13 Reasons why you should choose iPads in Primary Schools

1. Apps - With over 2.2 million apps designed especially for the iPad and growing, just about every subject, learning style and year level is covered.

2. Students love them - Students believe that iPad can help them to research more efficiently.

3. Improving literacy - Voice recording on the iPad can help to improve the reading fluency of students.

4. Creating and Sharing - By using the iPad, Air Drop and Air Play, teachers and students can wirelessly share content with each other and show it on a larger screen for viewing.

5. Battery Life - With over 10 hours, the iPad definitely has plenty of battery life to get through the school day.

6. Mobility - iPads were built to be mobile, they are light, powerful and with the right case durable too.

7. Ease of Use - The iPad is extremely easy to use right out of the box. The iOS is very well organized has everything you need, and it works!

8. Security - Apple has created the most secure operating system available on any web-connected device. Downloading apps is secure and the iOS provides excellent security.

9. Video - Through various apps, video lessons and even video chat using Face-time students can create interaction.

10. Students’ needs - There are settings and hundreds of apps specifically designed for students with special needs that help them to enhance their learning experience.

11. Enviro Friendly - iPads save on paper. Everything from handouts, tests, presentations and textbooks can now be delivered to everyone by iPad.

12 - No Age Limit - Students these days use mobile devices from an early age, some as early as 1 or 2 years old! By the time they are in school, it is their second nature to use iPads.

13. Preparing for the Future - Students today need to be technology literate. iPads play a huge role in preparing our students for university and eventually their future.

The Best Apps to Create Content

Book Creator

Creating iBooks made easy

The simplest way for your students to create their own interactive iBooks, right on the iPad. Book Creator creates personalized stories, and arranges pictures and art into powerful eBooks. Watch your students’ imagination run free!

Explain Everything

Interactive Whiteboard

Explain Everything is an easy-to-use design, screen casting, and interactive whiteboard app with real-time collaboration that lets you animate, record, annotate, collaborate, and explore ideas, knowledge and understanding. Explain Everything provides teachers and students an opportunity to share thinking, reflect upon knowledge building, and assess both products and processes of learning..

iMovie

Give your movie a professional look

With iMovie students can create and edit movies on the iPad. User friendly, iMovie makes it easy to turn their videos into polished films.

iMovie works by importing your videos and then allowing you to cut and paste bits of it together, much as you would with a word processing application. Adding soundtracks is a breeze, while images can be just as easily imported from the Photos app. There is also a Voiceover button to allow you to easily add narration.

GarageBand

Make music like a pro

GarageBand is a fully equipped music creation studio — with a complete sound library that includes instruments, presets for guitar and voice, and an incredible selection of session drummers and percussionists. It's intuitive, design makes it easy to learn, play, record, create and share your hits like a pro.

Create don’t just Consume

There have been many discussions about iPads just being toys for consuming videos, photos, music and text. One has to look at all the angles to realize that most people use the iPad mostly to consume media and only to a smaller part to create and publish content especially to social media sites.

The main issue is the ratio of Consumption vs Creation. In education, the production process is very import. There are a number of Apps that allow students to make something unique and “from scratch”.

Even with iPads students are often just consuming and not creating. Many times one of the main factors behind this is, they can find things that already exist which are much tidier than what they can create. Therefore, they would rather consume and remix than try to do things from the beginning.

Both consumption and creation are at times necessary. The aim is to strive for creation and not consumption in education. This means that assessments should favour creation and the process of creating over the quality that can be more visually appealing from consuming and remixing.

We cannot expect students to produce a great video, website, e-book, explain everything, etc. early on in their educational experience. It takes hours of practice to master things, and most of the time we just want students to experience new ways of working and thinking.

Whenever schools are looking at iPads in their students hands, they need to look at teaching them the skills to create original content. Education it is about the process not the product. It is also about encouraging creative energy. This energy can inspire a new generation of learners to take risks and prepare themselves to an unknown future.

Must Have Accessories

Essentials for the modern learning space

Protective Case

Protect your iPads

A shockproof case helps students to hold and carry their iPad. A good case will also protect the iPad from damage if dropped.

Tripod

Give your movies the professional look

A steady camera is essential when filming or taking photos. A useful tripod needs to be sturdy but also flexible enough to hold an iPad firmly.

Apple TV

Share your screen with the class

The Apple TV makes it possible to Air Play wirelessly from the iPad to a larger screen.

Sync Box

Set up and power multiple iPads

Charges and synchronizes up to 16 iPads at the same time. This is an essential tool if setting up and updating multiple iPads using configurator.

Robots in Education

By ITfish 2018

UBTECH's Jimu Robot Meebot robot kit

Create a humanoid robot

Program it with the free Jimu Robot app on your iPhone or iPad. The kit's six robotic servo motors give your robot smooth, life-like movement. And an amazing array of interlocking pieces snap together to build pre-designed animal characters or anything else you can imagine.

Use the easy-to-follow 3D animated instructions on the Jimu Robot free app to build your MeeBot. Then employ the app’s intuitive programming function to devise an endless sequence of actions for him. Or you can use Swift to write your own code to configure and control MeeBot.

When you’re done, you can capture photos or videos of MeeBot in action and share them with the JIMU Robot Community where you can see and “like” other robotic creations from Jimu Robot enthusiasts around the world.

mBot Ranger

STEM educational robot

Designed to help children explore and learn about robotics; it's also just plain fun. The mBot Ranger makes use of precision metal components and a pre-assembled Arduino controller board to build three different robots; Land Raider, a tank-like rover; Nervous Bird; a two-wheeled self-balancing robot; and Dashing Raptor, a three-wheeled racer.
The mBot Ranger can be programmed using Scratch, a graphical programming language that allows you to build up complex programs by dragging programming blocks into place. You can also delve into more advanced C language-based programming using the Arduino controller.
Makeblock includes all the necessary tools in the box, so you won’t find yourself running to the hardware store just to complete the assembly.
Recommended age: 8 and up

Boe-Bot

STEM educational robot

It's an advanced robotics platform that allows for 50 modifications to the robot, including building new sensors using the included breadboard, a method of wiring up circuit elements that doesn't require soldering.
The Boe-Bots are available in different configurations based on the control board included, either an Arduino or a BASIC Stamp. Both include the ability to be controlled using multiple programming languages. The Boe-Bot robots are well designed and well documented, with detailed explanations of each major component as well as each sensor. The electronic breadboard lets you easily design and wire up new components, and there's a large collection of add-on products that work with Boe-Bot.
Recommended age: 13 and up

Rokit Smart

11-in-1 robotics kit

It includes motors, circuit boards, frame components, and microcontrollers, as well as the tools you'll need to assemble any of the 11 robots that can be created.

Although the number of components and the amount of assembly may seem daunting, the online guides, tutorials, and videos that walk you through creating any of the 11 robots make the process easy enough for most grade school kids, with a touch of adult help.
Rokit Smart is a good choice for those just starting out, with a desire to learn about all aspects of robotics, including mechanical design and assembly, electronics, and programming.
Recommended age: 9 and up