Buying an iPad for Education?

Technology fundamentals for Educators


I was recently providing ICT professional development to a cluster of kindergartens. I was inspired by their desire and passion to learn, and to approach technology in early childhood education in a new way. As a final summary we concluded the following:

1. ICT is a tool. Use it to engage children with yourselves, each other and learning opportunities.

2. Technology for a purpose. ICT should be used throughout the curriculum. Scatter technology (computers, laptops, cameras, ipads) where it will be used for a purpose - digital microscope near a collection of bugs, natural resources, science specimens or close to the outdoors. Laptops with typing programmes in an area promoting literacy, cameras where children can easily access, take a photo of their name, and download photos when returned.

3. Start with one thing and do it well. The latest technology on the block can be cool, exciting, trendy to start with (like the ipad) - consider its long term appeal. Choose the thing that you think you can move forward on and commit to it. Make sure its achieveable.

4. Technology is not a babysitter - its a tool that should encourage collaborative learning and teaching. Engage in technology WITH the children.

5. Encourage children/students to be the teacher. You can learn a lot from them. Technology shouldn't be stored until YOU have mastered it - open it with the children and learn together. Encourage children to push buttons. Its unlikely to blow up. Learn from their desire to explore.

National Standards: Assessment vs Education

Need one say more:



Thanks to Karen Boyes for sharing this on Facebook. Facebook is a great way to share educational ideas, theories and practices and a brilliant way to advocate for children everyday.

Sir Ken Robinson - Changing Educational Paradigms

How did the current education system develop?
Why do some thrive and some fail in this system?
How do we improve the current educational system?
How do we encourage all children to thrive?

Ken Robinson, illustrated by RSAnimate, answers...
(persevere thru the first 45sec - its well worth it)
Click the four arrows on the bottom right of the video to fill your screen with the illustrations.

Aspirations for children

What is the most important thing you want your children to learn before going to school?
What skills and knowledge do you want them to gain through the school system?
What do you hope they will become when they are adults?

I'm sure you have thought of this many times. Watching desperately, making sure they don't fall behind their age group, that they pass their assignments, test and exams.

What do you want for your children?

You may wish for your child to graduate from high school, go to university, gain an impressive qualification and enter a well paying job - to be a doctor, a lawyer, an architect.

What do YOU want for your children?
IF they achieve the above -

Do you want them to love what they are doing?
Do you want them to be able to communicate well with bosses, colleagues, employees?
Do you want them to have friends?
Do you want them to be kind hearted?
Do you want them to be generous?
Do you want them to like themselves? To be fit and healthy?
Do you want them to continue to explore new ideas and initiatives?
Do you want them to be happy?

Taking care of ourselves. Having friends and good relationships with colleagues. Confidently contributing and communicating our ideas. Researching and learning, exploring new concepts and ways of doing things.

THESE are the building blocks of a great citizen, a confident healthy happy person.
THESE are the people we want to work and play with.
THESE are the skills that children FIRST need to learn. Without them 'academic achievement is a long hard lonely slog. With these skills children develop a passion for learning, communicating, sharing ideas.

The building blocks begin in our young children - fit and healthy, surrounded by friends, variety of communication skills, ability to contribute, and a desire and passion to explore and continue learning. These are the goals of the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum.

I suggest they be YOUR goals for your children.

We remind ourselves of these things for ourselves through romantic, heartwarming youtube videos. Watch this one, and remember to nurture these things for children too.



Santé et beauté pour tous!! The Meaning of Life !!

Making the Virtual - Real!! The iPad2

One day - mark my words - One day it'll be true.

I have a Goal - I want to write ipad apps

Ok - I thought I should just put this out there and see where it takes me.

I would like to write educational apps for young children.

I would like those apps to fit my teaching style and philosophy - so I figure, I should probably just write them. I have some programming skills. They are fairly old school programming skills, but I believe my skills are upgradable.

Where do I go to learn to write apps? Any advice welcome.

Free 2 B U - Caroline Casey

This woman speaks to my heart. What a powerful personal story.

An inspirational talk by a woman my age, Caroline Casey. At the age of 17 she discovered she was, and had been since birth, legally blind. She didn't let that stop her. She wasn't about to admit it. She climbed to the top of her game. She wasn't going to let labels get in the way. Then 17 years on, it caught up with her, it smacked her in the face. And when she had to acknowledge it, she found she was released to be who she wanted to be...
Her continued success, different from her initial success is again the result of rejecting labels/barriers. Hear her story....

We should be free to acknowledge our hurdles and use them to conquer barriers, not build them. We ALL have hurdles. Those that are big are only big because of the way an individual sees and copes with their own hurdles. When we are free 2 b - we can be anything. Any policy I'm involved in writing, talks about differing abilities because we all have weaknesses and we all have strengths.

Thank you JakiGT for sharing this TED story on your podcasts.