Will be making some significant additions during this week ( May 6-12)
The two above images are good examples of purposeful thinking about iPad usage in schools.
One, a screenshot of an oft-used tool known as iPad As.. by edtechteacher.org, focuses on what the iPad can be used for and provides links to various apps that can be utilised for those functions. It goes without saying that it is a very useful website for schools thinking about iPads. It provides nutshell explanations of a number of apps that relate to each iPad as… category as well as pricing. It’s a good introduction into the functionality of the iPad that counteracts the misconception of iPad as consumption NOt creation tool.
The other, The Padagogy Wheel, is one of many variations on applying Bloom’s Taxonomy of skills to iPad apps. It develops from the general learning action verbs/skills we want our students to acquire to technology based activities that relate to these skills and finally to a selection of apps that can support this development.
Both tools have supported my reflection on iPad use in school and are worth checking out in detail. Having said that, though, I feel they both fall short in what is needed as a resource for implementing iPads in education. iPad as… does a good job at presenting uses for iPads in school – what they can be used for – but doesn’t really provide depth about the skill development that can arise from their use. It’s still action/activity emphasis rather than pedagogical/learning emphasis. It’s great to know that you can create videos, and it describes what the app can do, but how will this improve learning and what learning will it improve is also a priority iPad schools need to address. I think it also pigeon-holes apps as one trick ponies – I’d like to emphasise the apps that can be used to develop many skills.
The Padagogy Wheel provides many links between skills and tech activities but doesn’t really address what iPad apps address which skills and activities specifically other than lumping them into a particular category. It too, tends to classify the apps as one trick pony options rather than seeing them as multiple category options.
Don’t get me wrong, I think both are great tools but there is room for improvement in creating a tool for support time poor iPads in Schools implementers in planning, selecting, justifying and integrating iPad apps in education.
Which leads me to attempt a herculean task… I’m going to try to blend the best of both of these resources and address the short falls I have mentioned by creating my own resource. But it’s going to be a work in progress for a while and I hope to get support from Mr G Online followers, subscribers, users and casual visitors.
I’ve started creating a table of important skills, some derived from the Padagogy Wheel, and actions, some derived from iPad As… What I am planning to highlight is that there are many apps that can be use for many purposes and for developing many skills. For example, I have already added “Explain Everything” to 9 categories as I see it as a multifunctional app and one worth its price because of the educational benefits it provides. Over the coming months I plan to add text descriptions to each category to explain how the apps listed address the skill or action they have been linked to and may also link them to other online sources that show them in action. I’ll also provide direct links to the App Store, as I always do on this blog when I mention apps so you can check them out yourself if you want.
Now this sounds like a big task and it is. So I do need some help. What do I want from you? Anything you can give. Just add them to the comments of this post.
- Examples of apps that help to develop specific skills
- Additional skills I haven’t listed here
- Examples of apps that are multifunctional.
- Explanations of good pedagogical practice with apps. Don’t worry, all credit will go to you when I include your suggestions.
- Links to blog posts, websites, Youtube tutorials, open wikis, nings etc that promote good practice that I can link to from here.
- Examples on add ons like bookmarklets for curation sites, websites that work well with iPads ( Flash-free) that can still be categorised under these headings for iPad use.
- Spread the word regularly through Twitter, Facebook, Curation sites like Pinterest and Scoop-It to keep educators coming back.
| IPAD AS VIDEO CREATION | IPAD AS AUDIO RECORDING |
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 iMovie  Video Scribe  iStop Motion  Pinnacle Studio |
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 Explain Everything  Art Maker  Animation Desk  iMotion HD |
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| Whether creating live action videos with iMovie and Pinnacle Studio, animated stories with iStopMotion, Animation Desk and iMotion HD or how to tutorials with Explain Everything, the iPad is a great tool for video creation. Creating videos with these apps develops organisation and planning skills, supports story telling skills in non writers and enhances creativity and problem solving in many ways. | |
| IPAD AS BOOK PUBLISHER | IPAD AS DIGITAL STORYTELLING |
 Book Creator  Creative Book Builde |
 Sonic Pics  Toon tastic Video Scribe Explain E’thing |
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| Providing opportunities for authentic writing with a real audience outside the classroom, publishing real books using the iPad can improve motivation and actual writing skills. With sufficient access, tech based writing can employ the editing capabilities to encourage children to write without worrying about rewriting from scratch. With the real possibility of publishing books online or in the iBookstore for others to read, children will be encouraged to put more effort into editing and improving their written work. The possibilities for multimedia additions allows for more creativity. | There are more ways of telling stories these days than text and pictures. Some students have stories inside them that don’t get shared because of a lack of writing ability. Let’s give them opportunities to tell stories orally until they are ready to write so that they can develop their imaginations and story telling for when they are ready to write. These apps all allow for alternatives to traditional writing texts, either through combining audio and images seamlessly in a variety of formats.
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| IPAD AS GRAPHIC NOVEL CREATOR | IPAD AS READING SUPPORT |
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| Creating stories with audio, highlighted annotations, vocabulary support through linked dictionaries, scrolling screens provides support for students who lack reading skills. Getting children to record themselves reading gives them feedback on their progress as well as support for independent practice. | |
| IPAD AS COLLABORATION TOOL | IPAD AS PRESENTATION TOOL |
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| IPAD AS A WRITING TOOL | IPAD AS BRAINSTORMING TOOL |
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| IPAD AS INFORMATION COLLECTOR | IPAD AS INFORMATION MANAGER/ORGANISER |
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| IPAD AS NOTE TAKER | IPAD AS PROBLEM SOLVER |
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| IPAD AS GRAPHING TOOL | IPAD AS RESEARCH TOOL |
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| IPAD AS DATA COLLECTION TOOL | IPAD AS A ROLE PLAYING TOOL |
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| IPAD AS A CLASS MANAGEMENT TOOL | IPAD AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL |
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| IPAD AS A MAPPING TOOL | IPAD AS A CALCULATING TOOL |
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| IPAD AS DEMONSTRATION TOOL | IPAD AS COMMUNICATION TOOL |
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| IPAD AS AN ARTISTIC TOOL | IPAD AS A DESIGNING TOOL |
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| IPAD AS AN EXPERIMENTING TOOL | IPAD AS A DEBATING TOOL |
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