RCS World Languages Department Launches iPad Pilot Program for Grades 7-9

Currently, iPads are being used to enhance classroom learning at RCS in both French and Spanish. Mrs. Perry's fellow language teachers - Mrs. Pleitez, Mrs. Englis, and Mrs. Lespes - also report that integrating iPads into their classrooms has increased students’ engagement in lessons and given them a new way to interact with, and immerse themselves in, the language and culture they are studying.

A sample of the applications currently being tested as part of this pilot program include:

Kahoot! -- Kahoot! is a student response system for creating and administering unique, game-like quizzes. Questions, along with answer choices, are projected onto the classroom SmartBoard while students submit responses from an iPad. It is a compelling and easy way to engage students in pre-assessment activities that give students immediate feedback and allows the teacher to see which material requires extra review before a formal assessment. It is so motivating that students can't wait to play.

ThingLink -- ThingLink for iPad lets you create interactive images instantly. It is a great alternative method of presenting information on a topic. Students can link text, audio clips, video clips, photos, maps, and other information to a single picture, organizing their references. These “ThingLinks” can be created by the teacher ahead of time and uploaded to the homework portal as well. They can also be displayed and shown on the classroom SmartBoard.

Sphere -- Sphere allows students to look at photographs taken in a 360 degree fashion. As they turn right with the iPad, they look to the right in the photo. As they tilt it up, they see the sky. Sphere allows students to feel transported to just about anywhere in the world. Through Sphere, students can visit a street in Paris, a castle in Madrid, a sunny beach in Mexico, or a snow covered bridge in Belgium. This allows for a fantastic new way to teach the prepositions of location, and the language of weather, time of day, and descriptions. The iPad can be linked to the classroom’s SmartBoard so that, as a single student tilts and rotates the iPad, the whole class "sees" the changing view displayed.

Tagul -- Tagul is a word cloud app that allows students to choose a silhouette of a picture and then input related words to create the image. This can be created by the teacher and used by the students to categorize the words or created by the students and used as a visual in a display where they talk about their interests.

In addition, our French and Spanish textbooks have many digital listening, reading comprehension, mapping, and grammar review activities. Bringing iPads into the classroom means that these activities can be done in class, allowing the teacher to circulate and give individual attention and address the areas that each student is struggling to learn, or to individualize review time and activities in class. iPads are also being used as an alternative method of assessing listening skills, and to enhance students’ research and presentation skills.

Mr. Lillis is currently researching a dictionary app that he believes will be a useful tool for upper level Latin students at RCS.

“There is no question that students today are digital natives, and it is important for us to meet them where they live” said Bill Barrett, Upper Campus Division Head. “As educators, we must always ask ourselves whether the use of a given technology is actually adding to the students’ education in a meaningful way. In terms of the technology tools available, research shows that the iPad is uniquely well suited to the study of foreign language. What we are seeing so far from this pilot program is that iPads are a great enhancement to our world language classrooms and are enabling us to do things we could not do before. We hope to expand their use here at RCS.”