Bringing Learning Home with iPads

Bringing Learning Home with iPads

      Not only do iPads enhance instruction in the classroom, they are also capable of bridging the learning gap between home and school. How often do you hear questions similar to, “I forgot how to do my math once I got home” from a student or “I wasn’t sure how to help my child with the reading response because I was unsure of the assignment guidelines” from a parent? The student iPads have proven to be a useful and convenient way to bring learning home.

Seesaw is a popular app which provides a user-friendly way to share student learning and achievements with parents, with the added benefit of the capability to record learning and thinking. I love that the students are able to record a video explaining how to complete a math strategy in their own words or take a photo of their notes for their parents to see and for them to refer to when needed. Another wonderful thing about Seesaw is that students can upload work from other apps, such as Book Creator, to their Seesaw journal.

This student is sharing a challenge I gave to students after reader's workshop with his parents.

Seesaw is also a great way for students to share their learning with me, as their teacher. As I was getting to know my students as readers at the beginning of the year, I had them take a video of themselves synthesizing their reading with a good fit book from home. Not only did I get to learn more about each of them, but the parents were able to view the video as well and then encourage synthesizing during their nightly reading. Below you will see a clip from one of my readers, who is very quiet and shy in the classroom. I love that this assignment allowed her to feel comfortable and I immediately knew that video communication should be an option for my students to show their learning.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of the Camera Roll

I could go on and on about apps, like SeeSaw and Bloomz, that foster an online community with parents, but many times the most convenient way to bring learning home is by taking a simple photo. My students are constantly taking photos of our anchor charts so they can refer to them later. Many times I have students apply the strategy from our reader’s workshop to the reading they do at home with their parents. They can easily do this by flipping through their iPad photos. It is like the students have an interactive notebook, in an appealing format that they are more excited to use, and remember to take home, more than a traditional notebook.
Regardless of which app or tool you choose, iPads have been effective in bridging the gap between school and home.