Its Elementary: iPads Help Foster Reading Growth in Primary School Students Kaycee Hallett As education has entered

the 21st Century so have teachers and so have the educational tools that they use. Technology has become a continuous part of our lives and incorporating that use of technology into schools and education always has its difficulties, but it is important for students to have that kind of access to the tools that are becoming commonplace in the adult world. Not only is it important but many of these tools can be vital to the actual education of the students. The Apple produced iPad is one such tool. There are several studies that are looking in to the applications of the iPad in the classroom but many of the research already conducted indicates that the iPad not only is a helpful tool but is also one that can actually help improve literacy. There are many educational purposes of the iPad; this is due mostly to the different Apps that are available. There are several educational Apps out that help to work with students on a variety of different subjects. There are some that can help illustrate the different parts of the Periodic Table. Some can help to illustrate where the dinosaurs were roaming on Pangaea and then show what kinds of dinosaur fossils would be found in the United States based on that information. There are several that help with Mathematics. What makes the iPad so valuable is the diversity of Apps that are available and the fact that many of these Apps connect with young students in a variety of ways, including through games and fun tasks that have the students manipulating the information. One of the most valuable uses for the iPad in Elementary schools in particular comes from the help it can provide when students are having issues with reading. This isnt a rare

circumstance, many students have difficulties with reading, but the research suggests that the iPad actually helps students to focus, helps students to become more engaged with stories, and actually helps students to become significantly better at reading. Various studies have shown that through the use of an iPad students have significantly improved at sight words, fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and literacy and that students who had trouble for quite some time and were not only discouraged with reading but with education had a growth in confidence after the use of an iPad helped to improve reading ability. We set out to determine if using iPads would help increase reading achievement with our two lowest groups during the 2010-11 academic year at Hilltop Elementary School in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota, USA, (Getting & Swainey, 2012). This is a quote from a paper describing a study done by two first grade teachers. They used iPads with their first graders who were having difficulties with reading. They found immediately that while using the iPads the time on task each student was spending improved. This was measured by a teacher with a stopwatch but the data collected showed an improvement of a 20% increase on average or the time the student spent on task in one group and a 15% increase in the other. Focus wasnt the only improvement that the First Graders had. The two groups, sustained extensive amounts of movement20 changes per group through 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. (Getting and Swainey, 2012) Swainey and Getting came to the conclusion that the iPads did indeed make a difference with the students and really helped with sight word recognition, fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary recognition and meaning. So one year of first graders using an iPad to help with their reading led to marked improvement (Getting & Swainey, 2012).

There are many cases where the use of an iPod facilitated learning in a very real way for students. Because of the variety of Apps an iPad allows students not just to follow along with a story but allows them to create their own media to go along with a story. This allows teachers to help them connect with learning in a very real and tangible way, for example an App called Educreations. A student struggling with written expression used the Educreations app to create a presentation about spiders that demonstrated his knowledge both verbally and visuallyThe iPad became an avenue for this student to build confidence I his learning and to share his ideas with peers. (Ensor, 2012) The iPad can be used individually or as a group and in most studies eventually the students begin to rely on themselves and each other for problem solving and questions instead of only going to the teacher. (Ensor, 2012) What about with a student that has had a longer time to get discouraged with reading? iPads can help there as well. This is very well shown in a study that was published entitled A Breakthrough for Josh: How Use of an iPad Facilitated Reading Improvement. A fifth grade student who has been diagnosed and struggling with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) showed almost amazing improvements in a short period of using the iPad to help with reading. The students reading level was that of a 2nd grader and he didnt seem to be bothered with the problems and mistakes he made while reading; after trying on the first half of a word he would guess on the second half and wasnt concerned when the guess was wrong. During oneon-one tutoring sessions it was decided that an iPad might help occasionally with focus. The sessions were divided initially into parts. The first part of session one had the instructor relying on traditional activities. This was unsuccessful on the pupil. The second half the pupil was allowed to use the iPad playing a game he had done before and the tutor was surprised that for 10 minutes he was completely focused on the game and not fidgeting around. The iPad from this

point on was incorporated into the lessons and not only was the student able to focus better he also began to realize when he was doing something wrong. One of the most helpful applications the iPad had for this student was the ability to record the student while he read a book out loud. The student could then listen back to the recording while he followed along with the book. In this way the student became more connected and could even tell what the problems were. He commented, Sometimes when I read, I read too fast and it doesnt make sense. In other words he was becoming metacognitive about his reading. (McClanahan, Williams, Kennedy & Tate, 2012) At the end of this tutoring session he even requested that he re-read and record the story so that he could make it make sense. These tutoring lessons lasted over a 6 week period and the student was making progress with reading ability but more importantly with his attitude towards reading and education in general. He seemed excited to read on the iPad; he seemed to have an improved attitude toward his schoolwork and toward himself. At one point he commented, If I would have learned [sic] how to do these things when I first started school, I wouldnt have had such a hard time. (McClanahan, Williams, Kennedy & Tate, 2012) The results of the final assessment for the student showed that in six weeks he had improved one full grade level in his reading ability. The tutor believes that this is mostly due to the help of the iPad. The student had done one-on-one tutoring sessions before and they had not helped to improve his reading. The tutor also notes that the way the first session was going before she allowed the use of the iPad it didnt look like the one-on-one sessions with her were going to help improve his reading level either, as her lessons didnt appear to keep him focused or sink in with the student in general. It wasnt until the use of the iPad that the student began to show marked improvement and began to take an interest in reading and education (McClanahan, Williams, Kennedy & Tate, 2012).

iPads in the classroom have many benefits but that doesnt mean there arent difficulties that go along with them. In most studies teachers and students dont have problems learning how to use the devices. Most of the studies indicate a proponent that is more technological in nature. iPads were developed as individual devices originally. Note the I in iPad. So when it comes to taking a device that was manufactured for the individual and needing to make it share data with 20 different students and 20 other devices all linked to one specific iTunes created problems. All the devices needed synced to one account. This was something that the IT needed to deal with. Another IT problem arose from the need for teachers to choose and download Apps themselves, generally through a school e-mail account that could be shared. That meant teachers had to be given greater access than they might normally be given. Certain considerations have to be given to the infrastructure in order to support the use of iPads on a consistent basis. Not only that but having personal wireless devices in the school meant that students needed to be able to connect wirelessly to the schools databases. This means that teachers need to add a component of digital citizenship to their teaching. They had to ensure that since students were given access to the schools network that the special access they were given was not abused (Crichton, Pegler & White, 2012) Many of the studies that were conducted had students make their own rules for the iPads and also had students policing the use of the iPads themselves. According to one study this helped to give them a sense of ownership. The same study also had each student given the same iPad every time, they could personalize the device adding their own wallpaper and such, but by giving the students a sense of ownership in the device it helped to instill in them the sense that they didnt want anything to happen to the iPad that might cause problems (Conn, 2012). Some of the other considerations found in one study of fourth graders that focused on the iPads use in Literacy Instruction included: difficulty in manipulation in certain apps, saving and

sharing work could not be done in a traditional way so it had to be adjusted, the touchscreen can be sensitive so there were cases where a function or app was activated mistakenly, the teacher had to learn how to troubleshoot, word documents are difficult to create and manage on an iPad and many of the apps dont allow editing once work has been saved. There were several points made for the iPads as well in this same study: students learned how to operate the iPad quickly thanks to prior knowledge of other digital technology, students worked collaboratively to solve usage problems which led to collaboration on assignments as well, many different apps are available, iPads power on and off quickly with no class interruption, iPads are easily stored in desks which allowed for impromptu usage during lessons, iPad can be programmed to different languages (Hutchison, Beschorner & Schmidt-Crawford, 2012). While some teachers are hesitant to add digital literacy into the already sometimes difficult literacy goal, it seems to have helped in many cases. It is also endorsed by the International Reading Council (IRA). In 2009 the IRA released a position statement endorsing the incorporation of digital devices into literacy education: to become fully literate in todays world, students must become proficient in the new literacies of the 21st century technologies. IRA believes that literacy educators have a responsibility to integrate information and communication technologies (ICTs) into the curriculum, to prepare students for the futures they deserve. (Hutchison, Beschorner & Schmidt-Crawford, 2012) The iPad falls into this category very well with its clear connection to digital devices and literacy and the help it gives with education, and reading education in particular (Hutchison, Beschorner & Schmidt-Crawford, 2012). While in most cases the iPads use in schools is just starting out and just being tested, it has passed most of those tests with flying colors. Use of the iPad seems to be more than just an educational fad. Research shows that it truly seems to be helping kids. At the very least it helps

to keeps students focused on projects and lessons and interested in the topic. It allows them hands-on manipulation of what they are learning and keeps them connected to their own education. The iPad helps to get students interested in reading and connects them and makes them responsible for their own literacy. When getting kids interested in reading is half the battle there is no harm in employing the iPad to help win the war.

References: Ensor, T. (2012). Teaming with technology: "real" ipad applications. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 56(3), 193. doi: 10.1002/JAAL.000127 Conn, C. (2012). Managing and maximixing a class set of ipads. Learning and Leading with Technology, (June/July 2012), 32-33.

Hutchison, A., Beschorner, B., & Schmidt-Crawford, D. (2012). Exploring the use of the ipad for literacy learning. The Reading Teacher, 66(1), 15-23. doi: 10.1002/TRTR0109

Crichton, S., Pegler, K., & White, D. (2012). Personal devices in public settings: Lessons learned from an ipod touch/ipad project. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 10(1), 23-31.

McClanahan, B., Williams, K., Kennedy, E., & Tate, S. (2012). A breakthrough for josh: How use of an ipad filited reading improvement. TechTrends, 56(3), 20-28.

Getting, S., & Swainey, K. (2012). First graders with ipads?. Learning and Leading with Technology, (August 2012), 24-27.