Holywell Primary School

Hertfordshire Development Centre Page 1 of 4/Good Practice - Case Study

wwwthegridorgu!/goodpractice/casestudies/ Holywell Primary School
"se of #pple iPad $a%let Computers in &oundation Stage
School 'o (4)
"se of #pple iPad $a%let Computers in &oundation Stage
Holywell Primary* situated in +atford* has appro,imately -(. pupils on role in the / 0
11 age range Great emphasis has %een put on developing the 1C$ provision as a tool
for learning in the school during the -212/11 and -211/1- school years During this
time the school received additional
support from the Hertfordshire 1C$ $eam
#s part of this development* the school
purchased / iPad ta%let computers
primarily for use in the foundation stage*
which en3oys a newly purpose %uilt unit*
opened in -212 $he Headteacher and
1C$ su%3ect leader were !een to e,plore
the potential of the touch-interface of the
iPad for ena%ling the children to access
this type of 1C$ and the wide range of
early learning games and activities
availa%le on this platform
Device Management
$he #pple iPad is a ta%let-form computer with )(4 5diagonal6 touch-screen $he model
used has wifi internet access and a 17g% hard dis! &ull information a%out these
devices can %e found on the #pple we%site 5see lin! a%ove6
# computer in the school office was set up with i$unes* and a school i$unes account
was created so that apps could %e downloaded to this computer and synced to the
iPads when needed # credit card is re8uired to set up an i$unes account Protective
cases were purchased for each iPad $he devices charge via mains adapters # full
charge can ta!e some time %ut %attery life is good in a new iPad 5#pple state 12 hours
of video play%ac! or 142 hours or audio play%ac! on a full charged %attery6 #t
Holywell if the %attery charge was low* the devices were plugged in to charge whilst
the children continued to use them
Use in the Nursery and Reception Unit
9efore introducing the iPads to the 'ursery and
:eception classes* a num%er of free apps were installed
to each device See the section on apps %elow for further
details of the apps used in the school Staff in the
foundation stage were given a %rief overview of how to
operate the devices and access the apps* and the
children were initially introduced to the iPads in groups of
three* with support from an adult $he children were
invited to play with some of the apps for a few minutes at a time* and were shown how
to choose their own activity from those availa%le #fter the initial introduction stage the
iPads were put out on a daily %asis on a des! area in the &oundation Stage "nit* as an
activity that the children could choose to do* amongst the many different activities
offered around the unit
Hertfordshire Development Centre Page - of 4/Good Practice - Case Study
wwwthegridorgu!/goodpractice/casestudies/ Holywell Primary School
Date; 11-/-11
Su%3ect
Coverage;
<arly learning
=ey Stages; &S/=S1
Contact
Details;
Chris Carter
chriscarter>hertsccgovu!
:elated Documents ? @in!s;
wwwholywellhertsschu!
http;//wwwapplecom/u!/ipad/
"se of #pple iPad $a%let Computers in &oundation Stage
$he children soon learned to access the devices
independently* and choose / launch the app they wanted
to use $hey were generally given the freedom to use
their app of choice* though some guided activities were
introduced where the teacher used a drawing app to
write a correctly formed letter* over which the child would
copy the letter to practise correct letter formation
Apps used in the school
+hen the pro3ect %egan* only free versions of apps were used in order to evaluate
which apps might %e successful #fter the first term of use a small num%er of apps
were purchased to e,tend the iPad use further
#pps used included;
Tozzle; a matching game in which the children
drag and match shapes* pictures* letters and
num%ers
Doodle Buddy; a painting and drawing program*
with accompanying sounds
Kids Shape Match; a simple matching game
My First Puzzles App; 4 piece picture puAAles
Lego Duplo Farm Friends; a program
encouraging young children to e,plore scenes*
which animate when different features are
touched
Shape Puzzle; simple 3igsaw-style puAAles
iLearn English; an activity to help young children
learn colours* num%ers and words
Word Match D; a game to help children learn
%asic words +ords are dragged on to their
corresponding picture
Successes
$he children were a%le to learn how to access the devices
and start their chosen apps very 8uic!ly $he intuitive
interface not only lends itself well to use %y younger children*
%ut is also pro%a%ly more reflective of the type of 1C$
interaction that will %e widespread or the norm when the
children are older* and mouse/!ey%oard input devices
%ecome replaced %y touch screen technology $hey were
very engaged %y the early learning apps installed and the
iPads are a very popular activity in the foundation stage
Children were usually happy to share the use of an iPad with
a peer* often wor!ing together on a puAAle or other activity
Challenges
9ecause the iPad has only limited security features to restrict access* the children
sometimes accidentally deleted apps $his meant that until the devices could %e
Hertfordshire Development Centre Page / of 4/Good Practice - Case Study
wwwthegridorgu!/goodpractice/casestudies/ Holywell Primary School
Screenshot from $oAAle*
developed %y 9en3amin :iegler
Screenshot from Shape PuAAle
developed %y @i Hong
"se of #pple iPad $a%let Computers in &oundation Stage
synced again with the computer in the office* that particular app would %e unavaila%le
+hilst Bup!eepC of iPads is relatively straightforward* occasionally #pple release
updates to the operating system and these can %e time consuming to apply to each
device #fter some time in the foundation stage* scratches could %e seen on the touch
screens* though these havenCt affected the performance in any way
Future development
"se of the iPads in &oundation Stage has %een considered
successful* and the school is now planning to timeta%le in slots
for the devices to %e used in years one and two as well $he
main focus of use will %e on maths s!ills* and a num%er of
simple maths apps have %een installed with this in mind
$he school have also sought to engage pupils higher up in the
school %y purchasing iPod $ouch devices $his was primarily
for use in maths %ut is rapidly e,panding to include other
curriculum areas
Hertfordshire Development Centre Page 4 of 4/Good Practice - Case Study
wwwthegridorgu!/goodpractice/casestudies/ Holywell Primary School
Screen shot from
Dungle Eaths*
developed %y Ear!
:alph