By Inbal Tabul
RISHON LETZION, Israel — I have been a teacher for 11 years, the past five of which were at Shikmim, a special education school here in Rishon Letzion for students who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders.
Four years ago, an experiment was conducted at the school in which students were given iPads. We soon saw that the students relate very positively to the devices. The use of iPads resulted in improved learning and greatly increased the students’ motivation. The iPad opened a window to the inner world of students with autism. We even discovered that some of the students possessed processing and comprehension skills that were previously undetectable.
In addition, the iPad strengthened students’ interpersonal communication, both at home and with their teachers. Children who had found it difficult to communicate with family members and teachers, began connecting through the iPad. There was an improvement in motor skills (hand-eye coordination) among students who, thanks to the iPad, could now complete tasks they had been unable to do.
Due to the students’ positive experiences with the iPad, and their high motivation to use the device, it was clear to us teachers that the iPad is a vitally important tool for us. Therefore, we were very happy when, a few months ago, Athena Fund included Shikmim in its iPad for Every Special Education Teacher in Israel program, and distributed iPads to the school’s teachers. We can use the iPad on a daily basis to prepare lesson plans, special games and communication boards for the students — the iPad is a primary communication tool for non-verbal students. Students also love to have more agency over their own web surfing, a skill that strengthens their digital independence.
Many autistic children possess strong visual abilities. As a result, during the learning process many need visual support from images and drawings. In fact, the preferred method is to accompany every explanation with symbols. In the professional jargon this is called augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). It is one of the reasons for the iPad’s great success among students with autism. On the one hand, the device can visually illustrate for them the topics being studied, while on the other hand it has the ability to allow them to express themselves in a visual way.
Another method helping autistic students self-expression through the iPad is the use of communication boards, such as the communication boards in the TouchChat application that are tailored to the subject being learned, as well as to each individual student. TouchChat makes it possible to build an answers database, or a pool of conversation topics, which helps children who have difficulty expressing themselves. The iPad speaks for them – it verbalizes the word and the sentence, and children can express their wishes and feelings through the communication board. For example, they can participate in lessons and give the right answer from the answer pool. Building suitable boards according to the study topics requires teachers to invest great effort. We are constantly working in this area with the school’s speech therapists and the students’ private therapists.
Since the iPad allows students to discover expressive capabilities, and gives appropriate answers to questions, it generates a great deal of enthusiasm and motivation among them. We see students, who were silent and who refrained from participating in lessons, become more active thanks to the iPad.,
Increasing the attractiveness of learning assignments
Another one of the reasons for the iPad’s success is that many learning assignments appear to the students as a game, which is much more attractive to them than assignments they need to complete by writing with a pen or pencil on a sheet of paper. Ordinary worksheets hold less interest for them, but when they are asked to perform a task using the iPad, the task becomes more attractive, even if it includes exactly the same content as the worksheet. In addition, children with autism require increased repetition in order to master the learning material. When learning is seen as a game, repetition is not tiring, but rather motivating.
We teachers also use various educational applications, such as apps for learning basic arithmetic and writing, including, for example, practicing writing on the iPad using a finger or a pencil optimized for the iPad. Another area we emphasize is learning life skills and how to function in society, such as brushing teeth and behavior at meals, and we do so with apps that teach life skills. We have also started to use applications with which we have built games that fit the lessons we teach, such as teaching names and holidays.
Teachers at the school prefer to use open structure applications to which we add content. Since most of the applications are in English, using open templates allows us to create Hebrew content. In addition, we can better adjust the content to the material being taught. However, despite the adjustment of the content and the manner in which it is presented, we do not always know whether a student understands a question, or using trial and error to arrive at the correct answer. For this reason, we sit with students and make sure they respond that they understand. If they do not, we continue with the learning and mediation processes.
We’ve seen that when we give the iPad to students as an incentive (“If you perform a task, you will get the iPad”), it greatly increases their motivation, and we’ve succeeded in making them perform even tasks that are not related to the computer, but to their functioning, such as writing or eating certain foods. Moreover, in some cases using the iPad as an incentive also helps improve classroom discipline. There are situations in which students have developed a serious obsession towards the iPad. In that case, we use the time restriction function included in many applications to curb this behavior so the students would use the iPad in a more normative manner.
The iPad is also helping to develop social skills: students play various games in turns, requiring them to display an ability to wait, have patience and share with friends. In turn-based games I can bring two or three children together around the iPad, while at the same time other students perform another task during the lesson. Because the other students know that they will receive the iPad afterward, they are strongly motivated to perform their task. When playing the game itself, various skills and abilities revolving around memory, spatial perception, life skills development and more, are strengthened.
The fact that sometimes not all of the students in the classroom have iPads is not a hindrance to device efficiency. For example, when I give the iPad to one of the students, I connect the device to a big screen, so all of the children can see what is happening on the iPad and participate. This practice generates much interest. For another example, when we build games together, each student gets a turn with the iPad, and participates in building the game.
As a result of iPad use in schools, students are using the device at home more for leisure. Parents say that their children play with the iPad and initiate web surfing on their own, looking for YouTube videos they want to see.
Thanks to the iPad, a very good relationship with the students’ families has been created. Since the iPad also enables us to take photos and record video, it has helped immensely to enhance cooperation between the school and the students’ families. Thus, for example, I photograph the students at various activities in class so that parents can see what their children are doing at school, something that had previously been lacking. We must bear in mind that we are talking about autistic children, who are usually unable to tell about their experiences at school. At the same time, parents send me photos and videos of their children’s experiences at home, such as what they did on weekends.
The iPad has unquestionably led to a considerable improvement in our students’ learning experience. It is a clear example of how advanced technological tools can be harnessed for the education of children with special needs, allowing them to realize more layers of their potential and mediating the world for them, a world that can be a very confusing place for them.
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