In Gregg Agena’s physical education classroom at Ewa Makai Middle School in Honolulu, students are using iPads in their physical education classes. As half the students are preforming gymnastics, the other half is filming them using the iPad, after that, the students switch places. This program started as a pilot project aimed at helping teachers figure out new ways to engage students who learn best with hands-on learning. Once the exercises are done, the students break off into pairs to watch themselves performing the exercises. After that, using a second iPad and an application the school’s ed-tech department, the students determine whether they performed the moves correctly. When the points are added up, students click submit the information which goes directly to Agena’s computer. This is effective because Agena is able to see how his students are doing and what kind of progress they’re making over time. Ewa Makai, is determined to be a pioneer among Hawaii’s public schools that use iPads as an instructional tool. In addition to students using iPads in the classroom, teachers have also been given the opportunity to explore other uses in their classrooms. Ewa Makai’s goal is to incorporate technology meaningfully into the classroom, the problem is, are they worth the price? At Ewa Makai, teachers and administrators see iPads potentially being deployed to every classroom. They want to create electronic portfolios for each student, which would include everything from videos to presentations, teachers believe that iPads would be easier for classrooms and kids, rather than buying video cameras, digital cameras, and other materials separately. The school also sees iPads as assisting with its pledge to go “paper-free”. iPad technology is still new, and some teachers are a little more wary of it.
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Of course using technology as teaching tools is vital for student’s education but I never thought about using it during gym class. The use of iPads in schools is becoming a normal thing all across the country. I like the fact that students take turns using the iPads and then are able to watch themselves and critique their performance. I find it important that students are not just playing around with the iPad, and are actually learning how to perform better by using it. Other schools are beginning to realize the importance of technology use in the classroom, but do not want to spend the money on it. In reality, providing iPads for student use could actually save schools money. iPads can do things that schools need several pieces of different equipment for. I think that by the time I becoming a teacher the use of technology in the classroom will only become more important.
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