By Holly Kline
This fall, each student in fifth and sixth grade at HSE Schools will have their own iPad in the classroom; tablets can be rented from the district or privately purchased. Backed by the HSE 21 Initiative, the goal is to equip every student with an iPad by 2016.
“One thing we always like to get across is that iPads enhance learning,” said Susan Drumm, Instructional Technology Coach for HSE schools. “What the iPads enable students to do is collaborate with one another, connect with experts and other students and foster critical thinking.”
Jennifer Suskovich, Sand Creek Intermediate Science and Social Studies teacher, has had iPads in her classroom as part of a pilot program and she shared a specific way her students used the tablets.
“We were growing mold on bread and typically students would write their observations in their own notebooks,” explained Suskovich. “Instead they took pictures with their iPads every day and posted them on a discussion board so that all the students could see the bread. At the end of the experiment the kids put together an iPad movie trailer.”
The Nearpod app is another example of using the iPads for enhanced learning. With Nearpod, a teacher can make a basic presentation interactive between the student and the teacher. The lesson appears on everyone’s iPad and the teacher can insert videos and polls and more.
“One great point [about Nearpod]is that a teacher can get immediate feedback from the students via the iPads,” Drumm said. “The teacher knows who understands and knows whether to move on or do some review.”
What about safety?
“The students’ iPads will be on the HSE wifi and our wifi has internet filters in place that block inappropriate sites,” stated Jeff Harrison, Director of Educational Technology for HSE schools. “Most of the social media will be blocked. We’re using Blackboard and that allows kids to use discussion boards in a closed setting.”
Parents will be able to see what their students are doing. “We’re not allowing teachers to download apps to the students’ iPads,” explained Harrison. “We want students and families to download their own apps. It lets parents know what is going on in the classrooms. Teachers will assign an app to be downloaded.”
“We want to reiterate that this is about enhancing learning,” stated Drumm. “The iPad is a very important tool to connect the classroom to the outside world.”
