Curriculum

Access

Enable/Enhance Learning

Lesson Engagement

Enable/Enhance
Social Life

Community
Inclusion

iPads can remove

levels of abstraction
which place barriers
between the students
and the curriculum.
The touch interface
allows for students to
directly interact with
objects and text on
the screen rather
than via a mouse on
a desk which moves
an onscreen pointer
iPads can enable
students with physical
disabilities to
experience the same
learning process as
their peers or close to
as in the example of
the worm farm above
iPads can reduce the
need for so much
instruction and
feedback from the
teacher which can
often be a barrier for
intellectually impaired
students. iPads
operate so intuitively,
as can the students
with them, that they
often instinctively
know what to do in an
app to reach the goal
or reward, & seem to
have more ability with
trial & error learning
the accessibility
settings in an iPad
enable learning to be
more accessible, for
example reading
text may become
possible for blind or
dyslexic students with
the zoom option or
the voice-over option
learning material
placed on an iPad is
more accessible for
many students with a
disability
iPads, having internet
connectivity, have
access directly to the
curriculum online and
a wealth of learning
materials which can
be accessed at
school- individual
activities for individual
students
many students with
disabilities are able to
do certain games/
activities on the iPad
which they just
couldnt do on pen
and paper or any
other way
the camera app
enables visually
impaired students to
zoom in on written
work

Children employ many different

strategies whilst learning and
traditional teaching approaches
may only focus on one or two at a
time. The multi-sensory approach
to learning is best for children with
ID as it promotes multiple
intelligences
Many ID children are visual
learners and may have auditory
processing difficulties (e.g.ADHD).
The iPad, being a multi-touch
visual interface, supplies all the
visual material needed for visual
learning and often along with
auditory stimuli
content in quality apps is broken
down into small, highly focused
steps. This is what children with an
ID need
many children with ID need a lot of
repetition of content in different
ways and an iPad with many apps
can achieve this, holding their
interest and motivation for long
enough for learning to take place
Many ID students learn best in a
1:1 ratio with their own iPad,
children can become independent
learners gaining confidence and
developing abilities at their own
pace which also produces less
comparison and more focus on
self-progression also building selfesteem
For children with difficulties holding
writing and drawing implements,
the iPad enables them to draw,
write, trace, colour, paint etc with
their fingers and toes!
Many quality apps record the
learning progress which becomes
invaluable as an assessment used
to plan further learning. The
camera app can be used to record
and assess visually. These visuals
could become part of the future
learning program
iPads have accessibility settings to
enable people with vision and
hearing impairments to use them.
Being able to turn down the glare
and invert colours on the screen
for sensitive ADHD eyes makes
a huge difference to enabling
learning
Children with physical and motor
impairments who cannot use their
fingers/arms or who may have
tremors or jerky movements,
switches are usable for enabling
learning within iPad apps

Children employ many different

strategies whilst learning and
traditional teaching approaches
may only focus on one or two at a
time. The multi-sensory approach
to learning is best for children with
ID as it promotes multiple
intelligences
Many ID children are visual
learners and may have auditory
processing difficulties (e.g.ADHD).
The iPad, being a multi-touch
visual interface, supplies all the
visual material needed for visual
learning and often along with
auditory stimuli
content in quality apps is broken
down into small, highly focused
steps-just what ID children need
many children with ID need a lot of
repetition of content in different
ways and an iPad with many apps
can achieve this, holding their
interest and motivation for long
enough for learning to take place
Many ID students learn best in a
1:1 ratio with an iPad. They can
become independent learners
gaining confidence and developing
abilities at their own pace which
also produces less comparison
and more focus on selfprogression also building selfesteem
For children with difficulties holding
writing and drawing implements,
the iPad enables them to draw,
write, trace, colour, paint etc with
their fingers and toes! There are
also mouth and head sticks if limbs
are not an option
iPads have accessibility settings to
enable people with vision and
hearing impairments to use them.
Being able to turn down the glare
and invert colours on the screen
for sensitive ADHD eyes makes a
huge difference to enabling
learning
iPads have Guided Access
settings to enable children to be
locked in to one app. One benefit
of this is enabling a child to be
focussed on one app at a time for
example Proloquo2Go whilst they
are communicating. This turns the
iPad into a speech generating
device.
Activities in particular apps
become teachers in their own right
or the app can be programmed to
focus on particular curriculum
content. Freeing up teachers time
to focus on teaching groups of
other children
Settings in many apps can be
adjusted. Choosing a voice,
sounds, colours, number of visual
elements/words on a page etc can
be vital to whether an ASD student
may engage in the lesson due to
their marked sensory preferences
students can be engaged in
lessons more independently as the
features of the iPad can assist
them with learning

the camera app on

an iPad is by far the
best thing I have
seen which
promotes sharing,
laughter, turn
taking, creativity,
connectedness and
relating in all
children. It allows
non-verbal or
minimally verbal
children to enjoy the
same fun and
connectedness with
their peers
taking iPad screen
snap-shots is
another way for
children to easily
and quickly collect
and share visual
images of things
they connect to.
They can be used in
stories, artworks
and as talking
points whilst relating
with others
using family and
friendship photos to
sequence into
stories, in for
example the Pictello
app, reinforces
relationships &
gives a talking
(reading) focal point
Social Stories can
be developed in
apps such as
Pictello on an iPad
which assist
particularly children
with ASD and Down
Syndrome to
understand social
etiquette in different
social situations and
social safety
behaviours
Sharing, turn taking,
creating with iPads
is fun and enhances
social life. Its
something many
children with
disabilities can do
the many apps on
an iPad which
assist a non-verbal
or minimally-verbal
child to speak (e.g.
Proloquo2Go)
enables clear
communication
which helps to ease
frustration and
behaviours. These
applications are
invaluable when it
comes to assisting
relationships

compared to bulky &

heavy speech
generating devices,
iPads are light,
cheap &
transportable
children who may
not be able to sit
upright can still
participate with
others on an iPad
whilst in different
positions & therefore
attend school
iPad apps such as
Proloquo2Go can be
used to assist
children to
communicate with
community
members
Community
members do not all
know sign language,
so iPads used as
speech generating
devices are very
useful to help with
understanding &
building of
relationships
personalised
learning plans within
apps & documents
on an iPad can be
accessed anywhere,
not just at school.
Families, friends and
community
members are able to
be part of the childs
learning
students learning
and creating on
iPads can show
others their work
easily helping to
build relationships,
especially if they are
non-verbal
Stories, artworks,
speeches, songs etc
created on an iPad
can be showcased
in the community
using reflective ware
and a white board or
screen giving
children the ability to
participate in
community events
the connectivity of
the iPad to the
internet enables
students to
collaborate in
forums and through
Google Docs, email
and partake of social
media to relate to
the wider school &
community quickly &
efficiently