I have been using Android tablets in my classroom for the last 2 years and through doing this alone have learned through trial and error. I have been trying my hardest to inspire schools in my cluster to consider buying tablets purely for their price and usability.
Having worked with a range of schools to support their implementation of tablets a few questions have sprung up. Will they be used effectively or will they just become a tool to use "Google"? How will I ever find the time to plan for these?
My one piece of advice when considering using tablets in your school is think outside of the box! Don't do what I used to do and spend hours looking for an App that might have a tenuous link to your normal school planning. Try to alter slightly your way of planning and instead find an App that you think would engage the children, and then plan a unit of work based around that App. You will have the children engaged from the start by introducing a new, fun App but you will also be able to introduce the use of ICT within cross curricular activities.
An example would be my use of Augmented Reality Apps mentioned earlier on my blog. I found that App at home one weekend and instantly spent the rest of the day playing with all the different features. To just teach children to use the App would have been a 20 minute lesson and then that's it. I instead thought of ways that I could use it within different subjects to engage and inspire my learners.
The problem comes when you give the tablets to a non-computational thinker, someone who technology does come easy to, what do they do? They need support! We cannot expect everyone to easily pick up this new technology straight away but we can help to guide them in the right direction. One thing the teachers in my school have found most helpful is having just 5 minutes in a staff meeting to share Apps we have found and brain storm ways that they can be used within different year groups and subjects.
I would love to hear your opinions on the subject!
@JholmesICT
Jholmes@educ.somerset.gov.uk
Having worked with a range of schools to support their implementation of tablets a few questions have sprung up. Will they be used effectively or will they just become a tool to use "Google"? How will I ever find the time to plan for these?
My one piece of advice when considering using tablets in your school is think outside of the box! Don't do what I used to do and spend hours looking for an App that might have a tenuous link to your normal school planning. Try to alter slightly your way of planning and instead find an App that you think would engage the children, and then plan a unit of work based around that App. You will have the children engaged from the start by introducing a new, fun App but you will also be able to introduce the use of ICT within cross curricular activities.
An example would be my use of Augmented Reality Apps mentioned earlier on my blog. I found that App at home one weekend and instantly spent the rest of the day playing with all the different features. To just teach children to use the App would have been a 20 minute lesson and then that's it. I instead thought of ways that I could use it within different subjects to engage and inspire my learners.
The problem comes when you give the tablets to a non-computational thinker, someone who technology does come easy to, what do they do? They need support! We cannot expect everyone to easily pick up this new technology straight away but we can help to guide them in the right direction. One thing the teachers in my school have found most helpful is having just 5 minutes in a staff meeting to share Apps we have found and brain storm ways that they can be used within different year groups and subjects.
I would love to hear your opinions on the subject!
@JholmesICT
Jholmes@educ.somerset.gov.uk
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