iKinder Inspiration
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Literature Review History/Rationale Community
Literature Review History/Rationale Community
Won't using all that technology deprive kindergartners of "real learning" and play? I was skeptical.
Wouldn't it be better to spend our dollars investing in technology for the middle school? iPads in Kindergarten didn't make any sense to me when I first heard I would be teaching kindergarten in a pilot program that provided one iPad per student. It seemed like a misuse of valuable resources and I thought using iPads would deprive kindergartners of 'real' play-based learning. I was worried about too much screen time and lack of social interaction if kids were 'plugged in' so young. Would using iPads inhibit their communication skills? What about their writing skills? Would they just 'play games' and not really learn anything? What about the rest of our school?
After two days observing in a pilot Pre-K program using iPads, I was completely 'blown away'. I left the class thinking 'Every student should have access to an iPad!' The portable touch screen technology makes learning accessible to everyone, irregardless of literacy skills, language and background. I watched students listen to and interact with digital stories, play phonics games, create drawings, practice their letters over and over, and do puzzles on their iPads with just two days of instruction. This was impressive but what was even more remarkable was that students showed great persistence and ingenuity in figuring out the apps. They were undaunted when faced with failure! They were willing to take risks, experiment and use their prior knowledge independently. While using iPads, the ususal subjective judgement or praise by the teacher about a student's failure or success was nonexistent. I was watching children's brains in action. I witnessed a high level of motivation and problem solving as children helped each other and shared their work. I saw plenty of time for play, clay, puppets and writing too!
I quickly realized the potential for differentiated learning by adding iPads to the instructional program and I was inspired to learn as much as I could about this incredibly accessible technology and its role in hands-on student centered learning. I also wanted to learn about the risks so I chose to enter Touro University Masters in Education - Innovative Learning Program where I have been immersed in learning about current research on using digital technology for learning, the brain, and best practices for lifelong learning. For more information and valuable resources see my Literature Review and Resources pages.
Dollars Well Spent
Think about it. People do not question investing large sums of money in high school intervention programs to 'close the achievement gap'. But Kindergarten? The truth is you get a lot more BANG for the BUCK if you intervene early by building English vocabulary, math and literacy skills before the age of 5.
For more about the History and Rationale for Early Literacy Intervention in Pre-K and Kindergarten go to History/Rationale.
Who had the Vision?
Learn about the community partnership that had the vision to make it all happen under the community link.
Watch how this child quickly adapts to reading his book when the pictures don't animate in response to his tapping.
After two days observing in a pilot Pre-K program using iPads, I was completely 'blown away'. I left the class thinking 'Every student should have access to an iPad!' The portable touch screen technology makes learning accessible to everyone, irregardless of literacy skills, language and background. I watched students listen to and interact with digital stories, play phonics games, create drawings, practice their letters over and over, and do puzzles on their iPads with just two days of instruction. This was impressive but what was even more remarkable was that students showed great persistence and ingenuity in figuring out the apps. They were undaunted when faced with failure! They were willing to take risks, experiment and use their prior knowledge independently. While using iPads, the ususal subjective judgement or praise by the teacher about a student's failure or success was nonexistent. I was watching children's brains in action. I witnessed a high level of motivation and problem solving as children helped each other and shared their work. I saw plenty of time for play, clay, puppets and writing too!
I quickly realized the potential for differentiated learning by adding iPads to the instructional program and I was inspired to learn as much as I could about this incredibly accessible technology and its role in hands-on student centered learning. I also wanted to learn about the risks so I chose to enter Touro University Masters in Education - Innovative Learning Program where I have been immersed in learning about current research on using digital technology for learning, the brain, and best practices for lifelong learning. For more information and valuable resources see my Literature Review and Resources pages.
Dollars Well Spent
Think about it. People do not question investing large sums of money in high school intervention programs to 'close the achievement gap'. But Kindergarten? The truth is you get a lot more BANG for the BUCK if you intervene early by building English vocabulary, math and literacy skills before the age of 5.
For more about the History and Rationale for Early Literacy Intervention in Pre-K and Kindergarten go to History/Rationale.
Who had the Vision?
Learn about the community partnership that had the vision to make it all happen under the community link.
Watch how this child quickly adapts to reading his book when the pictures don't animate in response to his tapping.