0
reasons
Why it is imperative for schools to have iPads
Overview of schools
The recent pandemic had a significant impact on the education sector and their operations. Post-pandemic, schools have started to adopt Advanced Digital Technology, supporting the in-class environment. Schools have shifted to the tech-savvy ways of effective teaching, resulting in a digital ecosystem.
Apple & schools
Apple being the powerhouse of leading technology, has a major contribution to the education sector through its wide range of products and services. The increased use of Apple products in schools has benefited all levels of school students from K-12 worldwide. At each class level, it is making a huge difference in the classrooms with an Enhanced Learning Experience.
Apple iPad and schools
In India, many schools have implemented iPad programs, offering a more meaningful learning experience to students and a better teaching experience for teachers as well. Apple provides schools with a plethora of Teaching, Learning, and Technical Resources.
Let us delve deeper into 6 reasons as to why integrating Apple with Schools is crucial:
#1
Quality & Compactness
Being thin, light, and durable with a user-friendly touch interface makes iPads simple, giving a flawless experience to students and teachers.
iPads are relatively much easier to use as they are designed to function as per the student’s mentality. It provides multi-touch facilities, like swiping, pinching, and tapping making it very comfortable for students to use and work upon.
It also has the following amazing built-in features :
- Speak Screen & Speak Selection: This feature enables iPad to read back to the students whatever text or content they want to hear and even highlight it. They can read along as the sentences are spoken.
- Typing Feedback & Predictive Text: iPad can speak back the words a student has typed which helps them confirm that they have written and spelled them correctly, it also gives suggestions for spelling by providing a list of words they hear.
Being a powerful device itself with Augmented Reality (AR) enabled, it takes the overall experience of students towards gamified education, thanks to a bundle of educational apps, games, and resources available for use.
This package of compactness is unmatched when compared to other devices.
- Speak Screen & Speak Selection: This feature enables iPad to read back to the students whatever text or content they want to hear and even highlight it. They can read along as the sentences are spoken.
#2
Deliver Tailored Experiences
iPads are essential in providing tailor-made solutions as per each class level and to cater different learning styles. Students have different learning styles – For eg. Visual learners can watch more videos and presentations whereas those who require a hands-on approach can download study materials.
Teachers can design student-centered materials and can offer a more creative approach to learning with immediate feedback. This makes the entire learning process fun, understanding, and graspable.
Considering two classroom scenarios:
- A teacher can use Explain Everything(app) to provide students with a visual science concept along with an audio and text description to which students can jot down their responses and observations in Notes(app).
- Teachers can break down a long process into short videos for students who have difficulty in processing long documents. Post-it Notes(app) can be used to brainstorm ideas for the steps and using Post-it Plus (app) it can be arranged in a sequence that can be exported to Numbers (app) spreadsheet. Here instructions can be modified, images, text, audio can be added, and finally Clips can be used to create videos that combine step-by-step directions with live text, prompts, audio and videos.
- A teacher can use Explain Everything(app) to provide students with a visual science concept along with an audio and text description to which students can jot down their responses and observations in Notes(app).
Each classroom can thus function more towards student centric learning. Teachers can share live text, drawings, and videos in real-time and make the learning more interactive.
#3
Enhanced creativity
Students constantly find ways where they can express themselves and show their creativity in ways that best make sense to them.
Other than schoolwork, students can utilize various apps available to enhance their creativity.
Students will be able to accomplish anything from photography, filming, editing to creating digital graphics, presentation and music.
Apple has a wonderful program- Everyone Can Create which has apps, tools, and resources which provide schools with everything they need to enhance creative ecosystem in their classrooms. Students learn to share their ideas using videos, photography, music, and sketching through different projects from the Everyone Can Create guidebook.
The following apps are the best ones:
- Pages, Numbers, and Keynote – Students and teachers can use these tools to generate remarkable reports and books, as well as informative spreadsheets and spectacular presentations.
- GarageBand, iMovie, and Clips – Students and teachers can use these apps to compose music, edit documentary films, and record short video clips.
- Swift Playgrounds – It makes learning Swift (a powerful programming language) entertaining and interactive. Everyone Can Code is a comprehensive coding program that includes lessons, teacher guides, and apps that make teaching coding simple. Learning to code helps students how to solve problems, collaborate creatively, and create apps that help them bring their ideas to life.
#4
Best Security and Services
Apple has created sophisticated technologies designed explicitly for schools.
It offers Privacy Controls, Student Data Protection, Storage & and Retention, Location Controls, Parental Controls, and many other security facilities which ensure the safety and security of students and schools.
Apple provides various apps and service products for schools like:
- Apple School Manager is a free web-based service that assists the school administrators in deploying iPads and also creating Managed Apple ID accounts for students, class rosters for Schoolwork, and Classroom apps. It also enables tracking the progress of a student.
- Managed Apple ID accounts are created to provide students with access to iCloud Drive, Photo Library, Backup, Schoolwork, and Shared iPad. Students can use any device to access their learning materials.
All files on the iPad are encrypted, this is enabled automatically where the user’s passcode is used to generate a unique encryption key to secure data.
#5
Quality Investment
Investing in an iPad is a long-term investment not just limited to school life but also after that.
With constant updates, an iPad fulfills a lifetime investment – a tool that will always be convenient for higher studies and also as they move ahead in life. Other than being the best investment for schools to make for their students, it also enables the teachers with lots of teaching resources making them powerful educators.
Apple offers many resources to empower teachers like:
- The Apple Teacher Learning Center: It is a free self-paced professional learning platform for teachers that provides them with endless learning materials and content.
- Apple Distinguished Educators: It’s an Apple-created platform that brings together a community of mentor educators who share their knowledge of how to teach with Apple Products.
- Curricula and Project Guides:
- Everyone Can Create:
It has project guides that help teachers to teach students to grow and share their ideas using drawing, photography, video, and music. - Everyone Can Code:
It has resources that help teachers introduce students to Swift code through interactive puzzles and activities. - Develop in Swift:
It has free curricula and professional learning material that make it easy for teachers to help students start with designing and developing apps.
- Everyone Can Create:
- Teaching Tools: Classwork and Schoolwork are amazing apps that enable teachers to teach and monitor students’ progress at a personalized levels.
“iPad is indeed a powerful tool for learning that has wide-ranging impacts on teaching and learning, including changes in pedagogical practices, improved learning outcomes, and engagement for students.” Colin Schot, Principal, Sunshine Special Developmental School.
#6
Go Paperless
Schools these days are aiming towards becoming sustainable and eco-friendly as much as possible.
Schools using iPads can greatly reduce the need for paper products and thus promote eco-friendly culture. Students can download their assignments, and read e-Books, research journals, and academic publications online instead of keeping track of homework or carrying traditional textbooks.
Likewise, teachers can also create presentations and assignments for students using iPads, which lessens the need for paper.
ADS
Many schools around the world have become Apple Distinguished Schools. Such schools use iPad and Mac products to increase student creativity and critical thinking. Such schools promote enhanced learning experience for their students. Certain schools in India have implemented iPad programs and successfully gained a better learning experience.
“We need to provide multiple means of learning in our classrooms. Multiple ways to learn new concepts and make connections. Opportunities to touch, move, see, and hear should be abundant.” Jenny Grabiec, Apple Distinguished Educator, The Fletcher School
CONCLUSION
The iPad is best handy tool created for next-gen that can make schools versatile, and have access to high-tech functions which will provide students with all the experiences in one place.
Classrooms equipped with iPads create wonders as they become students’ best friends & they can personalize it with around 1,90,000 education apps available. Such smart classrooms make the schools well in touch with the latest ed-tech, empowering students to get the best and flourish overall in their lives.