Get Deeper Learning with Tablets
t wo years ago, the first grade teachers at Thomas Elementary School in Flagstaff, Arizona,
USA, were looking for a new way
to engage and excite students about
the study of habitats, a first grade Arizona science standard. With access to a
class set of iPads, the teachers designed
and implemented a unit focused on
students observing feeds from webcams placed inside the habitats of animals living in the wild and in captivity.
The teachers used a deep learning
design that Christine Chin and D.
E. Brown described in their article
“Learning in Science: A Comparison
of Deep and Surface Approaches,”
published in the Journal of Research
in Science Teaching. Mobile devices
bridged the gap between a broad or
surface-level approach and deep learning, which helped students gain a
stronger understanding of concepts.
These devices provide real-world experiences and authentic tasks related
to science standards that are often unavailable for young students.
The project focused on first grade
science standards related to observing
and comparing habitats and culminated in a written report on students’
observations and research regarding a
particular habitat. Using iPads to view
the webcam broadcasts transformed
the teaching of these first grade science standards. Students explored
a variety of habitats and discovered
new information independently. The
hands-on, independent exploration
allowed teachers—and students—to
easily differentiate instruction and
learning.
This science standard requires students specifically to “ask questions
based on experiences with objects,
organisms, and events in the environment.” Using iPads, the students were
able to observe animals in a variety
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of habitats via webcams daily for five
weeks—an opportunity the first grade
teachers have not previously been able
to provide to their students. Obviously,
the students could have used desktop
computers in a lab, but it was the efficient access in the classroom to iPads
that really allowed the students to
observe animals, note characteristics
of habitats, and research information
about habitats on a deeper level.
The students were extremely excited
and engaged. The website, explore.org,
allowed students to direct their own
learning by researching a variety of
animals, including bald eaglets, using
different webcams. The students documented their research on a chart and
compared different habitats.
iPads More Convenient Than Desktops
The convenience of having an iPad
cart allowed teachers to start the day
with this activity for the first 10–15
minutes of class. It would not have
been feasible to take classes to the
school’s only computer lab. Arranging
additional lab time would have been
difficult and would have detracted
from time needed for other core sub-
jects and special-area classes.
The first grade teachers maximized
instructional time by using their com-
puter lab time to complete comple-
mentary activities that were more diffi-
cult on the iPad. For example, students
read the habitat issue of the National
Geographic Young Explorers Magazine
( bit.ly/18tzkyj), which relies on Flash,
on the desktop computers. They also
used lab time to conduct a customized habitat sorting activity using Pixie
drawing software by Tech4Learning
( www.tech4learning.com/pixie).
