iPad Initiative
BUFFALO TWP — Kelli Otterman's first grade classroom at Buffalo Elementary School has many brightly colored visual aids for learning.
It also has a list of iPad applications written on the blackboard — “Mathbug, Blend Seeker, Math Genius, Word Magic, Handwriting ABC.”
The Freeport School District last summer bought 35 iPads for its kindergarten and first grade classes for $500 each. On Thursday about 40 parents attended the Buffalo Elementary School iPad Expo, where they were introduced to the applications their children use.
The district also held iPad expos at South Buffalo Elementary School Wednesday and at its Kindergarten Center Friday.
The 5- and 6-year-olds using the iPads are called digital natives, which means they were born after browsing the Web became commonplace. Perhaps they visited websites or played Wii games before they started school.
Otterman said she and the other three first grade teachers at Buffalo met to choose applications that matched their curriculum. There are about 20,000 educational apps available for iPads, at a cost of about $1 each.
Otterman has noticed an improvement in her students' work because the children don't realize that the “games” they play are actually learning tools, she said. The applications look like video games.
iPads are simply another way to “close the gap” between the games children play outside of school and the way they spend their time in class, said Aimee Engleka, Freeport's instructional technology coordinator.
She said children who use iPads are less distracted and more focused on their work.
“The number one thing we noticed is that the focused time-on-task has increased,” said Engleka. “That helps them to meet their goals quicker,” she said of the students.
Engleka believes the iPad applications, like video games, have many attributes to recommend them to the classroom.
Educational games provide clear goals, she said. They close the gap between what was learned and its use, allowing children to build on the skills they develop. Children are 100 percent on-task when they use iPads, she said, and don't mind practicing skills repeatedly.
“Kids feel that they're playing a game,” she said.
Computer labs and laptops offer similar benefits, and are similarly popular with students, but the iPad's light weight, portability and two cameras won over Engleka.
“Kids film each other reading,” she said. “Kids think about how they did by looking at themselves reading.”
They “self-correct,” she said, improving their performance. Engleka tracks the digital photographs and film the children shoot.After testing the iPads themselves and watching their children at work, the parents who attended the expo were uniformly impressed.“It's really nice,” said Dan Yex, whose son is in first grade. “I have an Android phone. This is definitely a good purchase by the school district.”“I'm actually impressed with the educational tools on iPad,” said Sheela Bhat, who has fraternal twins in first grade.She liked the idea of the children filming each other to improve their reading skills.“We have iPads that use the same (operating) platform,” said John Giancola who has daughters in first and fifth grades.“I like that we're in a progressive district that's using this technology,” he said. “This is the wired generation and I'm glad they don't have to become unwired in school.”In the future, the district may explore iPad textbooks, since the iPad allows users to personalize text sizes and page lighting. For now, however, the district is considering whether it can expand its current program.“As we continue to move through the budget process, we'll see whether it's feasible,” said Chris DeVivo, superintendent. “We've had a lot of success and we want to continue that.”
