This post will share
my observations and reflections in response to my second primary school visit.
On this visit, we used different apps on the iPad to create a talking book
with six year one children.
Prior to meeting the
children, we identified three targets we thought would be a challenge. The
targets were: (1) to be able to navigate the iPad, (2) to be able to use the
different touch interface features of the iPad e.g. the pinch to zoom, and (3)
to understand article 30 of the rights of the child and explain why it is
important. I was surprised to find that the children were quickly able to
demonstrate their ability to meet the first two objectives, possibly because
they have extensive experience of using iPads in the home and at school
(Michael Cohen Group, 2010; Palfrey and Gasser, 2008; and Prensky, 2001). It was
difficult to establish appropriate targets for unknown children, in future
practice I hope to personalise targets by considering previous experience and
abilities. Furthermore, the third target took longer to meet, but by discussing
the article throughout the morning the children were able to discuss the act
and explain why it was important when prompted through questioning.
A challenge we had to
overcome was that one of the children spoke English as an additional language
and was not very confident or fluent in discussion. As a result, we incorporated his first
language within the talking book as it linked with our article by using apps
like google translate. This motivated him and he was then able to offer ideas (Pim,
2012).
The apps we used are
possibly more prominent in KS2. We found the ‘Go Animate’ app difficult to use
with year one as they struggled to understand the concept of animation and were
also unable to hold the iPad still enough to use the ghost feature (Hoban,
Ferry, Konza and Vialle, 2007). A way we could have overcome the challenge could
have been to show them an example animation to help them understand how it is
used in everyday experiences; a key objective in the KS1 computing curriculum (Hoban,
Ferry, Konza and Vialle, 2007; and DfE, 2013). Furthermore, the ‘Veescope Live’ green screen
app was also a challenge for this age group, even though it is intended for
users over the age of four (Find The Best, Online) it can be difficult to
navigate. To demonstrate the proper use
of these apps, so children can meet the KS1 computing objective of using
technology purposefully (DfE, 2013), this part of the filming became mainly
adult led. To allow all children’s participation we used the apple TV air play
feature to let all pupils watch the process and offer ideas (Apple, online).
Overall I have learnt a
lot from this experience and I am able to answer the question, which I raised
on my last blog post, that the year one pupils were confident with using the
iPad but needed support with using some of the apps as they had not experience
them before. This allowed me to meet my target for the visit as I was able to quickly assess how confident my group were with
using the technology and then offer support accordingly (Anstey and Bull, 2010; and Dean, 2010). This
experience has also introduced me to new apps and iPad features which I can now
incorporate into my own classroom practice.
Bibliography:
Apple. (Online) Air Play. Available
at: https://www.apple.com/uk/airplay/
(Accessed: 27/03/2014).
DfE.
(2013) The National Curriculum. In Scholastic (Ed.) The National Curriculum
in England: Handbook for Primary Teachers Key stages 1 & 2. Oxfordshire.
Scholastic.
Find The Best. (Online) Veescope
Live iOS App. Available at: http://ios-apps.findthebest.com/l/1053447/Veescope-Live.
(Accessed: 27/03/2014).
Hoban, G., Ferry, B., Konza, D., and Vialle, W. (2007) Slowmation:
exploring a new teaching approach in primary school classrooms. University of Wollongong Research Online. Available
at: http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2457&context=edupapers.
(Accessed: 26/03/2014).
Michael Cohen Group. (2010) Young
Children, Apps and iPad. New York: Michael Cohen Group.
Palfrey, J. and Gasser, U. (2008) Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives.
New York: Basic Books.
Pim, C. (2012) Use of iPads and
apps to support EAL learners. Available at: http://www.chrispim.co.uk/wordpress/?p=192.
(Accessed: 26/03/2014).
Prensky, M. (2001) ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,
Part II: Do They Really Think Differently?’ On
the Horizon. NCB University Press, 9 (6).
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ReplyDeleteI agree that some of the Apps on the iPads would be more suitable to use with key stage two children as the children needed a lot of support when using them. However, I think that although they were not very competent in using them, having the chance to explore them in year one enables them to start to develop their knowledge of using technology early. Therefore, the more experience they have of using digital technology in school will continue to develop their knowledge so by the time they reach year six they will be confident and competent users of technology.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think that if we had more time to explore the Apps with the children, they would grasp a better understanding of how to use them therefore I think this proved a challenge for us all.
Yes, I think in a general scenario this learning would have taken place over a period of sessions allowing us to properly introduce the different elements of the apps to children.
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