If it's not about the device ...
Certainly at our school, when we started out, it was about the device and that device was the Apple iPad 2. Of course we all believed very strongly in educating every child and in the importance of preparing students for the 21st century. We also saw so much potential in the iPad for supporting students with disabilities, for motivating and engaging students and for students to demonstrate their learning. But, at that stage, these were quite separate things and we still looked at lessons that incorporated iPads as 'iPad lessons'.
This brings me to the point of this post. I absolutely, totally 100% agree that it is not about the device and today I was pondering ... then, if that's the case, is the device totally necessary and, if so, what is its purpose? By the way, now I'm not talking specifically about iPads but personal devices in general including laptops and tablets (I prefer iPads because that's what I know).
I now see these devices as enablers and below are some of the things they enable us to do at KPS. Of course, there aware so many more but these are the ones I see as most able to transform education.
At KPS iPads:
Provide students with a whole heap of different ways to demonstrate their learning;
Provide a way to cater to students of varying abilities;
Allow for total personalisation and differentiation of lessons;
Allow teachers to develop original content for their students;
Provide a way for teachers to share content with each other;
Provide numerous ways for teachers to provide feedback;
Encourage collaboration between students both locally and globally;
Allow students to share their learning, their knowledge and themselves;
Provide a way to reach a global audience;
Allow for on the spot quizzes, discussions and surveys;
Act as a student response system;
Reduce the amount of paper wastage;
Provide tools for authentic assessment;
Allow the creation of artefacts of learning;
Provide teachers with evidence to support judgements;
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