“This week, NPR Ed’s Eric Westervelt visited a special education classroom in New York City where iPads are being used in a novel way,” Anya Kamenetz reports for NPR. “Students with a range of severe disabilities, including developmental, mental, physical and autism spectrum disorders, are using apps alongside traditional instruments to help express themselves through music.”
“Teachers there saw improvements not only in students’ musical knowledge and performance skills but also in their motivation, communication skills and the strength of their social bonds. The changes showed up in everything from little things, like saying hello to each other, to big things, like dreaming of a future as a touring musician,” Kamenetz reports. “Eric, of course, noted in his piece that the evidence here is mostly anecdotal. But we wondered: what do researchers say about whether the iPad is contributing meaningfully to kids’ classroom experience?”
“The published studies of classroom iPad use – in special education, specifically — are eye-opening. But not because they’re ‘clear.’ Because they’re all so… tiny. The number of studies is small,” Kamenetz reports. “Their sample sizes are miniscule. And the measurable effects are pretty small too.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Not enough data, yet.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
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Can’t begin to imagine an ulterior motive behind this…
And, these are individual lives we are talking about here. Anecdotal doesn’t mean it’s not real.
Sometimes people can’t understand that one solution in a special education classroom doesn’t work for ALL the students at that time. Anything that can motivate or open an opportunity for any of these students is an immeasurable step in each students ability to cope and navigate through their lives. Until you know someone that has special needs, you do not under stand that EVERY improvement and tiny step is struggled for by the special needs person and those that love and care for them.
To Eric Westervelt, it is most likely just a story. Until he interviews and gets to understand their life and family, he isn’t really understanding what he is writing about.
Number 5 is alive!
I have a special needs daughter. In addition to the iPad that the school gives her to use from time to time, we have given her an iPad 2. Besides being able to interact with new modes of learning, when she needs to take a break from interacting with people (overstimulation) the iPad is an easy means of escape. We definitely consider it a valuable learning and parenting tool.
One of my kiddos is special needs as well. 16 year old, cannot speak, cognitively impaired.
Although he can push the buttons on a TV remote, he just gets things to an unusable state (those remotes are stored out of his reach). But he can get around on his iPad. He will navigate to video apps as well as special ed apps (like matching) and some very simple games. Its awesome for him to be able to interact with something like this.
He is rough on them. Even with some heavy duty cases, he is already on his third iPad2. But given what they go through, I am surprised at how durable they are and they are worth every penny.
Its also a light duty alternative to his Vantage+ AAC device using the LAMP Words for Life app.
The Ipad is amazing for education, But learning on an ipad need to be teaching driven. Ipad cant don the thinking for u.
A spell checker would help your education.
Besides, many teachers are there for the paycheque, not to teach.
Love those unions.
My autistic cousin and his iPad are inseparable.
We are not in need of a study, as much as in need of a tool (eg- website, training videos) to disseminate the best way to integrate iPads into special needs classrooms. People are doing amazing things, but i don’t think those practices are spreading to all schools . . . As a general ed. teacher who has substituted for special ed, here is what I have observed in SPED classes with iPads: 1) Some special ed. teachers are not tech savvy, so they are given recommended apps, and then they expect the app to do the work. 2) They are not sure how to integrate the app into their curriculum, or how to coordinate multiple apps
I work within a geriatric setting and consistently use the iPad and iPhone for learning and creative projects. The use of the iPad with those that have alzheimers/dementia has been amazing. Here is a project that saw our residents collaborate in a very innovative musical project using new technologies.
http://www.acrossthelines.ca
This is what happens when anything is tailored to the needs of the ONE. The old days of one models fits all is phasing out. Services, and tools that are customizable, easy to use and secure will results in excellent people to shine and teachers (Good teachers and I also think Nurses) will win big here.
Unfortunately, getting funding to do large scale studies on this is incredibly difficult at the moment. These are costly and have significant confounds (think SES differences between children in schools that can afford iPads and the teachers who know how to use them, and schools that use conventional PECS). If this is important to you, please contact your gov’t representative and ask them to increase the NIH budget!
Special education classes used to get on the short bus to go home.
My how things have changed.
reading through the original article and comments I get the idea that how effective the iPad is depends on the ‘facilitators’ (like the teacher, parent) . If the facilitator is tech clueless as MANY teachers are the iPad unfortunately will be under-utilized.
Before people flame me, my wife has a Masters in Education (from Chicago) and so I’ve an idea about it. Many teachers come from ARTS backgrounds and others if they were tech savvy won’t be in the teaching line (you can earn more working in a bank or something). Several years ago my foster kid had to help his teacher unscrew her school PC (as he did often). Many teachers can’t even navigate the internet, how can they supervise dozens of iPads?
we have to UPGRADE TEACHERS to 2.0 BUT..
REMEMBER years back Steve Jobs made a comment that we should ‘fire incompetent teachers’ that ‘ our children are too valuable a resource to risk’ (or words to that effect). That created a hate firestorm with teachers union asking him to apologize….
Changing teachers, the Unions, the System is harder than buying iPads.
(BTW we were in Singapore last year, apparently iPad being used in some high schools. Singapore is a hyper competitive society with standard of living equal to USA. If USA doesn’t educate its kids well other countries will pull ahead… )
Before we’ll be able to educate our kids well, we need to educate our electorate. Every American needs to vote every election for the foreseeable future. Right now we are being taken over by rabid ideologues who are taking advantage of lethargy in the actual middle of America. Until that gets fixed, it’s a downhill slide.
Yes, there is very little research.
David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA Email: dchittenden@gmail.com Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 Sent from my iPhone
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iPads are amazing tools for special needs children and adults. Right now the status quo is to use overpriced $6k devices that are no better than iPads (and are much less versatile and durable), but have gotten approval to be subsidized by insurance companies. Ridiculously, iPads must be paid for by the special ed programs or the parents in most cases.
Another great heads up by Fred Mertz
When I use an iPad to teach kids they don’t go “Wow!” because to them it’s what they’re grown up with. And it’s what they’re playing with at home as well. As such, I don’t expect them to learn even more because I’m using an iPad. It’s just another teaching tool.