How can you ensure every child has an equal chance of success in your classroom? The teaching techniques you use, the tasks you set, the attitudes you hold are all vitally important. But so, too, is using the right tools.
This is particularly true when working with students with SEND. There are, of course, a range of assistive technologies available for children with SEND, and many of these can fulfil the role of providing equal access opportunities. But they can also make it clear to others in the classroom that a pupil is struggling and this can make students with SEND unwilling to use the technology.
This is where the iPad can be a powerful device. With built-in accessibility tools, services and apps, the iPad allows teachers to know their lessons are reaching all learners in the classroom so they can focus on what they are teaching as well as ensuring there is no sense of two-tier learning being created.
As one teacher from Tynecastle says: “Students who need additional support for learning can access this on the same device as everyone else, thus taking away the stigma that was attached to being the only student in the class that required support.”
Reading difficulties
For most students, the iPad’s large and clear screen makes reading text simple and easy. But for students that have dyslexia, for example, and therefore can sometimes struggle to read the long and complicated texts- but the iPad can help overcome this.
The “Speak Selection” and “Speak Screen” options on the iPad are powerful text-to-speech functions that can help with this: the former reads aloud selected text and the latter reads out the contents of a screen. These programs are also able to highlight the words and sentences as they are being spoken, which can enhance comprehension and help decoding, as shown in Jules Daulby’s research.
Visual impairments
The iPad also ensures that students with low or no vision can have equal access to the same resources as others in the classroom by using the VoiceOver tool. Like Speak Selection, VoiceOver reads aloud what is on screen. However, it is more far-reaching, allowing visually impaired students to navigate their devices through audio and haptic feedback - when they touch the screen, it reads what is under their finger, and they can control the device with different gestures.
In addition, students with severe visual impairment can use iPads to access the curriculum in the classroom alongside their peers. First, the teacher uses an app to share their screen with the student’s device, and the student then uses the magnifier tool to enlarge areas of the screen, text or images as needed, or get text read aloud through Speak Selection or VoiceOver if necessary.
This simple classroom workflow ensures their full inclusion in all classroom activities and tasks. As a result, these students can access the same material and complete the same tasks as everyone else providing teachers with the confidence that they can create lesson tasks that everyone in the class can take part in and learn from.
Physical challenges
Most students will intuitively be able to use an iPad, likely having used one at home before they even arrive at school. However, the technology built into iPads, such as Switch Control, also enables students with physical or motor difficulties to participate fully in classroom activities by controlling the screen via an adaptive accessory or ability switch - an alternative to a button. This means that even students with very limited movement can access and control their devices using a simple movement of any part of the body to control the switch, making everything possible, including writing assignments or even video editing, as demonstrated by Sady Paulson.
There are also dedicated tools to support students who have difficulties with fine motor skills. AssistiveTouch, for example, allows students with limited motor capabilities to adapt the multitouch screen of their iPad to fit their needs, making more complicated gestures, such as a pinch or multifinger swipe, accessible with just the tap of a finger. AssistiveTouch also enables students to personalise their iPad touchscreen according to their individual needs; for example, if they have trouble pressing the Home button they can activate it with an onscreen tap.
Communication problems
The iPad has a range of tools to improve communication between students and teachers. Teachers can give high-quality verbal feedback to students between lessons, which closes the feedback loop much more quickly. Similarly, students can use the collaborative tools built into Keynote and Pages to work on projects together, even if they are physically apart.
The iPad can also help English as an additional language (EAL) students to overcome language barriers. At St Cyres, for example, EAL students have used the device to access the curriculum alongside their peers and achieve excellent exam results. Richard Hopkin, lead practitioner for teaching and learning at St Cyres School in Wales explains: “Our EAL students use Siri as a vital tool in the classroom. Speech-to-text has improved their literacy skills and aided the communication between them and their teachers.”
Furthermore, some students that struggle with communication have found it easier to communicate via third-party apps such as ChatterPix Kids or Puppet Pals, where they can create their own characters. Using an avatar removes communication barriers and enables pupils to show what they know in a fun, engaging way, instilling them with confidence and helping them to participate fully in oral classroom activities such as in language lessons. Giving students a taste of success by removing communication barriers enables them to be more ambitious and ultimately more engaged in the learning process.
Personalisation
The accessibility features built into iPads give everyone equal access to tools that enhance creativity and communication. Using the iPad enables any student to become a coder, videographer or author, sharing original content with real-life audiences.
For Hopkin, at St Cyres School, the iPad has been transformative in this respect: “The iPad’s accessibility features enable all students to tailor the device to perfectly suit their needs. Students can collaborate or work independently and continue the learning at home.”
One dyslexic student used his iPad to record feedback and also receive verbal feedback from his teachers, for example. This enabled him to pause the feedback and respond at his own pace, which ultimately contributed to him achieving outstanding results and securing a place at a prestigious university to study engineering.
All teachers want students to achieve their potential, and Apple devices are already helping to ensure just that. As a representative of the Tynecastle school points out: “The iPad has enabled a number of our students who previously struggled to access a mainstream curriculum to take part fully in class and collaborate with their classmates.”
Whether students have visual or physical impairments, or simply learn at a different pace from the rest of the class, technology is key to giving them the same opportunities as everyone else.
An iPad is a powerful tool that opens up new worlds to students who might otherwise struggle to participate - it allows them to achieve regardless of their ability, to pursue their own personal interests and to experience success on their own terms.
