apps
[Tools for Teachers] Teach Math with These Free iPad Apps
We hope this information is useful for you to know about a few things you should keep in mind before bringing iPads into the classroom. We’d like to have your personal views as well, so, please feel free to share with us a few tips for new educators who wish to use iPads in their classroom. The comment box awaits you.
