As I'd experienced before, pupils with low levels of literacy are able to produce more work and are far more engaged when they don't have to write. Traditionalists may be appalled at the idea of children 'not writing' but, if it's getting in the way of learning and progress then in my book it's a hindrance.
The children in my project receive extra support for English and Maths and current attainment levels range from national curriculum level 1-3. When they write, it is difficult for them to express their ideas, difficult for them to sustain writing paragraphs of information, torture for them to write for an entire lesson.
With the iPads, they can get beyond the remember and understand stages of learning to the application and analysis stages much faster therefore demonstrating higher order skills that writing alone hasn't achieved.
I was careful to check understanding and make sure that they weren't just copying and pasting information but they could answer questions about their research too.
Writing's not dead, neither would I want it to be, it just has its place and uses as does tablet technology.
The children in my project receive extra support for English and Maths and current attainment levels range from national curriculum level 1-3. When they write, it is difficult for them to express their ideas, difficult for them to sustain writing paragraphs of information, torture for them to write for an entire lesson.
With the iPads, they can get beyond the remember and understand stages of learning to the application and analysis stages much faster therefore demonstrating higher order skills that writing alone hasn't achieved.
I was careful to check understanding and make sure that they weren't just copying and pasting information but they could answer questions about their research too.
Writing's not dead, neither would I want it to be, it just has its place and uses as does tablet technology.