Soooo. I had to blog right away. I'm watching CNN News right now and they are talking about the Ipad.
CNN was doing an overview of the life of the inventor of the Ipad, Steve Jobs. I found what they were saying about him all to be very interesting. They went on to talk about how he introduced the Ipad and how more and more apps became available. This seemed to all connect a little to my last blog so I thought I would talk about the rest of the program a little more.
CNN went on to play interviews with Jobs explaining his thoughts, ideas, and lifestyle.
What I found the most fascinating, and the reason I grabbed my computer to blog, was how the Ipad apps were being used in classroom. CNN explained that Autism and some special Apps for the Ipad were being used to access their knowledge and learn large amounts about their students. There is a school that was used for this research, and this school is for children with special needs, including a large number of them being Autistic. Before they showed how the Ipad and apps were being used by the students I thougth about the class I was in and how I used the Ipad. I realized that I only really used it with the students who spoke Spanish and had trouble communicating with me. I also realized that they had the same problems as an Autistic student would, communitcation. I went on to listen to the program and found out that the apps were helping the students and teachers communicate greatly. One of the apps mentioned that made a huge difference was ProloQuo2go.
This app helped the students communicate to great lengths! Before the Ipad was introduced the students were distracted and not paying attention. Right away after the students were introduced to the Ipad, they wouldn't look away from it! They knew exactly how to use it and how to communicate. They could share how they were feeling, what they wanted, and what they needed. Communication seems to be a luxury to them, and to get to communicate through a cool Ipad tool is a fun way for them to do this.
I was blown away by the Ipad's ability to help an autistic student communicate so clearly. When the teachers were intereviewed to get their feedback and to hear how the students were responding they couldn't stop raving about how the Ipad was helping them! They weren't sure what it was about the Ipad that intrigued the students so much, but they had a hunch. They went on to say that the Ipad apps that they were using were very constant, predictable, had good wait time with great pictures and interaction with the students. The teachers themselves working with a pencil and paper weren't so predictable and not as interesting. If you know autism students, then you know that they like their procedures and routines, and th app was set up to work with this kind of student.
Anyyyyways...I just had to share right away!
I also found online a website that provides a spreadsheet of a ton of Apps for Autism students and reviews about each of them! It's quite a list, which suprised me!
This is the website: http://www.squidalicious.com/2011/01/ipad-apps-for-autism-spreadsheet-of.html
This is the Spreadsheet from the website: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AjbIta8OTS0KdHRMVWx0Q3pvOWRXRXBfd01jc3lqakE&hl=en&single=true&gid=0&output=html
It's like the apps are unlimited with what you can do with them! I love it! I want an Ipad!
Definitely a good idea. It is amazing how quickly technology is increasing tendencies of universalism throughout, well, everywhere. I think that the earlier and more frequently these apps can be used for persons on the autistic spectrum, the more there will be more overall achievement for them within their lifetimes.
ReplyDeletewow!!ipad is really useful though it is a little bit expensive. it is a great invention that can help autistic children. Why autistic children would be attracted by ipad?? that is really a big question.
ReplyDeleteYour blog post reminds me of a discussion our teacher had in class, in which she noted how educators tend to re-purpose technology for educational use. I've heard of schools going one to one in the classroom with iPads, as they see them as more useful than laptops. I don't necessarily know if they are more useful than a laptop, but they are certainly helpful in the classroom with the learning process and assessment. I think the iPad has unlimited potential for the classroom as more and more apps are released. This is definitely something to keep an eye on!
ReplyDeleteI watched this same program! I think it was 60 Minutes! Anyway, I had the same reaction and in fact, I downloaded the apps right away that they mentioned. Your spreadsheet is quite a find - thanks for sharing those with us. It was a very convincing report in terms of a testimonial of this approach working with autistic students.
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