Monday, March 28, 2011

Welcome to the Middletown iPad Project

Congratulations! If you're visiting our blogsite, chances are that you're the lucky recipient of an iPad provided to you by the Special Education department. We're so excited to have had the opportunity to buy 20 iPads to distribute to our intervention specialists for use with their students.

Primary Objectives

To determine:

How the iPad supplements the curriculum and can be used to provide interventions to students with disabilities
How 'digital textbooks' can be integrated in the classroom to accommodate various learners' needs
If the iPad is a tool that can effectively engage today's learners and enhance their academic success

Secondary Objectives

Does the iPad increase:

the use of interventions and accommodations in the general education classroom?
student motivation to learn?
student attendance?

Timeline

June 2011 - June 2012 ~ Implementation

June 2011 ~ Distribution of iPads/Teacher Training

June 2012 ~ Final Evaluation from Students and Teachers

July 2012 ~ Final Report

Questions or comments? Please contact Deborah Turner via email at dturner@middletowncityschools.com

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About the blog...

Technology in the classroom excites me, and it doesn't get any better than watching special education teachers and related services providers use it to engage special needs students in the learning process.

Middletown City Schools has distributed iPads to special education and regular education teachers, physical education teachers, music teachers, preschool special education teachers, teachers of the visually impaired, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists in the district. We recently deployed iPads to our school psychologists and they are using the Psych Tools App to collect data during student observations. I believe we've just begun to scratch the surface of possibilities with our iPads.

I developed this blog so that teachers across the district could share favorite iPad apps they are using with their students - our own virtual Professional Learning Community. There are SOOOO many apps out there - some are fantastic, and quite frankly, some are garbage too. Have an app that you love? Please share it - because chances are others will love it too!

Thanks for reading - and PLEASE share your knowledge!

About the author...

My name is Deborah Turner and I'm a student services coordinator for the Middletown City Schools. I've been a special education teacher, school psychologist and for the last 14 years I've supervised special education programs in a few local districts.

My primary role in Middletown is to ensure that the district provides a QUALITY continuum of services to meet the needs of our diverse special education population. Secondary to that I enjoy taking on special projects, like this iPad venture. I also lead the positive behavioral supports initiative, and am working to promote RtI. It's a busy time in Middletown.....

Middletown's iPad Project

Physical Education