Inquiry Project: Kids and iPads

“Kids are glued to electronics.” “We’ve become too dependent on technology.” “That kid can work his way around an iPad better than his grandfather can.”

All true. However, as terrible as it is that technology has become such a great part of people’s lives, it still serves a purpose. Children now learn more from educational applications on iPads than they do from their teachers.

Many primary schools still do not integrate the use of technology into their curriculums. This is because, as studies show, most Pre-K/Kindergarten teachers do not see the use of technology to be beneficial to their students. (McMannis,Gunnewig17)

Although teachers do not use iPads in their classrooms, children are already learning through the use of iPads long before they start going to school.

In Personal Dynamic Media, Kay and Goldberg had children test out their Dynabook. Now, they do not specifically say why they chose to have children test out their ‘tablet,’ but as they describe the little girl’s experience with the tablet, one can guess that it is simply because children have more imagination. The little girl “who had never programmed before,” was immediately inspired to work with the Dynabook and even think to create a feature that allowed her to draw on the screen. Much like apps used on iPad nowadays, the girl created new features that would allow her to use different brushes to ‘paint’ on the screen. Many would think that because the little girl, (let alone anyone at that time) had never seen or used a tablet-like device, she would not know what to do with it. However, the fact that she, and other children, is completely unfamiliar with a device is the exact reason why they are able to do so much with it. They have no expectations of what it is meant to do or what it is supposed to do. Thus, they use it as they please and find and engineer different ways to use it in order to get what they want from it. For example, if a child wishes to draw on a tablet but is using an app that does not have a drawing feature what do they do? Like the girl Kay and Goldberg describe, they find their way around it and make what they want. Now, if you had given an adult a tablet in the 1970s and told them to use it, what would they do with it? (Kay,Goldberg399)

The picture above is of my two nephews. One, three years old and the other, one and a half. For the two, the iPhone is their main focus. When they are bored, tired orwant to play, the iPad and their parents’ phones are their go-to devices. My three-year old nephew (on the left), found a ‘family-finger’ counting video on YouTube when he was only two years old. There are a handful of different versions of these ‘family-finger’ videos; each version of the video features a different animal family and a different beat behind the same song. This video is how my nephew learned to count to five and also learned what a brother, sister, mother and father were.

Here is another firsthand account. Above are my two nieces, one 4 and the other 5. My niece on the left is playing a matching game that requires her to match different animals. Once she finds a match, she will receive: congratulations, the name of the animal that was matched, and the sound that particular animal makes. The app is, respectively, named Kids Can Match. This photo was taken a year ago. Today, my nieces are just as enchanted by their beloved iPads, but their app choices have shifted. My niece on the right is obsessed with MineCraft, a game that allows the user to virtually create their own world using pixelated blocks. This brings up another argument: are all apps educational or can all apps be educational? In my niece’s case, all apps are educational. Although her parent’s downloaded MineCraft for their daughter simply for her own enjoyment, my niece slowly began to figure little things out. For example, she understood that placing different blocks in different places will change the direction of the pathway she was creating and that if she placed a block just one spot to the right she would block an entrance, but if she moved it one spot to the left she could create yet another pathway, and so on. She now wants to become an architect so that she can “make real buildings like the ones on MineCraft.”

The photo above is a screenshot of when my one and a half year nephew Facetimed me from his mother’s iPad without her knowledge. Surprisingly, when his mother yelled “Hamza, no!” he was immediately able to hangup. For both the nephew shown above and my three year old nephew, they are able to control Facetime with ease because of the simplicity of the screen and the color coded buttons. The Facetime app is green and the end Facetime button is red.

This next picture shows the exact moment my sister-in-law found my nephew using her phone, Facetiming me. He immediately hung up as soon as she came into the picture. A few minutes later, his three year old brother appeared on my screen, wanting to Facetime me.

Children using iPads are attracted to the pretty colors and odd sounds the device offers. The fact that they are also able to use their hands to control the device is an added bonus. At this time in a child’s life -Pre-K to Kindergarten- children are not in control of many things. They still struggle to use eating utsensils, hold a pencil or have enough skill to color in between the lines. However, an iPad requires little effort to control. A child can go to a different screen, pick a princesses tiara or slash fruit on the popular app, Fruit Ninja, with a flick of their finger. iPads also have the magical ability to captivate the user. Both adults and children alike are glued to their iPads and completely oblivious to the world around them. However, while adults are using iPads for social media and usually non educational purposes, children, with their sponge-like brains are learning one thing after another while using their iPad.

In A Breakthrough for Josh: How Use of an iPad Facilitated Reading Improvement, Barbara McClanahan gives a entirely different perspective on the relationship between children and their iPads and looks at the iPad’s “usefulness with struggling readers or students with ADHD.” As mentioned before, the iPad lures children in with its colorful images. These same colorful images are also what keep a child captivated and glued to it for hours. Only if their parents allow, of course. The colors are what capture a child’s eye, the changing images and sudden noises are what keep them glued to it, and from this they learn. The rest is in a parent’s hands to control what their child is learning from. For example, a parent could allow their child to watch Mario Kart tutorials-because there is no risk of their being any inappropriate content- or they could download the PBS app that includes child-friendly videos and a feature that teaches kids which fruits are which and even includes the words in Spanish.

McClanahan uses Josh, a student, as an example to show the effects on children with ADHD. (McClanahan23) Now, not every child has ADHD, but the ‘ADHD qualities’ Josh portrays are common to normal, non-ADHD children, such as rocking back and forth when sitting and fidgeting.

As McClanahan says:

In fact, he (Josh’s school superintendent) even suggested using the iPad in the tutoring lesson itself…his reasoning was that, beyond the general allure that technology has for most students, the self-paced, individualized format that the iPad offered would be beneficial for Josh…On the advice of Susan Tate, one of Josh’s teachers, Kristen (Josh’s tutor) broke the tutoring sessions into two parts. In the first half of session one, Kristen tried a traditional activity using sentence strips to teach context clues, but it was unsuccessful. At the end of the short session, Kristen let Josh play a game on the iPad, one with which he was familiar. She noted that while he was working on the iPad, he sat perfectly still for at least 10 minutes and stayed totally focused on the game. (McClanahan24)

Soon enough, Josh began asking not only for the iPad, but also to do his schoolwork on the iPad. His grades and reading abilities skyrocketed. Josh’s ability to use the touchscreen to control what was happening on the screen and the automated recordings within apps that explained a concept or word and corrected Josh’s mistakes appealed to Josh and eventually helped him learn from his mistakes. The reading apps Josh used, like LeapFrog, allowed him to listen to a recording of himself reading from the online book. This helped him hear his mistakes and be able to fix them. Others believe the “higher levels of sensory stimulation using the iPad” help students, like Josh, learn in different ways that they usually would not in a classroom. (McClanahan26)

Now, this brings in the argument of how much technology is a part of our lives now and whether or not it is beneficial. Many believe that it is helpful for the time being, but as time goes on the need for technology should diminish instead of increasing. On the other hand, others believe technology is the future. In all aspects.

Either way, no studies have shown that iPads are detrimental to a student’s learning, but many show that it is extremely helpful. This is because of its simplicity. The easy motions used to control it, the overly simplified structure of the apps on the home screen display and within the apps themselves, and the high-definition photos and animations featured all allow children to easily control the device, which is exactly what children want.

As this video shows, children who have still not outgrown their adorable baby voices, are still able to easily navigate through an iPad at the drop of the hat. In the video, a father asks his son, Bridger, to show him all the cool things he can do on an iPad, like draw and identify different animals. All within the same app. In the description section under the video, the video’s creator, Mike Wilson Tunes, describes his son’s progress and growing hand-eye coordination, vocabulary and speech. (MikeWilsonTunes)

In Enhancing Student Performance Using Tablet Computers, Amelito Enriquez conducts a study that focuses on the educational progress of students once they begin using iPads in the classroom. Spoiler alert: Students whose classes used iPads, “interactive classes,” had better tests scores than regular classes. In the study conducted, Enriquez focuses on older students, but does allude to the use of educational apps. The connectivity between iPads widens a student’s ability to connect with their teacher’s lessons. An example Enriquez gives highlights this by pointing out that “students can access the instructor’s presentation and add their own annotations using Windows Journal or PowerPoint.” Now, although this does not follow the theme of Pre-K-Kindergarten students using iPads, it does show the many benefits of using an iPad in a classroom. For example, the reasons older students and toddlers like to use iPads are similar. As the study shows, students who use iPads for educational purposes “enhanced note-taking ability, improved their ability to organize class materials, and allowed them to integrate handwritten notes and course materials.” (Enriquez83) In Study 1, the class that used computer tablets in their lessons ended the year with better grades than the traditional class that did not incorporate computer tablets into their curriculum. The use of the computer tablets in class allowed students to connect with their teachers quicker and more efficiently. (Enriquiez82)

In a recent study, Lisa Kervin and Irina Verenekina looks at iPads, Digital Play and Pre-Schoolers. In this study, Kervin and Verekina gave pre-schoolers iPads and allowed their parents to watch them use the iPads given to them. Most parents included in the study restricted their children’s everyday use of technology in general. As the study allowed the children to use iPads and smartphones, parents began to notice how their children interacted with other children and despite the fact that they were using their own devices, most of the children still interacted with each other. (Kervin,Verenekina10) One parent also noticed that even if they were not using the iPad in a strictly educational way, “children are capable of engaging in such a sophisticated digital play as creating their own puppet show, with their own characters and their own story.” (Kervin,Verekina11) In the study, Kervin and Verenekina allowed the pre-schoolers to use two different apps including, Puppet Pals and Pocket Pound. Both apps are not specifically educational, but do push children to use their problem solving skills as well as help them practice using iPads and other computer tablets. This practicing noticeably helped children in a positive way by pushing them learn new skills. The iPads provided the “pre-schoolers with the opportunity of active and sustained engagement in imaginative play.” (Kervin,Verenekina17)

As iPads become more popular, people are noticing that they are more helpful to students, especially young students. The simple design of the iPad itself, but the more complex set-up of the apps themselves make it easier and more fun for children to use. Both educational and non educational apps push children to problem solve. While apps like MineCraft and Pocket Pound, a app that allows children to make their own koi pond, push children’s already grand imagination even further, apps like Kids can Match help children learn the fundamentals. Children are beginning to use iPads and other forms of technology more and more, but contrary to popular belief, their obsession with technology is not entirely detrimental. In many ways, it is extremely helpful in molding them into better learners and problem solvers.