A quick Internet search regarding iPad use in classrooms will reveal that school districts across the country are purchasing iPads and similar tablets at a rapid rate. Accordingly, teachers are beginning to consider ways in which iPads can be used in their classrooms. During our recent work in an early childhood classroom (Beschorner and Hutchison, 2013) we learned that, although reading and responding to text has been shown as one important classroom use for tablet technology (Hutchison, Beschorner, Crawford-Schmidt, 2012), another important use may be as a tool for innovative parent communication. While following two preschool teachers who were using iPads in their classrooms for ten weeks, we noticed that they often used them to communicate in multiple ways with the parents of the children in their classes. For instance, the ease with which digital images, including photographs, videos, and screenshots, can be stored in the photo album and emailed at the touch of a button, simplifies sending photographs and videos to parents. Therefore, novel possibilities exist for sharing with parents.
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This article is from The Oklahoma Reader, 2013; 49(1); 17-19. Posted with permission.