them later. Unfortunately, they were
paid apps, which limited our accessibility.
Cost. Although we understood the
need for Apple’s volume purchasing
plan, it increased the cost of our
project. We received U.S. stimulus
funding, which allowed our district
to shift money to its capital fund for
iPad purchases.
Variable data. Even though we tried
our best to make authentic comparisons in our data, there were variables.
The 2009–10 and 2010–11 class sizes
were not identical. In 2009–10, Group
5 had 12 students, and in 2010–11 it
had 16. In 2009, Group 6 had nine
students, while in 2010–11 it had 11.
All of us were veteran teachers, but
neither of the groups had the same
teacher for the two consecutive years
of data collection. Because of this
variable, there was one data point col-
lected only for Group 6, as Group 5
was without a previous comparison.
Lessons Learned
Our students continue to help each
other in the classroom. Movement
from one leveled reading group to another occurs often to ensure students’
proper placement based on their
abilities. In fact, Group 5 and Group 6
sustained extensive amounts of movement— 20 changes per group throughout the year! Whenever a new student
would join our group, most often
during iPad activities, our support was
not necessary. Students would instinctively help each other, creating a wonderfully collaborative environment.
From start to finish, this project has
convinced us that using iPads with at-
risk learners creates an environment
that meshes nicely with the learning
styles of our youngest digital natives.
iPads truly make a difference in sight
word recognition, fluency, compre-
hension, and vocabulary recognition
and meaning.
Bring robotics to your school!
In a class, a club, or a FIRST LEGO
League team, robotics offers a hands-on, multidisciplinary, authentic learning
opportunity. You don’t have to know
programming or engineering, and you
don’t even need a large budget.
Learn how to make it happen!
iste.org/robots