Using the iPad in your Teaching

The iPad will enable students to engage with a growing number of online services, including online lectures, live web streaming of lectures, library services, apps and other tools. You can use your iPad in a number of ways to support your teaching and other academic work, for example to:

Enhance your Teaching Activities

iPads are being introduced to assist staff in the delivery of learning and teaching as our curriculum evolves, and to help give students access to more flexible, mobile learning. However, the iPad initiative is just one part of a broader range of curriculum development activities and technologies already underway in Schools, building on existing learning resources available through vUWS and other sources. The use of emerging technologies will complement face-to-face teaching, which will of course remain core to teaching and learning at UWS. We will start to see increased use of blended and online delivery this year, with a major curriculum renewal program commencing in first year units in 2014.

To enhance your current teaching activities you can:

  • Save time and paper marking: annotate and return pdf files to students
  • Run web-based voting activities in class with students
  • Set up and test activities where students use iPads to gather information
  • Interact with students using the Blackboard Mobile Learn app.

More examples of iPad-supported learning activities:


Enhancing established activitiesIntroducing new activities
Streamline assessment and feedback
  • annotate and return files to students
  • use rubrics to structure feedback
  • provide practice, self-tests and diagnostics for academic skills (for example via Black Board app)
  • peer marking using iPad apps
  • video record and review practical skills assessments
  • game apps for academic skills
Encourage active classrooms
  • back channels for student questions and comments during lectures/presentations
  • web-based student response systems in class
  • flipped classroom – lecture content on iPad before class, then use for problem solving or case study applications in class
Connect classroom learning to life
  • students use iPads to collect and collate media for report assignments or presentations
  • students use iPads to collect information from fieldwork or site visit to present/discuss in class using camera, GPS, etc.
Access academic knowledge in real life contexts
  • on practicum/ placements, students use iPads with eBooks for reference and for note-taking, rather than paper
  • students use iPads with specialist apps to support work-integrated learning (e.g. on work placements or projects)
 

Manage your Teaching Activities 

To manage your teaching and other work you (and your students) can:

  • Read documents online 
  • Run presentations from your iPad
  • Record notes, photos, sound, and/or video
  • Communicate through email and social networking tools
  • Organise travel (travel apps, currency exchange, maps, weather apps, live traffic reporting)
  • Relax (games and puzzles, music, videos, news services)

Go to iPad Suggested Apps for iPad tools you might find useful. 

What's next?