Apple Apps for Education and the iPad

I have decided to write about the use of Apple Educational Apps for the iPad in this blog. I have used this in my present setting as a Hospital School Teacher at Arkansas Children's Hospital. This is something that I have used mainly to encourage the students to get involved in the idea of going to school in the hospital. Generally, I meet my students after they have been in the hospital for about a week. If they are in the hospital for this long of a time, the reason they are in is usually somewhat serious. I say this in order to illustrate the point that I am usually the last person they want to see in their doorway. This has been an issue that I have had to accept. It is extremely difficult to get the kids interested in going to school or doing classwork while they are hooked up to an IV pole. The iPad is great in this capacity.

I usually walk into a room for the first time carrying a clipboard explaining why I am there and getting information from the patient. Typically, I am met with rolling eyes and shock. It is for these kids that the iPad usually makes an appearance. As soon as I enter the same room with the iPad under my arm, I see more interest from the patient, and I am able to get through to them a little more by letting them use it for a little while. These patients usually end up being more receptive the education services as time goes by.

The apps are helpful when I am unable to get schoolwork from the patient's school. The plethora of apps that are available that span countless subject areas are especially useful in this scenario. I can ask what they are studying and find content that is applicable. The fact that thy get to use the iPad for this increases the engagement factor substantially. There are many great drill and practice programs available as well.

The main way that I have found the most use for the iPads and their education apps has been in the area of Traumatic Brain Injury patients. The iPad format provides the stimulation that is needed for these patients. Typically, it is unknown where these patients are functioning cognitively, and the many levels of educational material available is perfect for this. The visual aspect of the apps is advantageous for gaining and sustaining the attention of such patients. The touch-based format of the iPad allows these patients to practice fine motor skills and tracking, which are two areas that are necessary in the rehabilitation process.

The Apple website provides ample information on the thousands of apps available for educational purposes. Many of these apps are free of charge, or at the least a minimal charge is necessary. This is a small investment to make due to the profound effect they have on the learning process.

Each of the apps is very easy to use for both teacher and student. However, it is imperative to make sure the app that is being used is appropriate for the cognitive level of the student. The speed of the processor and the user-friendliness are impressive qualities.

The fact that there are so many apps available for so many different levels of learners makes the iPad invaluable. It can literally connect with learners of any academic level. I have allowed my daughter to use it when she comes up to see me at work, and she is three years-old. She also uses it with very little trouble. I have also seen a senior in high school use it for Trig and Calculus. The possibilities are infinite.

The Language Arts Apps range from diagramming sentences to entire books/texts available.

This section of apps is especially useful with my TBI patients as I mentioned above. It is also helpful when working with Special Education students or other patients that have needs that exceed what is available in the hospital. These are often the patients that need the most one-on-one instruction.

I never thought that these apps would be very useful in the classroom. We usually concentrate our efforts on the four core subjects, because these are the most important as far as the schools are concerned. However, I have used these apps to tap into what interests the patient in order to gain trust and get them more involved in our program. It also works great as a rewards system with iMovie and Garage Band.

This is a great source for supplemental information when textbooks are not available. There have been times when a patient must refer to a map in the textbook to answer a question and we do not have the textbook in the hospital. There are apps in this category that can access almost any map so the patient is able to get the information they need.There are also many virtual apps that are useful when studying different periods of time.

This is another group of apps that serves a great use in working with TBI patients. Some of these patients have actually lost the ability to communicate verbally. These apps enable us to help teach the patients the skills needed to speak coherently once again.

The wide range of topics covered in these apps is immeasurable. I have seen these apps being used in simple addition and subtraction exercises as well as Statistics and Calculus. The MathBoard app is one of the favorites of the patients that I have encountered.

Apps in this category are great for the students that have to work on research projects while they are in the hospital. Yes, there are many resources online that the patients can access from their rooms, but this is highly unlikely to happen unless there is someone present prodding the patient along. As I spoke about earlier, just being able to use the iPad motivates the patient to do the assignment and it makes the "boring research" a little more interesting.

Science apps are most helpful when patients are asked to answer questions regarding an experiment. Experiments are hard to carry out in a hospital setting. There are many virtual lab experiments such as dissections and astronomy that are able to be completed thanks to the Science apps. These are usually the most interesting to the patients because of the great visuals that are involved.

Working with the iPad in education is incredible. It is great for motivating the students, encouraging involvement, and in my field, providing needed distraction. We are looking to be able to communicate with the patients' schools using them in the upcoming school year. The only drawback that I can see so far is that I can't take it home with me. I can see this technology becoming a very powerful force in education. In fact, there are many schools with pilot iPad programs around the country gaining ground each day. Kudos to Apple for providing such a great educational resource.


Sources

Unknown. (2011). Learning with ipad. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/.