I work at Årstakolan in Stockholm where we have an ongoing project using iPads as an ICT resource. My school sent an application to the city applying for iPads specificlly for elementary school students to be used as a tool for reading comprehension learning. Our idea came from a Norwegian idea where studies had shown that levels of reading comprehension increased when students used the iPad to type their texts instead of focusing on their writing by hand. The idea was that they will learn to read at a faster pace by first and foremost developing their fonteical knowledge of letters.
The brilliance of the iPad is the immediate response. Students can create words, letters and sounds without holding a pen. The result is that first grade students have the ability to read earlier with the help of the iPad that can also read the text back to them. By using the iPad as the writing tool, we have seen the results that the comprehension over text increases and their knowledge of letters is cemented. The students also worked with illustrations to their text which motivated the students to challenge themselves in reading and also producing a greater amount of written production.
However, I am a secondary school teacher working only with grades 7-9. I searched the internet to find how working with iPads would be helpful for me to have the similar idea and effect with my students. I found that iPads were rarely used for this age group and that not much has been attempted in this direction. My idea was to help them with their artistic interpretation of literary writing. My goal was to develop their skills to focus on the potential reader of their productions, aiming to motivate them into finding their own voice.
We started out by reading a book, aimed for this age group, with the theme of life and all its difficulties. After reading and analyzing the book, they were asked to write short stories on themes such as fear, childhood memories, bullying and love. To present their work they made a short film with voiceover, reading their own text. The results were brilliant. Students worked hard connecting imagery to the message of their story. I have never seen students this engaged in presenting their work to an actual reader.
When finished, the films were published on the school’s own website www.bibblis.se and they are now open for public viewing.
Dear Eva,when I read your blog I get really jealous since we in my school does not have any computers for the children nor Ipads thats funny since we work in the same municipality. However that did´nt stop me making a stop motion film together with my students. I will make a blog post about that project.Best regards Susanne
ReplyDeleteIpad a future tool.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Ipad are a great future´s tool. Unfortunately we have not come so far in our school that all have smartboard. We have one class set of laptops to six classes in primary school that we have to carry back and forth between the classrooms. To wearing them back and forth, and then connect them takes a lot of time and planning. This means that you do not often impulsively pick them up. With the iPad, it had become a little more manageable.
Right now I am working in class two where I have a student who has difficulties with reading and have motor difficulties, therefore I have at least managed to get an Ipad. When the other reads and writes to the knowledge, he uses different apps to learn the equivalent. You just have to find a good program that corresponds class work you are working with. To use an Ipad motivates students to work with their diffficulties.
Veronica johansson