Sunday, March 16, 2014

iLearn Anywhere - 500 iPads deployed to Yr 4 students in 8 schools

This year is the start of an exciting new iPad project in the Catholic Education Diocese of Parramatta (CEDP).

Called the The ‘iLearn Anywhere’ Project, we are planning to:
  • identify ways of enhancing student learning outcomes in Literacy and Numeracy when using iPads as a digital learning tool in English, Mathematics and other key learning areas.
  • inform future best practice in teaching and learning in technology rich environments in primary classrooms
  • explore the potential value of extending digital learning to the home environment.

Targeted participating group
As part of this project, CEDP is providing iPad Airs to (500) students in Year 4 of eight selected primary schools. They will each have access to the iPad Air for their personal educational use at school and at home to support their learning.  The project will continue over 3 years from Year 4 (2014) and right through to Year 5 (2015) and Year 6 (2016).


The project will provide:
  • A grade set of iPads for each participating school. These will include protective cases and a base selection of Apps
  • Professional learning support and resources for teachers to assist them to successfully incorporate the use of the iPad into classroom learning and teaching. Professional Learning opportunities will include face to face professional learning as well as in- classroom support and online courses. Teachers will also form in a Professional Learning Community where they will share knowledge and experiences with one another with inter-school visits and also through their contributions to this Blog.
  • A selected set of educational Apps, for all students and their teachers, deployed to the iPad. The apps selected are generally content free and focus on allowing students to compose rather than simply consume content.
  • Opportunities for parents to be engaged with their child’s learning. Parents will be fully informed of the details of the program and how they can support their child in using the iPad appropriately at home.
  • The project will also engage with participating students their teachers and parents in gathering research evidence to evaluate the effectiveness of the 1-1 ipad use in Stage 2 classrooms.
Current status of the project
  • An iLearn Anywhere Briefing has been held for all school leaders and Year 4 teachers
  • Site visits have been made to participating schools by CEDP staff to brief schools, scan the environment and discuss potential challenges.
  • iPads have been deployed to the schools
  • All Schools have developed iPad user agreements and assessed their current cyberwise policies as well as assessing their technology infrastructure and learning environment readiness.
  • Parent information nights have been held by schools to inform parents of their involvement
  • An ‘iLearn anywhere’ website has been developed to provide resources.
  • The first professional learning day will be held next week on Tuesday 18 March.
This blog will provide regular updates of the project as they happen.  Schools will also post updates here.

See the slides from the iLearn Anywhere briefing below:

29 comments:

  1. Thank you for a very informative day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for all the great PD :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is an exciting opportunity for the children and teachers at OLMC. Last week the children got their iPads and had a boot camp where they got to know their iPad and set up some organisational structures on their iPad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like the idea of the boot camp. Can you share?

      Delete
  4. This is a fantastic initiative that will allow teachers access to professional learning about effective use of technology to drive the curriculum and student learning. It's very exciting to be a part of this program.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Today was a fantastic day of learning and collaboration......an excellent day of professional learning where the processes and organisation of the day were well thought out and practical for us to take back to the classroom.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Our school is very excited about the iLearn project! We have our parent information night tomorrow night which will be very informative on parents perspectives of the project. We will keep you posted on its success!

    ReplyDelete
  7. We are really excited about this wonderful learning project. Students, parents and staff very excited. Great opportunity for OLMC.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Students are looking forward to receiving the iPads tomorrow. Today has been worthwhile, we have gotten a lot of ideas that we will be implementing with our Year Fours in the up coming weeks.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Today's learning has been fantastic. A great pace and I love the collaboration approach. Lisa and Nicole have outlined a great deal of different apps and ways to incorporate them into the literacy block in a productive way. The students are going to love using the iPads to learn. JCoope

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's an exciting adventure to be apart of... The students are looking forward to it and we have our parent night tomorrow night.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm really looking forward to utilising some of the ideas we have discussed in our meetings. My professional learning so far has been great and I know my students are all thrilled with the iLearn project as well

    ReplyDelete
  12. We are looking forward to helping the year four children unleash their potential by creating and composing with iPads. We are looking forward to the teacher journey also

    ReplyDelete
  13. We had a great turn out at our parents night . Parents were keen to be involved in their children's learning though the iLearn project.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is such an exciting opportunity for the students and teachers of year 4 to enhance and individualise student learning in a fun and interactive way.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thank you for today. I look forward to using some of the ideas shared today in my classroom. Suzette

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you very much for a wonderful day of learning and your support throughout the project. Last night we ran a successful parent night and within the week we are looking to rollout the iPads. I am excited and keen to start using apps such as iMovie, sock puppets, strip designer within my literacy block. As the children will now have their own devices I am sure the classroom will be filled with creativity, collaboration and engaged learning.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The reading reinforced the fact that it is curriculum integration not technology integration that we need to aim for. Apps are the tools that support the curriculum and pedagogy. They don't precede the curriculum design. The aim is to provide a workflow through the apps to support learning and foster student creativity.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have enjoyed the challenges set today at the iLearn workshop. Working with the group in a very collaborative way.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Watching the students the first morning after they received their iPad's gave me high hopes for improving both engagement and the learning outcomes for the students in our cohort.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you for today. I look forward to using many of the ideas shared today.

    ReplyDelete
  21. A great day with lots of useful apps that we can take back to school and implement with the kids. Looking forward to tomorrow night when we have our parent information session.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Today was a fantastic learning day. Thank you Lisa and Nicole. We have learnt about a number of exciting and useful apps that help students learn in an engaging environment. The students will enjoy learning with iPads during the Literacy block.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The iLearn project is a very exciting venture and I look forward to hearing about the great things our year 4 students are doing on their iPads. It is great to see the project is well supported with resources and professional learning. The buzz in the room from today's PL is evident and It is obvious the teachers in the room are keen to implement effective use of iPads into their classrooms.

    ReplyDelete
  24. What an exciting project to be apart of. Thoroughly enjoyed the day, equipping teachers so that student learning can be greatly enhanced in the classroom.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Our school is getting ready to launch this project with our parent information night tomorrow night. All our students are very excited and can't wait to be apart of this wonderful project!

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.