I have been pondering your challenges as you encourage more
teachers to try iPads with kids. I wonder if years ago when kids first started
bringing crayons to school there wasn't some of the same hesitation to include
them in the classroom. There was, and still is, a kind of magic associated with
new crayons—the potentials they offer, the very newness of them. It is almost
impossible not to open the box immediately and get started. iPads, in a very
general way, are much like that box of crayons. For kids they are irresistible
in their newness, their potential and their mystery. Probably when crayons
first came to school many teachers thought them frivolous, a waste of valuable
teaching time and they saw no way for these colorful sticks to promote learning.
Nowadays, every child has crayons! Classrooms use those 8, 16, 24 and even 64
different colors in so many deeply educational ways: recalling a field trip,
detailing the fall trees on the playground, mixing the colors, noting the
nuances in the various shades of blues, greens and oranges. Kids illustrate
stories they have heard or read, predicting the outcome, adding a new ending,
becoming authors themselves. New characters emerge through drawings. Crayons
stimulate kids’ thinking not just in the regular classroom but in special
classes, too. Kids use stick figures in P.E. to demonstrate a variety of
activities and to illustrate how to resolve conflicts that invariably arise.
Crayons allow kids to show how music makes them feel, what an instrument looks
like or sounds like—how many keys or strings or pipes. Colorful renditions of
nouns or emotions make learning another language easier and certainly more
visual. Crayons are scientific, too, producing different results when they
melt, freeze, blend or drip or whether they are used vertically or
horizontally. Crayons show up throughout the school. In the nurse’s office they allow kids to
depict how an accident happened or hostilities got started. They also provide a
way to get through a difficult time—after throwing up or scraping a knee,
crayons can help the child feel better—a wonderful tool for soothing physical
and emotional trauma.
Think of an iPad as a super potent box of crayons--a small container full of
potential, innovation, color, sound and magic. An iPad doesn't need a set of
instructions or a disclaimer. Just hand one to a child and see what that young
student discovers. That iPad can sing, draw, store information, play games,
show how to do a card trick or challenge a student to solve a puzzle. It can literally
open doors for children, and windows as
well. It is an encourager and an abettor. It is a camera and an encyclopedia, a
dictionary and a series of tasks. Just as the box of crayons offers ways
for a child to investigate, create, experiment, record, delve, doodle, test,
affirm, examine, explore, study, probe and discover—so, too, does the iPad, but
with far more flexibility and promise—(and a higher price!) I realize there are many differences between
the two, but I think their similarities could be exploited. Neither crayons nor
iPads take the place of real experiences with a wonderful teacher. Books,
blocks, math games, excursions and collaborative projects are the essence of
education. We recognize the limits of crayons –they don’t replace trips,
science experiments, singing, jumping, building, gardening, painting or curling
up with a good book. Neither do iPads. If we think of iPads as crayons
with super powers we might be more comfortable including them as another
classroom tool.
Virginia Singer
