The benefits to education
What benefits come from Rydal Penrhos’ free iPad initiative for every pupil in Years 3-13 regarding their education?
Technology is becoming more and more evident and relevant throughout education. Children can be incredibly tech-savvy if given a platform from which to thrive and this is going to benefit them enormously when the time comes for them to take their place at university or in the working world.
This has become especially evident throughout the coronavirus pandemic. Pupils and staff at Rydal Penrhos were forced to learn and teach from home during the lockdown measures earlier this year, so it was more essential than ever that they were given the tools needed to do so.
We recognised this fully at Rydal Penrhos, implementing a strategy that gave every pupil from Years 3-13 a free Generation 8 iPad, which will boost their learning in and out of the classroom, in addition to allowing normal lessons to continue in the event of further lockdown measures.
Here are just some ways in which iPads and modern technology benefit a child’s education.
Microsoft Teams
This platform, used by many businesses and the vast majority of universities is our chosen remote learning platform at Rydal Penrhos. Remote Learning Lessons can be streamed on the iPad, resources can be accessed, assignments set and handed in. MS Teams links to One Note and provides each pupil with a place to organise revision notes, hand-outs, classwork, prep and more.
One Note
Through OneNote, teachers are able to see a pupil’s work real-time and interact with the document that the pupil is working on. This is particularly useful during the current climate. It gives the teacher the power to write on pupil work, highlight strengths and weaknesses, correct it, and more in real-time from a safe distance.
Pupils can also save their prep work and classwork on One Note. Teaching staff can share a whole host of resources including PowerPoints, textbooks, notes, web links, videos and more.
Individualised learning
In class, pupils can be guided by teaching staff to watch helpful videos, read extra notes, see exemplar work, use educational apps etc that will really help them make progress by attending to their individual needs. For example, there are a number of Coding apps that will help pupils move to the next level in Computer Studies, which is just one small element of the exceptional education provided at Rydal Penrhos.
Augmented Reality
Augmented reality apps can be used to bring a life-size Mummy in an Egyptian coffin or the Rosetta Stone into the classroom in history. A frog can be dissected and viewed whilst the lungs continue to inflate and deflate (with no frogs harmed during the process). In Mathematics graphs can be explored in greater detail, 3D objects such as Klein’s bottle can be placed on the desk and brought to life in the classroom.
Pupil Engagement at Rydal Penrhos
There are a number of exciting educational quiz apps that are used in lessons. The pupils really enjoy using these apps and the teaching staff are able to quickly see the strengths and weaknesses of each pupil.
Pupils can use iMovie to present their understanding of a piece of work, Garage Band is used in music and the excellent interval timer is being used by pupils both in PE and at home.
The iPad can also be used as a fantastic mini whiteboard. Teachers can select pupils’ work and share it with the class or the class can collaborate on the same piece of work.
In class and at home pupils have instant access to the many educational websites that many such as MathsWatchVLE, Dr Frost and ActiveLearn. The inclusion of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint means that every pupil has access to these resources in every lesson. There is no longer a need to book the Rydal Penrhos IT suite. These are all available for every pupil, every lesson.