Figure 22. iPads and collaborative working (staff)
Again though, a majority of staff do recognise and exploit the potential of the iPad and are evolving their pedagogical approaches accordingly. It will therefore be important for future development that the school is able to identify the best practice in the school and to disseminate this as part of their already well structured programme of continuing professional development. Does the use of Apps aid learning? A range of iPad Apps were installed when the devices were introduced with others added since. It is therefore not surprising that these are well used, with student use higher than for staff. This is while 74% of students reported use of Apps in their classes and only 66% of staff did so, suggesting that students make use of some Apps regardless. The relatively brief classroom observations and interviews suggest that students understand the benefits of e.g. keeping notes using Pages or mind mapping with Popplet and prefer to work on the iPad rather than in an exercise book. Interestingly, slightly more than one third of staff (34%) had not used Apps in their lessons, with some claiming that there were no subject appropriate Apps or that they could not afford to purchase those that were. All iPads have Pages and Keynotes installed. These are Apps that have uses across the curriculum, so a lack of use by some teachers perhaps indicates either an unwillingness to explore their potential or a limited awareness of how to exploit them in the classroom. It also sits uneasily with the indications in earlier responses of the benefits offered by the devices. However, the reason may be more prosaic in that Pages etc are not regarded as Apps but as what, on a traditional computer, would be seen as ‘office’
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