iPads, Reading and Grade 1

Today was my first day using the iPads with the Grade 1 students. I was absolutely amazed at the level of engagement of the students and how interactive the apps were.

We decided to show them 2 new reading apps we got called Pop Out Peter Rabbit and iReading Stories Collection. Both were free and of course had lots of in-app purchases which can get expensive quickly if you are not careful. The books both had characters that you could touch and move around and made fun noises. The books had options to read it by themselves or have it read to them.

Overall, I thought it was a fabulous way to get students interested in reading. I am curious to find out if there is a better comprehension with all the interaction compared to just reading it. This will be a research question and some action research we'll hopefully investigate this year.

Here are couple of photos and videos from the class.

New School Year-iPads!

We are back up and running with a new school year. Our iPod Touch pilot program has been extended to iPads. We got 25 iPads (iPad2) to use in elementary as well as another set to use in Middle School. We are all very excited about it as there are plenty of amazing apps that are especially geared towards the iPad. With the increase in screen size, resolution, battery life as well as camera, there are loads of possibilities.

We are hoping this continues with a gradual move to a 1:1 environment (at least I hope!). We will continue with iPods of course but we'll have to change the name of our blog now. Yay!

Stay tuned for some posts from our success in Grade 1 so far.