As technology becomes more and more accessible in schools, I have been looking at new ways for EdTech to be used to boost learning. These top 4 ways look at how iPads can be used in lessons to boost learning and encourage technology to be used as one of the tools in learning and not as something that’s feared.
1 – Testing learning with Google or Microsoft forms
Using a Google or Microsoft form, simply great a short quiz based on a topic that your students have been learning about. This could be a self marking or submit to teacher quiz depending on level and requirements. Then using the export feature or share feature, you can create a direct QR code to your quiz. Having your QR code displayed on the board or hidden around your classroom, let your children take their iPads to locate the code, scan it using their camera and then complete the quiz. This creates a sense of responsibility for the children, allows them to get their hands on EdTech and keeps everything curriculum focus by checking their learning.
2 – Interactive learning with QR codes
Another creative use for QR codes within lessons is creating scanning points for pupils to expand their learning. For examples a lesson about different species of animals, you can create QR codes that link to websites containing key information about the different animals. With these QR codes located around the classroom, students are able to use the technology to learn at a pace that’s comfortable for them. Once the students have spent sometime moving around the classroom learning about different species of animals, they can then take the information they have learnt and place it into their piece of writing/work. With students having a larger access to technology at home, bringing it into the classroom can promote learning to them and also close the gaps between students learning. For example, students who may struggle with normal teacher lead learning may find it easier to learn through the use of technology and the QR codes, raising the overall level of learning.
3 – Discovery Sandbox
An amazing product created by the team at Discovery is their Sandbox app. This app brings virtual reality to the finger tips of students for free. The Sandbox app works directly on most iPad and android tablets and provides a creative environment for students to create virtual worlds that they are then able to walk around using their iPads. Teachers can also create worlds that are then accessed by students, to showcase and give students a greater enriched learning environment. An example of how this can be used could be you are teaching a lesson about the pyramids in Egypt. Teachers can create a virtual world around and inside the pyramids that students can then explore with their iPads either in the classroom, in the school hall or outside in the playground. You then have students moving around and accessing an in-depth virtual world engaging their own imagination and allowing them to bring greater depth to their school work.
4 – iMovie
One of the questions I have for most education staff is do we always need to collect evidence of learning through the traditional route of pen and paper? Why don’t we allow students to creativity to run wild and have them make a short informational video, news report or podcast using iMovie. Now this could be a noisy part of the lesson but training the students on how to use it properly and then allowing them to make a short clip to evidence what they have learnt can greatly engage learning and may bring out a more in-depth understanding of the topic. Every child wants to be a YouTuber, so why not give them the opportunity to do just that. As a result of the work they create, this could be shared in the schools newsletter if you use Microsoft Sway or on the schools website, showcasing the schools work and give the students that feeling of seeing their work online for all to see.
Whilst i have mentioned 4 top ways that you can use iPads in your lessons, this doesn’t even scratch the surface of what’s truly possible. Why not give some of them a try and let me know how it affects the learning in your lesson? Also don’t forget to share how you are using iPads in your lessons to boost learning.