EMERGINGTECHNOLOGY:1:1PROGRAM

MeaganCinfel
TechnologyToolsforTeachers
November16,2015

EMERGINGTECHNOLOGY:1:1iPadProgram

Ifweteachtodayaswetaughtyesterday,werobourchildrenoftomorrowJohn
Dewey.Astechnologybecomesmoredominantintheclassroom,teachersareconstantlylooking
atintegratingthemostbeneficialtoolstohelpstudentslearn.Whileweknowthatthereareso
manytechnologytrendslikeBYOD,GameBasedLearning,FlippedClassrooms,andVirtual
Classrooms,Ifeelthatthe1:1programwillbecomethemostdominanttrendthatschooldistricts
willadoptinthenextfiveyears.The1:1programbringsstudentengagement,easyandquick
teacherassessment,toolsthatareinthehandsofSpecialEducationStudents,andonline
textbooks.

Overthelastfewyears,K12schoolsanddistrictsacrossthecountryhavebeen

investingheavilyiniPadsforclassroomuse.(Daccord,2012).AccordingtoApplesCEO,Tim
Cook,
iPadsmakeup94percentofthemarketforeducationtablet(Cheng,2013).Thereareso
manydifferenttypesoftechnologythatwouldmakethe1:1programsuccessful,butasI
continuetodefendmypositiononthistrend,IwillfocusonintegratingiPadsintothe1:1
programsinceitisoneofthemostpresidingtechnologiesthateducatorsarealreadyusing.
AccordingtoOpenColleges,81%ofU.Steachersthinktabletscanenrichclassroom
learning,and86%ofstudentsbelievethattabletscanhelpthemtostudymoreefficiently.
(Wainwright).Studentengagementinlearningcandrasticallychangewhileimplementingthe
1:1iPadprogram.
Ifweteachtodayaswetaughtyesterday,werobourchildrenoftomorrow
JohnDewey.Thisquoteisespeciallytruewhenwefocusonhowstudentsactuallylearn.The

EMERGINGTECHNOLOGY:1:1PROGRAM

traditionalwayoflearningshouldbeathingofthepast.Weliveinasocietyofcollaboration
andcommunicationthroughsocialmedia,texts,andemails.Sowhyshouldnttheclassroom
settingbethesame?The1:1iPadprogramwillgivestudentstheprivilegeofcollaboratingand
communicatingwithotherstudentsacrosstheroom,hallway,stateorevenacrosstheworld.
WhenstudentshavetheiPadintheirhandsitcanenhancetheirlearningbecausestudents
becomesoengagedwithlearning.Whenstudentsareengagedwiththeirlearning,theyhave
positivelearningoutcomes.
ThemostcommonmistaketeachersmakewithiPadsisfocusingonsubjectspecific
apps.Indoingso,manycompletelyoverlookthefullrangeofpossibilitieswiththeiPad.
(Daccord,2012)Withthe1:1iPadprogram,studentsgettohavefullengagementbecausethey
cancreateandsharewhattheylearnedthroughnumerousapps.Insteadofpapersthatcanget
lostoreatenbytheirdog,allworkcanbedeliveredandhandedintotheteacherthroughanapp
calledSchoology.ThisappsallowsteacherstonotonlydelivercontentthroughPDFs,but
teacherscanalsouploadvideosthatcanassiststudentlearning.Studentsarethenabletodo
workontheiriPadandturnitinbythepressofabutton.Schoologyisjustoneappthatcan
allowaneasyworkflowforstudentsandteachers.Studentsareabletoshowcasetheirown
thinkingandlearningthroughdigitalportfoliosaswell.Oneofthemostpowerfultoolsthatan
iPadcandoisutilizevideoandvoice.Now,studentscanuploadtheircompletedfinaldraftsof
theirwritingintoadigitalportfoliothroughtheappcalledSeeSaw.Parents,teachersandother
studentsarethenabletoleavevoiceandvideocommentstoastudentswork.Teachersareable
toleavefeedbackwithouthavingtotakehoursinconferencingwithstudentsoneonone.

EMERGINGTECHNOLOGY:1:1PROGRAM

Onetoonetechnologycantransformaclassroom.Whenimplementedcorrectly,
studentsareengagedandexcitedtolearn,andteacherscanassesstheirprogressinrealtime.
(Burns,2013).
Sinceteacherstimeissoimportant,the1:1iPadprogramhelpstheteachereasily
assessstudentslearningseamlesslywithlittletime.Teachersareabletoassessstudents
understanding,studentsworkandstudentsbehaviorallthroughthe1:1iPadprogram.
Formativeassessments,tohelpteachersseeifastudentunderstandsthecontent,caneasilybe
donethroughanappcalledSocrative.Theteachercanassignaquiz,exitticketorpolltoeach
studentontheiriPad.Theappthenputsallofthedataintoaspreadsheetwithinsecondssothe
teachercanquicklyknowwhichinformationneedstoberevisitedorwhohe/sheneedstopullfor
reteaching.Teachersarenolongerworkingthroughthelatehoursgradingtestsandworkat
homebecausethefeedbackfromtheiPadsisimmediate.
Studentswithdisabilitieshaveneverbeenabletocommunicateanddemonstrate
knowledgeinsuchameaningfulwayuntiltheiPadwascreated.TheiPadhassomany
accessiblefeaturesthathelpstudentsinspecialeducation.AccordingtoAppleswebsite,The
iPadcomeswithassistivefeaturesthathavechangedthelearninglandscapeforstudentswith
specialneeds.Theseinnovativetechnologiesalloweverystudenttoexperiencethefunand
functionofiOS.WhenstudentsareabletofunctiontheiPadtheyareabletocommunicateand
interactwiththeworld.Interactingwithotherscanbeadifficultyforstudentswithspecial
needs,however,whenweareabletoplaceiPadsintheirhands,theyareabletolearnanddo
thingsthatmayhavebeenimpossible.TheiPadshavefeaturesthattargetlearningandliteracy
difficulties,thevisuallyandhearingimpairedandlimitedphysicalandmotorskills.Students

EMERGINGTECHNOLOGY:1:1PROGRAM

withdisabilitieswhoareinthe1:1iPadprogram,aregivenadifferentandpowerfulwayto
learn.
Textbooksareheavy,outdatedandcostly.Youcantwriteinthem,highlightimportant
detailsorevenzoomintotinycaptions.AccordingtoPrincipalPa
trickLarkinof
Brookfield
HighinConnecticut,Theyre(textbooks)prettymuchoutdatedtheminutetheyreprintedand
certainlybythetimetheyredelivered.ThebottomlineisthattheiPadswillgiveourkidsa
chancetousemuchmorerelevantmaterials.(Saavedra,2011).StudentswithiPadsintheir
handsareabletohighlightimportantthingsfromtheirtextbook,zoomintopicturesandcaptions
andtakenotesrightontheirtextbook.Mostdigitaltextbooksarealsointeractive,whichcould
alsoimpactstudentengagementandlearning.Withdigitaltextbooks,studentshavetheoption
fortexttospeechwhichallowsstudentswithdyslexia,readingchallenges,orvisualimpairments
theabilitytohaveitreadtothem.EnglishLanguageLearnersarealsoabletohavethedigital
textbookwrittenintheirdominantlanguage,whichallowsthestudentstoparticipateandstillbe
apartofwhatwhatisbeingdiscussedintheclassroom.Besidesallofthesebenefitstousing
digitaltextbooksontheiPads,oneofmostimportantthingstolookatiscost.Textbookscanbe
verycostly,andareconstantlybeingupdated.Etextbooksontabletscostonaverage5060%
lessthanprinttextbooks.(Sessoms,2015).
Toconclude,therearesomanybenefitsofhavinga1:1iPadprogramintheclassroom.
StudentachievementandlearningenhanceswheniPadsareputintothehandsforeducational
purposes.Schooldistrictsarealreadytestingoutthisideaandarealreadyseeingbeneficial
resultswith
studentengagement,easyandquickteacherassessment,toolsforspecialeducation
studentsandonlinetextbooks.
Ibelievethatinfiveyearsthe1:1programwillbedominantin

EMERGINGTECHNOLOGY:1:1PROGRAM

oursociety.Thoughtherearealreadymanybenefitstothe1:1Program,Imeagertoseemany
morebenefitsinthenextfiveyears.

References:
Burns,M.(2014,January4).FourFreeAssessmentAppsfor1:1Classrooms.Retrievedfrom
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/freeassessmentipadappsmonicaburns
Cheng,R.(2013,October13).RetrievedNovember10,2015,from
http://www.cnet.com/news/appleceowevelockedup94ofeducationtabletmarket/
Daccord,T.(2012,September27).FiveCriticalMistakesSchoolsMakeWithiPads(andhowto
correctthem).RetrievedNovember11,2015,from
http://www.edudemic.com/5criticalmistakesschoolsipadsandcorrectthem/
Sessoms,D.(n.d.).9BenefitsofeBooksThatMakeThemValuableClassroomTechnology.
RetrievedNovember15,2015,from
http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/9BenefitsofeBooksThatMakeThemValu
ableClassroomTechnology
Wainwright,A.(n.d.).8StudiesShowiPadsintheClassroomImproveEducation.
RetrievedNovember15,2015,from
http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/
8StudiesShowiPadsintheClassroomImproveEducation