Early Childhood Education and the iPad

I was fortunate enough last weekend to receive an invitation to the Sydney Catholic Schools Early Years Conference. I was interested because the conference was centred around creating a clear and coherent vision around Early Years pedagogy. I was also intrigued to see how the iPad fitted in with this vision. One of the sessions I attended was Technology in the Early Years - Apps and iPads by Kate Highfield a Lecturer in Early Childhood from Macquarie University Sydney. Kate suggested that we could plot apps on a educational continuum depending on where the different apps contribute to cognitive development. Instructive Apps:The first type of apps that were identified (Instructive) were those apps that were drill and practice. Manipulable Apps:The second category (Manipulable) are those apps that allow multiple responses to the app. Constructive Apps:The category that Kate was most excited about was the last. PuppetPals: FREE Create your own animated stories. StoryKit: FREE

How to organise Apps and manage restrictions for a Primary or Early Years iPad ... #ukedchat #ipaded #edtech - Enabling Environments Please note that images on this blog reflect iOS 5, however the processes remain the same. For the Summer Term I am planning to support staff at the primary school I work at with understanding the basics of using an iPad in a primary classroom. This blog post is going to act as a base for all of my advice, so it will probably change over the coming weeks. For information on managing multiple devices and purchasing app licenses, see my blog post here: I saw a blog post at EdTechLoung.com this Easter holiday which gave a huge bank of recommended Apps for Early Years and Primary Education. When I supported the staff at Tiny Tots Day Nursery with the setting up of their iPad, I offered similar advice to them. Here is how I set up the iPad in my class: Installing, grouping and managing Apps and Folders Browse AppStore’s ‘education’ category or search for apps using the search function. Applying settings and restrictions 1.

ICT in the Early Years