iPads in Kindergarten

When I hear or read discussions about iPads in the classroom, teachers consistently talk about how they allow students to develop 21st century skills (critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity) through the vast amount of applications and knowledge that can be obtained using one of these devices.

My previous student teaching placement was in a fourth grade classroom at a school that was fortunate enough for all the students in grades 3-6 to have an iPad for themselves that they used when learning.  I learned a vast amount of knowledge about how to teach with iPads not only from my master teacher, but also the students.

However, now that I am in a Kindergarten class, the discussion about iPads being integrated into education seems almost non-existant.  Therefore, I did what any technological teacher in my shoes would do: I explored Twitter hash tags to see what others were saying about integrating iPads into a Kindergarten classroom.  Although my classroom does not have a one-to-one iPad ratio, I have read about numerous applications that can be utilized by working in groups (or one-on-one) and simply having one iPad.  These include applications to help foster deeper conceptual knowledge of mathematics, enhance handwriting, and promote key reading skills.  This information has made me feel hopeful about being able to integrate the iPad to foster deeper learning not only in my student teaching classroom, but also in my future classroom.

I am still looking at articles and exploring my Tweetdeck to see what else I can learn.  I'll be sure to keep you posted!