Curation on the iPad: Learning to appreciate beauty

With a wealth of information at their fingertips, how can students use the iPad to appreciate resources?

ipad-informationLike most of us, instructional technology specialist Daniel Callahan isn’t a big fan of most of the eMail he receives, but on occasion he receives a message in his inbox that makes him smile. “Every once and I while I get an eMail because a second grader wrote something in Google Drive and they shared it with me—and not because they were working on something with me, but because they wrote something and they were proud of it and they wanted to share it with me,” Callahan said.

It’s moments like these that comprise Callahan’s greater argument for using iPads in the classroom. Next year, his Burlington Public School district in Massachusetts will become entirely one-to-one. In the past two, he has helped implement iPads gradually: the first year with fourth and fifth grade, and this year with first grade. On a given day, Callahan can walk the halls and see the effects: first graders researching the solar system by watching videos on their devices, fourth graders using math apps to practice skills, a fifth grade class writing in Google Drive. In all of this, Callahan bears witness to the ways iPads foster curation and connection—both in the digital realm and in the physical world.

“Part of the way [the iPad] has helped build community is that it’s been a really great learning experience for teachers and students, especially in the first year, when we were piloting. They were all in it together,” Callahan said.…Read More