Elementary
school teachers, Sarah Getting and Karin Sweeney, sought out to discover
whether or not technology use via iPads could improve the reading abilities of
elementary school-aged students. These teachers indicated that while there were
several risks or negatives in regard to the utilization of the iPads in the
classroom by the young students, they were far outweighed by the benefits.
Getting and Sweeney found that their two reading groups who demonstrated the
lowest reading levels both improved after using several applications on iPads
for nearly an entire academic year. They felt that the children would not only
benefit in their reading abilities, but they would benefit also simply by
having been exposed to and gained experience in working with technology. Prior
to actually using the iPads, the children were taught how to handle them and it
was explained to them, that they out to handle them with care because use of
the iPads was a privilege; a privilege that could easily be revoked. The
iPads significantly improved the On Task Time for both groups. In addition they
created overall excitement. This excitement spilled over into other subject areas
as well. The students become more eager to do well and to track their own
progress.
This article
is of great significance because it just goes to show how helpful a tool
technology, and different technological devices can actually be. While it may
be possible to learn any given concept without technology, it may be that that
same concept would be easier to teach and/or more fun to learn with the use of
technology. I don’t know that this article taught me anything necessarily, but
it definitely allowed my to confirm my stance and that is: I do believe that
technology can be an extremely beneficial tool for both teachers and students
alike.
I actually
have a first grader myself, and although I don’t have an iPad, I do have an
iPhone that I download age-appropriate educational applications for her on.
While I don’t document her learning with formal assessments, its still
reassuring to know that she is doing educational things on my phone rather than
non. As a result of reading this article, I definitely plan on utilizing an
ipad in the future in my own classroom when I become an educator. I feel my
students will enjoy themselves immensely and learn a great deal about both the
content of my class and technology in the process.
Getting, S.,
& Swainey, K. (2012). First graders with ipads?. Learning and Leading
with Technology, 24-27.
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteHow exciting for your first-grader and other first-graders of today to be growing up with this sort of technology. As you mentioned, it is important for the children to be taught how to handle the iPads. They are fragile and the cost to replace broken units is the main barrier to having them used universally.
Dylan Boggs
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that technology is a useful and vital tool in the classroom and that it should be utilized. i also like that you made note of how students are thought that this technology is a privilege and that they need to respect it. I think this is key in raising awakened to the safety and potential harm that can arise. As educators, I think that this must be our stance to educate not only in subject matter, but in social conscious and respect for the use of such technology.
-Mona
Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteTechnology can be a wonderful thing. I totally see how kids would start engaging if they get to use these cool new "toys" to learn how to read. I myself am a little late to jumping on the technology band wagon but as a teacher i know how vital it is. I like how the article made it very clear to the students that the ipads are a privileges that can be taken away. Although i feel that using them is a good thing i also feel that too much technology may be a bad thing. So where do we draw the line on how much technology students are exposed to.