What needs to improve
Although using iPads have many positive outcomes for providing support for ELLs, there are some areas that need to be considered.
- Professional development and learning to familiarize the use of iPads is vital to make it efficient (Geer et al., 2017). Burden et al. (2012) found that the use of iPads in the classroom leads the educators to rethink their professional role leading to greater collaboration as co-learners and pioneers with their students but educators need to be willing to engage in these PD opportunities.
- In order for iPads to be used effectively to improve academic processes and achievements, certain pedagogical guidelines and instructions would need to be provided for students and teachers. The number of opportunities for this is still limited (Nyugen et al., 2015).
- Most K-12 schools have very few individuals (students, teachers, or administrators) that use iPads (Nyugen et al., 2015) and there would be cost concerns.
- Although some parents found iPads having a positive impact on the quality and the process of learning for their child (Burden et al., 2012), there will be parental concerns with providing students ownership of a table device.
- There are non-educational functions on the iPad and it can easily lead to unwanted distractions and interruptions.
- Not all online or offline learning environments can be delivered with an iPad as relevant mobile apps would be needed (Nyugen et al., 2015).
- iPads are intuitive tools and students will need to invest in learning how to use them. Ownership of mobile devices does not always lead to formal and/or informal learning (Fabian & MacLean, 2013).
Ending Note
More educational apps are getting developed and the number of iPad users increasing. Therefore, I think the potential iPads have on education still has a lot of room to grow. "Mobile technologies are constantly evolving and expanding, and it is inevitable that this progression will continually offer new innovations" (Nyugen, 2015, p.198). Its implementation in the K-12 classrooms, higher education sector, and adult learning will need to be researched further.
Would these accommodation strategies work for students with learning disabilities? How accepting would the school divisions and parents be of integrating iPads in classrooms? How much resource (money, time, etc.) is required for iPads to become fully useful in an educational setting? There are many more unanswered questions in this field of mobile technologies but as an educator and a firm believer that technology can help differentiate learning and provide students with extra support, this was a great opportunity to explore more in depth the effectiveness and values of using an iPad in the classroom. I hope this provided some insight for new ideas and opportunities for reflection of your own teaching practices.
Would these accommodation strategies work for students with learning disabilities? How accepting would the school divisions and parents be of integrating iPads in classrooms? How much resource (money, time, etc.) is required for iPads to become fully useful in an educational setting? There are many more unanswered questions in this field of mobile technologies but as an educator and a firm believer that technology can help differentiate learning and provide students with extra support, this was a great opportunity to explore more in depth the effectiveness and values of using an iPad in the classroom. I hope this provided some insight for new ideas and opportunities for reflection of your own teaching practices.