When asked about the new iPad program at the Day School at Baltimore Hebrew, one child responded, “I love them! They make learning so 2011.”
From kindergarten to 8th grade, students and teachers are engaged in a new style of learning using a new classroom tool, the Apple iPad. Last spring, the Day School at Baltimore Hebrew took advantage of an offer from the Center for Jewish Education (CJE) to purchase a set of iPads, a synch cart, and apps for the school. After a marathon professional workshop in August, the iPads were rolled out during the first week of school.
Students quickly got up to speed using the hand-held devices, making documentaries on the birth of the universe, introducing themselves to each other with recordings and interviews, discovering their homes on maps, creating graphs, studying math and vocabulary, and writing letters in Hebrew to friends in Israel.
“The children are loving the iPads, and of course are more tech savvy than the faculty, but we are learning together," says Head of school Gerri Chizeck. "We are making sure that they are not just a gadget but something that increases collaboration, creativity and problem solving abilities. We also can personalize and differentiate curriculum with them.”
What do the kids think? Here are a few comments from 7th and 8th graders:
- “They are really fun and portable. It’s great to have access to the Internet right at your desk. And cause we share them, I get to see the cute photos and things the 1st grader who shares my iPad made.”
- “We adapt to new ways of learning- more fun, more technical, more interesting.”
- “It’s good for our minds that we learn to use different technologies and tools, learning how to use them while learning material.”
- “We can teach our parents who have them all the great things you can do.”
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