The iPad in remedial education, an effective tool for targeted interventions

What role can the touch pad play in remedial education? This is what we are exploring with Danielle Millette, orthopedagogue at the Commission scolaire de Saint-Hyacinthe and author of the digital book The iPad in remedial education.

Touch tablets have undeniably been popular in education in recent years. Several teachers are experimenting with them in order to transform their teaching and motivate their students by working differently. What about remedial teachers working with students with learning difficulties?

It was in the spring of 2013 that Ms. Danielle Millette began experimenting with the tablet in remedial education. She has participated in several training sessions and conferences, in particular the colloquium of the Quebec Association of Primary-Secondary Computer Users (AQUOPS) and at IPad Education Summit, in addition to closely following the work of RÉCIT and collecting information on Twitter and in the Facebook group ICT in education. With all this background, knowing that there were few examples of the use of tablets in her field of expertise, she submitted a grant application under measure 30054 of the MELS (Research support program and development in special education), which was accepted.

The reactions of his colleagues, following the arrival of the tablets, were mixed: “There have been skeptics among teachers, and it is precisely this that has advanced my practice. The questions from my colleagues helped me, among other things, to develop the criteria for the choice of activities carried out using this tool to always have in mind the gains for the student's learning. "

As for the pupils, it is in a natural way that they appropriated the tool. However, she took the time to properly implement the rules of use and change the mindset of students who initially saw the iPad as a game or a reward item.

What was his nicest surprise during this experiment? Ms. Millette reports on all the gains obtained for remedial education thanks to the tablets. Over the months, she even almost came to use only these during subgroup interventions, as the potential is great. “In remedial education, we have to help students learn where it is difficult for them, often within a limited time frame, so the intervention must be effective, targeted and metacognitive for the student. The fact of having a lot of resources in the same tool such as the tablet precisely meets the criteria of efficiency and targeted intervention. "

Emphasizing the help of a committee of remedial teachers, in particular her colleague Stéphanie Clair, educational advisers, and her spouse, she also mentions the support of her Twitter network which she benefited from during the experiment. Some technical difficulties arose, for example at the level of the purchases of applications and the management of the iPad fleet, but with the help of his technician and the generous sharing on the Facebook group ICT in education, everything was resolved fairly quickly.

Since the commitment from measure 30054 was to transmit the results obtained to as many people as possible, it was in the form of an iBook that she decided to do so. Having been very impressed by Sébastien Deschamps' book The iPad in the classroom, opening up to change, she was inspired by this format to build her educational guide, which has been online since last fall. A real bible containing a multitude of ideas for activities, applications, approaches and also advantages and warnings, The iPad in remedial education is now available free for download in iTunes. What are his favorite apps? They all end up in the digital book and are still used on a daily basis, she tells us.

We can only salute such an undertaking on the part of such a committed speaker. Filled with new ideas, this pedagogical guide will certainly appeal to the community of remedial teachers, but also to teachers who, more and more, use the iPad with their students with special needs in class.