Having homeschooled my seven year old now since the beginning of lockdown I’m certainly thankful for the iPad. Some Sydney Catholic schools have embraced iPad technology to aid in their children’s learning. One such school is St Thomas in the Southwestern Suburbs where the school is located in a low socioeconomic community, representing 50 different languages. 73% of pupils are from non – English speaking backgrounds. During the pandemic last year and this year they have turned to the iPad to flourish against all odds.
Michelle McKinnon, principle of St Therese Catholic primary school states ‘ it gives students the freedom to explore and express their ideas that makes the best sense to them. That could be in writing, as an audio report, via a video presentation, or even an animation they create themselves.’
I’m a fan of the ePM Reader collection, an online library full of books at different levels which is interactive, the students can press on a word they don’t know and it is read to them. My daughter is currently making videos of herself making lego that she sends to her cousins in the UK. Not only is she communicating with her cousin but she is learning about different ways we can express our ideas, and she is learning to take her own video footage.
McKinnon continues ‘I’ve been in classrooms for 30 years – a tool is only as good as the teacher using it, so professional development for our teachers was also critical to any change we sought.’ With parents acting as teachers we have all had to learn a few new skills as we try and impart knowledge to our little ones. I struggled at the beginning trying to assess the stage my daughter was at, we got there in the end and I’m relieved when she shows an interest in tech, and is using it to her advantage.
SydneySettler 