Will Richardson

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Kids and the iPad

April 17, 2010 By Will Richardson

For quite some time now, I’ve been holding up the NCTE definition of reading and writing literacy in the 21st Century and asking educators to measure themselves against it, and every time I read the “Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts” I felt a pang of hypocrisy…I just haven’t gone there much, especially in terms of creation. So, one of my goals for this year is to play more with multimedia, and yesterday, I finally dove into iMovie to make my first real “movie” project. It’s amazing software, and while I know this doesn’t count as a “digital story” or anything especially creative, it’s a start.

The subject is the use of the iPad with young kids, and my friend Warren Buckleitner (whos latest piece on the New York Times Gadgetwise blog is worth the read) is as much of an expert as you’re going to find on the subject. He’s an educator, he’s been immersed in children’s software for over  a decade, and his Children’s Software Review is the industry standard. So here’s an 8-minute or so conversation about what the iPad means for our youngest learners. Enjoy.

Filed Under: On My Mind Tagged With: education, ipad

Comments

  1. Ricardo says

    April 17, 2010 at 9:05 am

    Enjoyed the video. Thinking about implementing these in a daycareschool setting. Have you come across any apps that have video out that could turn the iPad into an Interactive whiteboard if paired with a projector?

  2. Ricardo says

    April 17, 2010 at 10:15 am

    For the stylus request, I’m assuming this would work on the iPad too:http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/a31f/

  3. Chris k says

    April 17, 2010 at 11:25 am

    As an Apple fan, I’d like to think that I’m not “drinking the Kool-Aid”, but this does seem like it’s going to change the way we teach. With cloud computing raging ahead, and more and more companies joining in (Apple’s own iWork for example), much of what kids do now with costly programs can be done while surfing the web. I’d always thought even as a user friendly tool to get access to the internet, the iPad was great, but after seeing your video (iMovie’s great isn’t it!), I am so excited for the apps.
    Thanks for sharing this and introducing me to yet another amazing mind to follow.

  4. jeannebp says

    April 17, 2010 at 12:05 pm

    Great information! Many of the lower elementary teachers I come in contact with are reluctant to use technology because they feel that it takes away from the f2f learning they feel is most important. While I don’t necessarily agree with this, I do respect their opinions. This video will be a great way to show them the interactivity that the iPad can encourage without losing the socialization that they value.

  5. Dean Shareski says

    April 17, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    Will made a video! yeah!

    Make more.

  6. Wesley Fryer says

    April 17, 2010 at 3:41 pm

    Good work Will!

    If your schedule would permit we’d love to have you join in one of our Celebrate Oklahoma Voices workshops this summer! These 2.5 day experiences are really great for developing digital storytelling skills. Consider this an open invitation:
    http://wiki.celebrateoklahoma.us/Home/calendar/2010

    If you come to Oklahoma I promise to coordinate with the National Weather Service to insure we don’t have any tornados nearby during your visit!

    If you would rather take the workshop in Kansas you can do so in Manhattan Aug 4-6 at Kansas State. Just let me know!

  7. Jen Cottrill says

    April 17, 2010 at 4:26 pm

    Thank you for the video and blog. It is very interesting to see the technological advances that can change our education. I will be curious to see how the iPad gets integrated into our classrooms.

  8. Julie Cheung says

    April 23, 2010 at 4:38 pm

    Interesting, thanks.

  9. maryakem says

    April 25, 2010 at 8:05 pm

    Useful post with even more useful commentary. Thanks! So much work to do but I found this more enlightening and discerning than searching databases for information on the topic of e-reading.. and I’m. A. LIBRARIAN

  10. Wes says

    April 26, 2010 at 6:38 pm

    I agree with what Warren Buckleithner has to say about the iPad. So many kids today learn better when they are able to touch and see things, than just read it out of some book. Don’t get me wrong books are still great,but kids can learn a lot faster if it is something they like and what kids do not like technology these days.

  11. Kenny says

    May 5, 2010 at 8:01 am

    Thank you for the video and blog. It is very interesting to see the technological advances that can change our education.

  12. fiona says

    May 10, 2010 at 5:08 am

    It’s great for kids BUT not robust enough to withstand a 5 year old dropping it face down on the sidewalk within 24 hours of purchase! Whoops….Glass cracked but still useable…..
    PARENTS get a cover!!!

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