Day 1 - iPad in the Class

Well, the buzz about iPad isn't contained to adults. At first mention of the iPad to my students a good 75% of them raised their hands to share something they knew. Astonishing, but not suprising I guess.

The first day with the iPad was actually a great day - the students were keen to get started and have a go. To start with the students had just 20 minutes each to play around with the iPad to see what Apps were there and what they could do or find. The kids were all excited to get their hands on it, but interestingly enough when a student had the iPad other students were happy to let them play by themselves. Only a few occasions saw several students huddled around the iPad (generally when an App let out a random noise or sound).

I have started recording some of the students initial thoughts after their first experience with the iPad to share what they liked about it in the class or didn't. So far the kids have really liked the touch aspect of the screen as well as the interactiveness of the Apps.

One student has already commented on the fact that she really likes to have the sound going when she plays on the iPad (especially the book she read). But that you couldn't really have the sound loud on the iPad in class. This was a great reflection from her first go with it and the first reflection from any student. I think it's a fair call that earplugs would be a great accessory to go with the iPad in the class.

I'm glad that at the moment I have left the protective plastic screen on as already it's managed to gather a few scratches from being passed around the class. This would also need to be a consideration.

One concern I had was the way that students would be able to work on the touch screen. As to type you need to be in a good position to type on the flat screen. Or have it propped up on something such as the Apple stands. The students didn't seem bothered by this at all and simply went on their way using and typing without a fuss.

The students favourite Apps from the day seemed to be the Toy Story book, PopMath and the drawing Apps we have loaded.

My next step once everyone has had a quick play is to put the iPad and the students to the test. I am going to give it to students in certain blocks and see if they can complete the tasks we are doing in class via the iPad. At the moment we don't have Keynote on the iPad so students are going to use Google Docs for typing projects. After that I am keen to see if the kids can find a good App from what we have to complete the task we are completing in class.