Apps!
Partly an experiment using the incredibly versatile ThingLink – and partly an update to those apps I recommend to teachers! Click the picture – and check out ThingLink here…
Partly an experiment using the incredibly versatile ThingLink – and partly an update to those apps I recommend to teachers! Click the picture – and check out ThingLink here…
As you know, I rarely push specific apps – but I do get asked for recommendations regularly and have some here.
The reason why I’m sharing this app is really simple: it seems to fit a ‘gap’ that teachers ask for. Stories that can be explored and ask simple inference questions as they go and then a creative activity!
Thanks for reading the #blappsnapp – see others here!
The iPad can be used in many ways to develop and promote a wide variety of speaking and listening activites. Although having one in the classroom means the teacher can record conversations and share them – there are some great apps out there which can promote language and encourage listening.
I have talked about this app extensively – it really is great for all kinds of activites. Take a photograph and ask the children to record their description. Use short videos and ask children to narrate what action is taking place. Children can create instruction video for activities such as cooking or art. The emphasis here is in not needing to get it right, they can re-record or try again on the next slide. You can then use the video within the lesson.
Casestudy : lesson objective was to develop a persuasive argument – children were asked to take part in a debate about bullying – they had to pitch their idea for an antibullying campaign. Using the app they could illustrate their idea, and explain it in detail orally. They had a model the teacher had created and created a wishlist (or success criteria) they were then able to give each other feedback on their ‘pitch’ for the campaign.
Story Building – Developing Writing
I have discussed using the iPad for writing here – it is a great tool for collecting ideas, creating plans and collaborating on writing. However the oral sequencing of events, retelling a story and rehearsing sentences are all valubale skills that can be practised and made fun with the iPad. Especially for younger children. The app Puppet Pals can be used to act out scenes in a story. The app Story Builder is also great, especially as it encourages the formation of full and correct sentences by asking questions. There are many interactive books as well which encourage the retelling and sequencing of stories, sucb as Me Books, My Story World and the excellent Collins Big Cat series.
Case study : retelling stories – as a guided reading activity the children were asked to retell a fairy tale they had been reading. They had read this in class and could choose any way they wanted to do this. Using the app Puppet Pals HD they could retell the story and explore the character interaction.
Skill Building
Speaking and listening relies on children developing their confidence from an early age, developing the standard of use English so that they can make themselves understood and playing with language features such as rhetorical questions. The iPad can also be used for the children to produce their own video and to learn to give feedback to each other.
Garage Band has lots of uses! The recording function works well for podcasting and straightforward recording, however you can also change your voice, add sound effects and use percussion to tell a story. My tip? Get some headphones for the class!
Case study : using the podcast facility the children recorded a diary linked to the 2012 Olympics. This dairy, which was meant to be informal and context-specific was then developed into a written account, with each child choosing the section they wanted to develop further.
Have you had any success with a particular app or activity? Please add it to this Padlet!
I often get asked about apps for Special Educational Needs – and in schools where I work the iPad has overtaken other options for supporting many pupils’ learning needs. The reasons are many, but the ease of use and the range of apps seems to be key. It quickly becomes a toolkit for staff to use with children with a variety of needs.
There are tools on the iPad which you can use without purchasing apps, but there will always be apps that can support a specific need. For example you could use the iPad to take video of the lesson to support the pupil, or create a visual timetable filled with familiar friends – these sorts of activities just become easier with an integrated device.
There are however loads of specific apps – and here I bring together some that we have found the most useful. It’s worth thinking though that specific subject needs such as times tables learning can be addressed with a focus using games or apps.
Beginning with Explain Everything – this amazing app is perfect for children who struggle with concentration, sentence construction or who may need support to complete tasks.
The key is that Explain Everything allows you to forward on and use the video so easily, so stills can be printed, video emailed, used in a different app or uploaded to the server.
Apps which allow you to draw and play, such as Sand Drawing (pictured) or Doodle Buddy can be used for motor skills and letter formation. Memory games such as Memory are also good fun
You can try dictation such as Dragon Dictation – but they can be unreliable. Far more milage can be had from structured language, and there are lots of apps which combine recording with video or story prompts.
Understanding Inferences is one of my favourites, and more so because you can buy the physical cards too. The app allows you to select specific types of inferences as well as multiple players if you want to keep score.
Story Builder, one of many apps from Mobile Education which develop language, is perfect for exploring story, allowing you to record a story sequence verbally with a series of picture prompts. The recorded story could then be used for writing.
You could create your own flashcards for emotion and behavioural support using versatile app MadPad – which will let you truly personalise the flashcards or use specific apps such as Artikpix to create a unique set of flashcards and language linked images. Other story linked apps such as Positive Penguins can be great fun and support emotion recognition.
The great thing about the iPad is how it can be used as a tool – it can be collaborative or personalised! I hope that this post can be of some inspiration to others!
Wandsworth CLC iPad in SEN environment report
Inspiring personal story about the iPad as a communication tool.
Apps for Children With Special Needs
iPad and Personalised Learning
Puppet Pals is the app that seems to inspire the most fun when I show it to teachers, the creativity appears to be endless and it is incredibly easy to pick up! A quick google search will quickly show hundreds of videos that have been created with this incredibly versatile app.
To get the most from it though you do need the Director’s Pass – as whilst the basic is free – paying £1.99 means you really open up the possibilities.
Puppet Pals Mobile App from Rain on Vimeo.
Explain Everything is the App that still amazes teachers. It’s the app that shows why the tablet computers are so popular in the classroom, and just how much can be done.
It’s an app that will has many uses, if you only have the one iPad or a full class set!
Explain Everything 2.0 from MorrisCooke on Vimeo.
As a quick explanation Explain Everything let’s you do just that – Explain Everything. It has an interactive whiteboard feel to it, which records all sound and movement that takes place within the app. It can also move on in scenes, meaning that you can record different stages of the learning.
It’s full integration with other apps on the iPad, and export functionality mean that it will quickly become an important part of the classroom!! I regularly upload the video to you tube so it can be shared, used again or embedded into the website!
Language and Literacy – In guided reading lessons, or lessons where you are pulling text apart, ask the children to explain an image, or a character, it can be done very quickly. Simply ask them to take a photo of the image, or the illustration and speak over it. Text can be added, but it is not the main feature if the app, and if you like the children could draft out their thoughts first (or group write).
In Maths, problem solving takes on a different feel when the children can write, explain and annotate how they are solving problems. Take a photograph of the problem and simply explain how they solved it. The great thing about this is that you can use these short videos for plenaries and to promote discussion amongst the children. The language and collaboration becomes a real focus for the lesson.
Geography – compare and contrast two localities by finding them on google earth and taking a snapshot of the pictures, then build up the explanations. Use atlases and maps to highlight other key information. Incidentally this works really well with local geography, use google earth to zoom in on landmarks, or the school and children can draw over their route to school. Capturing the language as the children do this at the same time.
Science – Record the experiments and their thoughts – Explain Everything lets them take short bursts of video, photos, annotate their experiments and record their evaluations. The finished product can be polished up and shared, or used by the pupils to support them writing up their findings.
I really cannot recommend this app enough, even recording simple letter formations for handwriting practice, or creating short phonic recordings that children can then use with other adults.