Category Archives: Apple

1:1 deployment, Apple, Edinburgh, Impact on learning

Sciennes PS: Enhanced learning dialogue and self-directed learning

April 10, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Sciennes PS: Enhanced dialogue around the device — Enhanced dialogue around the device

Lucy Gallagher (depute headteacher) at Sciennes PS in Edinburgh was keen to share with us her perceptions of the impact on learning of the iPad pilot that she was supporting in her school. She believed that what has been happening had surpassed her initial expectations and that this was down not to the device in itself but to the professional and informed integration of the devices by the two class teachers who were leading the classes involved. As a result of the procedures and processes put in place Mrs Gallagher said that there is now much more emphasis on talking about learning between learners, teachers and parents. She argued that, because of the way devices enable access for learners to their school work, parents are much more aware of the wider school learning experience, as opposed to just seeing homework.

Sciennes PS: Enhanced Learning Dialogue Mrs Gallagher talks about enhanced learning dialogue

Mrs Gallagher also commented on what she saw as a change in the learning culture in the classrooms where the devices were being used in relation to the development of a dynamic that encourages the learner to be the main active agent when choosing which app to use when. She discussed the ways in which the teachers involved may have had different approaches in the early stages of the pilot in relation to how they introduced apps: one teacher retained more control of what was explored by giving direction to learners while the other was more comfortable being a little less prescriptive and giving learners the freedom and autonomy to explore the device. Even though there might have been differences in approach, Mrs Gallagher has observed that both classrooms now have learners who thrive in a learning culture that actively encourages personalisation and choice of how to address learning tasks and to direct their own learning.

Sciennes PS: Self Directed Learning Mrs Gallagher talks about self-directed learning

1:1 deployment, Apple, Impact on learning, Independent Schools, Inverclyde, Strategic vision, Teacher

Cedars School of Excellence: 1:1 iPad overview

April 10, 2013 User deactivated 3 Comments

Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock is an independent school catering for children ages from 5 to 17 years. In 2009 they were inspired by the announcement of Apple’s new iPad that would lead them to become the first school to offer 1:1 iPad provision for learners and staff. Since that time they have been working to integrate the use of this technology in to the fabric of learning in their school. We visited them in October 2012 to find out what their experience with their 1:1 approach had been.

We met with Mrs Speirs (headteacher) who explained the context for the decision to go with the 1:1 iPad provision. She told us that a few years back the school was looking to move the technological experience of their pupils on a bit further from where they were. The school’s vision at the time was to increase learner access to tools that would allow them to have more access to the internet and to word processing.

The school had looked at a range of devices, but just as they were in the process of evaluating which device to go with the iPad came out, and so they made the decision that this would be the one for them. The school’s website tells this story in greater detail.

cedars_aspeirsimpact Interview with Mrs Speirs (headteacher)

Mrs Speirs thinks that that the decision has been a very good one for her learners and that the 1:1 approach fits very well with the school’s educational ethos, which is all about individualised learning. She thinks that she has seen the greatest impact on the engagement with learning by the boys in her school and that the functionality and flexibility that the tool offers has led to greater depth and detail in the feedback that her teachers now offer.

1:1 deployment, App purchase and management, Apple, Device management, Independent Schools

Cedars School of Excellence: Managing and deploying apps to iPads

April 10, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock is an independent school catering for children ages from 5 to 17 years. In 2009 they were inspired by the announcement of the Apple’s new iPad that would lead them to become the first school to offer 1:1 iPad provision for learners and staff. Since that time they have been working to integrate the use of this technology into the fabric of learning in their school. We visited them in October 2012 to find out what their experience with their 1:1 approach had been.

We met with Fraser Speirs (computing teacher), who has been responsible for the planning and management of the school’s iPad deployment. We asked him about the challenges there might be with managing apps to over 100 iPads in his school and he explained that there had been issues with this aspect of their iPad initiative but with the advent of Apple’s volume purchase and configurator tools that this had now become a much easier and smoother process.

Cedars School: Managing apps Interview with Fraser Speirs about managing apps

Fraser was accompanied by Andrew Jewell to explain the use of their syncstations to help manage the apps on their iPads. They also discussed practicalities such as charging the iPads and explained that this was the responsibility of the learners at Cedars School of Excellence with an expectation that they came to school with their device charged and ready for the day.

cedars_syncstation Interview with Fraser Speirs and Andrew Jewell about the process of syncing the devices (apologies for slight interference in this recording)

Apple, Learner, West Dunbartonshire

Dalreoch PS: The learner perspective

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dalreoch5feature2 — What do learners think?

Dalreoch PS pupils had already had some experience of sharing their learning about working with iPads from a presentation that they gave at the Scottish Learning Festival 2012. Our interview with them on the day proved to be very interesting and so did our follow up discussion when we visited the school.

Interviews with learners about their perspectives and feelings about how technology is used to help them learn are always very interesting and this one proved no exception. The discussion began with a question about what those outwith the school might make of iPads being used in classrooms and how it might be thought that this would get in the way of traditional school experiences such as reading, writing and arithmetic. The response from the children was one that challenged that view and that would require one to look at this context with a more contemporary eye. Responses included:

… it’s a wee bit better than just the teacher talking to you and writing stuff in your jotter.

and

… some people might like the old-fashioned teacher with jotters and everything but … it’s kind of old really.

Many of our discussions with learners across Scotland about this topic have elicited similar responses. This gives us some food for thought in relation to how our learners view the digital contexts in which they learn in schools. What was also interesting was that not only was this point made, but the children also commented on how they felt that using such devices makes it easier for them to lock in to learning when in school. They also made reference to the methodology that was being employed by the school when they talked openly of being given a choice of which apps to use when responding to tasks in inter-disciplinary projects.

Dalreoch PS: Pupil perspective Interview with pupils at Dalreoch PS

The young people that we spoke to at Dalreoch PS gave a resounding ‘yes’ when asked if the device pilot had been a positive experience for them.

1:1 deployment, Apple, Impact on learning, Independent Schools, Teacher

Cedars School of Excellence: Impact on Learning

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Cedarspost3HL — iPads part of the everyday life of learning at Cedars

We met with Fraser Speirs (computing teacher) and Andrew Jewell (class teacher) to ask them what they had seen in terms of impact on learning as a result of their iPad initiative. Mr Speirs felt that that one of the biggest benefits with subsequent impact on learning was that life in school was very much like life outside of school in terms of their learners being able to access and use digital technology without having to make any adjustments or compromises. He also explained that much of the teaching in the school had been realigned in keeping with what the school felt was a change of emphasis on what was really important, an emphasis informed and influenced by access to tablet devices, always on access to the web and the range of apps that are now available. One example of this was that there was now less of a focus on tasks such as Word Processing with greater emphasis being place on developing a delivering effective presentations that communicated a message that was beyond text.

cedars_fspeirsimpact Listen to Fraser Speirs talk about impact on learning

Apple, Impact on learning, Teacher, West Dunbartonshire

Dalreoch PS: The teachers’ perspective

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Learners at Dalreoch PS — Engaged and on task

During our time at Dalreoch PS we spoke with some of the teachers to get their perspective on the device pilot that they were part of. One of those teachers, Mrs Grafton, talked to us about having been involved in many ICT initiatives over the years and that this one was one of the very first that had made her feel excited and confident about really being able to use the technology to impact on learning. Having been someone who she confessed struggled to use email and who immediately thought that getting an iPad was a ‘scary idea’ she now talks about how easy it is to use, how she feels she can’t break it or spoil the work that she does with it and that she feels that she is good at it!

She also talked of how she sees the device pilot as beneficial to learning and teaching and how the versatility of having a portable and instant-on device readily available can support and enhance what she calls immediate learning opportunities. The ability to record learning via a camera, video camera or through audio is of great appeal to learners she argues. Other benefits that she saw included:

the wait for the visit to the ICT suite is now gone and with this comes increased opportunity for learning with technology to be embedded across learning, as part of the general learning process
bringing technologies that have appeal for learners and that they use at home into the learning process in school can help enhance attitudes to learning.

Mrs Grafton finished her interview by talking about seeing increasing confidence and engagement growing in the children at Dalreoch PS as a result of the device pilot – one which she describes as a very positive experience. You can hear her interview below:

dalreoch_teacherperspective Interview with Mrs Grafton from Dalreoch PS

Apple, Impact on learning, West Dunbartonshire

Dalreoch PS: Do these devices have an impact on learning?

April 8, 2013 User deactivated Leave a comment

dalreoch3feature — Focus on learning at Dalreoch PS

In our discussions with Sat Bance (headteacher) at Dalreoch PS in West Dunbartonshire we asked him what he perceived to be the impact on learning of the iPad pilot in his school. We were fully appreciative that the pilot had not been happening for too long, however, we were keen to hear about what he was seeing in the classrooms where the devices were being used.

Mr Bance commented that he believed that with the advent of the devices in his school he was seeing greater opportunity for the learners to engage with ICTs in a much more creative way than they possibly could have in the past. He also referred to the ways in which the device became a shared source/tool to enable collaborative group working to take place more readily and effectively, but what he thought was particularly powerful was the way in which learners could now make informed decisions about how to respond to tasks in a way that they, and not the teacher, decided. He gave the example of his P7 children being given a task where they were given the freedom to respond whatever means/app/resource they felt best suited their response. This led to a degree of personalisation of learning as a result of a task being set, but with the response mechanism being left open to learner choice. Mr Bance suggested that the technology and the way it was being used was leading to a change in the learning culture of the school; one which was offering greater personalisation and choice for the learner.

We asked Mr Bance if he had any concerns that teachers might be seduced by the highly professional finish that many apps (such as iMovie trailers) automatically offer the user to the extent that it may mask what might not be particularly strong learning, in effect dumbing down the learning. He was keen to express an awareness of this but to highlight that in his school they were equally concerned with the processes of learning that are being nurtured and grown in his school as they were with any finished article that learners may make.

Dalreoch PS, impact on learning Sat Bance talks about impact on learning