A day with Dr Kristy Goodwin

You know that excitement you get, the fluttering butterflies that make you smile even whilst you are sitting all alone in the car at a set of traffic lights? That excitement you feel when you realise the possibilities? I have that feeling right now! Working with Dr Kristy Goodwin has just opened my eyes to a fantastic new world of possibilities - so much more than I had ever imagined!

If you haven't heard of Dr Kristy Goodwin before, I suggest you look her up on Every Chance to Learn. She is an expert on how iPads can be used as an effective educational tool from her experiences as a classroom teacher and technology researcher.

An Intensive iPad Workshop with Dr Kristy Goodwin from Every Chance to Learn

One of the great perspectives Kristy has about iPads comes from her knowledge about neuroscience and technology, and the implications of this when it comes time to selecting Apps for iPad devices. With over a million Apps available, it is a crazy labyrinth of options that we need to carefully navigate to ensure that iPads are being used to "create content, not consume it" or "create a digital replica" of a pencil and paper activity.

One of the important things an App needs to be able to let students do is CREATE content, and to do this educators must select CONSTRUCTIVE Apps. Some research into this has shown that only a measly 2% of Apps found in the Education category of iTunes fit into the constructive category. The vast majority of Apps fit into an instructive category and are what we can affectionately call 'Tap Apps.' These take on more of a rote learning approach (e.g. tap the sight word, maths drills, tap the letter that makes the sound...), yes they have all the bells and whistles to get the students engaged - but we run a high risk that those visual delights will be the takeaway message, not the key learning concept.

Kristy suggests at the end of her workshops educators select three Apps to master (before going on to tackle another three) so here are the three I've decided to focus on mastering and why:

1. Tellagami - An App for creating Avatars. Students get to personalise their Avatar and can use the microphone function of the iPad to get their Avatar to 'talk'. I can see the potential this App has for students to be able to explain their learning, make presentations and even read for them in a non-confrontational manner.

2. Adobe Voice - A very easy App for youngsters to use, where they can choose from a bank of images or insert their own images (an artwork or a photo) and then use it to record their voice to explain or present. It then collates it all into a seamless animation to watch and listen back. Great for kids that need a bit more practise - it's so easy to delete and redo voice recordings!

3. Popplet - Allows you to make mind maps using text, pictures and videos created by the user. A great tool to develop learning maps and visually demonstrate learning connections.