iPads on Practicum: Perspective of a Student-Teacher

Abstract

Educators are embracing technology as a key to transforming learning for the 21^st century. As the 21st century learning movement emphasizes the development of skills that are seen as uniquely relevant to the modern world, in the educational community, many are looking to technology, such as tablets, as a tool to modernizing classrooms. This research presents a case study of a participatory action research project, where participants provide input into the research process, examining the experiences of a secondary education level student-teacher implementing iPads during practicum. For two weeks, the student teacher integrated a set of 22 iPads into a grade ten Media Literacy unit. Qualitative data from the teacher’s daily blog and a post-practicum interview revealed six main themes in two categories: Teacher Impacts (Planning and Curricular Design, Delivery, Practicum Experience) and Student Impacts (Classroom, Learning Outcomes, Learning Experience). While generalizations to other English Language Arts (ELA) classes cannot be made, the results of this pilot study suggest that tablet technology has the potential to aid the transition to 21st century learning at the secondary level, and warrants further research and attention.