Really interesting presentation at school board committees this week by IT Leader Stephen Blok and Special Class Teacher Kaia Paddock pertaining to the use of Ipads by special needs students. The presentation included part of a 60 minutes clip showing autistic students being highly communicative using the Ipad touch as well as special needs students in Paddocks Ipad pilot project using the Ipad to work collaboratively. In the dialogue that followed it was noted that the same apps that the students are using on the Ipad are also available on the Iphones and students are now asking about using these assistive devices on their smart phones. This is very exciting given the lower costs of smart phones puts these assistive applications in the hands of large numbers of today's students. The RCDSB is expected to have wireless guest login areas in each school during the current year and we are expecting many more exciting projects ahead that will see students using the latest technologies to engage in the learning process!
Thanks to Steve and Kaia for their vision and willingness to share their experiences with the trustees and senior staff!
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