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Teachers far and wide have already realized importance of iPad technology for its wealth of educational possibilities. More and more schools are adopting iPads for daily use in the classroom.The iPad one-to-one program uses technology that's already a big part of students' lives to make them more excited about learning. Teachers can use it to track their curriculum and share content with the class or with other schools. It also makes it easier to customize lessons for each student, and to engage parents and other teachers in their education. Teachers can add notes, point out specific items, add supplemental content, make assignments, and highlight examples of student work. Everything is recorded and can be instantly uploaded and shared. Technology can be a teacher's best friend when it comes to being the sole educator in a room of 30 students each with their own needs, abilities, and interests. By introducing iPad technology in schools the emphasis is on engaging students directly in the content so they learn through activity.
The iPad initiative aims to improve the quality of education across the board. It can be particularly beneficial for special needs students as well. One of the biggest challenges teachers face is accommodating varying levels of ability and paces of learning. Each student requires one-on-one attention and it is difficult for many of them to work with textbooks, paper, and writing utensils. Giving students access to iPad would help them overcome some of these issues. It would also allows teachers to better adapt to their students' unique needs and abilities. Its lightweight nature makes the iPad portable, and its touchscreen is visually appealing, capturing the attention of special education students. Many different applications can be downloaded to the iPad to maintain schedules, tell stories, learn lessons, and reinforce positive behavior. Long ago children would write their schedules on clipboards and carry them around. Now these schedules have words, pictures and audio reminders to stop one task and start another. The Apple touchscreen products are more affordable than other single-use special education devices on the market. What sets the iPad apart from other devices is the simple and visually robust user interface that can be used by almost everyone. It's also a highly customizable device that can be set up with applications and assistive features to support a variety of special needs. Look2Learn helps students develop communication skills by expressing their needs with recorded audio and photos, while Stories2Learn allows students, parents and educators to create personalized stories to demonstrate personal cues and teach social messages.
An iPad has many features that enable a special education student to read and write. Text to speech, or TTS, allows students to hear the words they are reading. Along with TTS, iPads have VoiceOver available for all installed apps. This is a screen reader that allows the user to point at something on the iPad and hears a description of what is at that location. The iPad easily connects to a variety of headphones or earpieces frequently used to help students with hearing problems. With the headsets, each student can complete his lesson without disturbing a child seated next to him. IWriteWords lets children develop fine motor skills as they practice writing words while participating in games. While any of these activities can be accomplished without an iPad, the teacher can let the tablet do most of the work, which allows her to use her time more efficiently. When reviewing applications for special education, there are a number of components we consider like how adaptable is the application to the population you are serving? How well does the application align with your curriculum and the student's IEP? What kind of feedback does the app provide to document progress? How well do students respond to the application? The assistive technology of the iPad gives special education students a sense of accomplishment as they complete assignments often without the assistance of their teacher.
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