The iPad pilot at Mackie Academy in Aberdeenshire has been situated in the Expressive Arts faculty. The staff met to identify where the iPad and the apps they had access to would best suit their needs over the course of the academic year. This agreement led to the creation of a rota that would enable effective sharing of the devices across year groups.

We met with some S3 learners in their art and design class to hear what they thought of using the iPads in their learning and interrupted Jessica and Kirsten who were using a stylus to paint in a specific app. They both felt that the contact point of the stylus and the iPad was too thick and that it did not allow enough control when they were creating their work.

They liked the fact that the app allowed them access to a range of digital materials to draw and paint  on. They felt that this was a good way to explore a wider range of materials, even though they were in digital format.

MackieArtPupils Interview with Jessica and Kirsten

It was interesting to see that there were definitely some critical judgments being made by the learners in this class about when it was and when it was not appropriate to use an iPad in their learning in art and design. The learners said that they preferred non-digital materials at times and that their decision to use the device depended on what they were trying to do, what the brief was or what they felt was the best medium to suit a particular task.