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Journal ArticleDOI

New directions for early literacy in a digital age: The iPad

01 Sep 2015-Journal of Early Childhood Literacy (Sage Publications)-Vol. 15, Iss: 3, pp 289-310
TL;DR: The authors found variability in the ways iPads were used across the settings, but a commonality was that well-planned; iPad-based literacy activities stimulated children's motivation and concentration, and offered rich opportunities for communication, collaborative interaction, independent learning, and for children to achieve high levels of accomplishment.
Abstract: In this paper, we discuss how iPads offer innovative opportunities for early literacy learning but also present challenges for teachers and children. We lent iPads to a Children’s Centre nursery (3- to 4-year-olds), a primary school reception class (4- to 5-year-olds) and a Special School (7- to 13-year-olds), discussed their potential uses with staff in pre- and post-interviews and observed how they were integrated into practice over a two-month period. We found variability in the ways iPads were used across the settings, but a commonality was that well-planned; iPad-based literacy activities stimulated children’s motivation and concentration. They also offered rich opportunities for communication, collaborative interaction, independent learning, and for children to achieve high levels of accomplishment. In some cases, this led teachers favourably to re-evaluate the children’s literacy competence, and enabled children to construct positive images of themselves in the literacy classroom. Practitioners particularly valued the opportunities iPads afforded to deliver curriculum guidelines in new ways, and to familiarise all students with touch-screen technologies.

Summary (6 min read)

Introduction

  • The literacy practices of young children and their families are currently characterised by the everyday use of an array of digital technologies, which over the past decade have become increasingly portable, affordable and efficient (author, 2012; Lynch and Redpath, 2012) .
  • Yet research evidence has consistently shown that there is ambivalence and resistance to the incorporation of new technologies in early literacy education.
  • In the meantime, technological invention has continued apace, with a step change in functionality following the development and widespread use of mobile touch-screen devices such as the Apple iPad.

RUNNING HEAD: IPADS AND EARLY LITERACY

  • The authors therefore devised this study with the aim of enabling early years practitioners in preschool and primary settings, and teachers of children with complex learning and physical needs, to explore the educational potential of digital technologies with touchsensitive screens.
  • The authors focussed specifically on classroom-based uses of the iPad, and were interested in exploring how the affordances of these portable devices (with full operating systems, touch screen sensitivity and a multiplicity of apps) might open up new possibilities for learning and teaching early literacy.

Early literacy and digital devices: the literature

  • Research has begun to evidence how diverse digital devices are becoming integral to young children's early experiences of literacy in their homes and communities (Plowman, Stephen and McPake, 2010; Wohlwend, 2010; co-author and author 1, 2010; author 1, 2012) .
  • Much of the emerging research in this field is founded on sociocultural conceptualisations of learning (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 2007) , where mental processes are viewed as social in origin and mediated through interaction using symbolic representations such as language and with cultural artefacts that have evolved over time.
  • Recently in England, this focus has narrowed even further with an insistence on the teaching and testing of synthetic phonics, which is currently portrayed in policy documentation as the key to early reading and writing (author, 2013) .
  • Research into iPad use has found that their user-friendly design presents very few technical challenges for young children, who quickly become enthusiastic and competent users (Lynch and Redpath, 2012) although with some apps, children may encounter difficulties such as unintentionally deleting their work (Hutchison, Beschorner and Coffey, 2012) .

The present study

  • In their study the authors therefore aimed to explore the potential benefits of a specific touchscreen device, the iPad, for early literacy in three different educational settings.
  • In line with sociocultural conceptualisations of learning processes (Vygotsky, [1934 (Vygotsky, [ ] 1978) ) the authors regard literacy learning as social in origin and mediated through action and interaction using cultural artefacts.
  • Particularly when using digital devices, meanings can be expressed through multiple modes of symbolic representation, such as combinations of spoken and written language, images, icons, sounds, layout and animation.
  • Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the educational use and potential of iPads, with a particular focus on finding out how learners and practitioners leverage the potential of iPads for classroom-based early literacy education/learning.

Introducing iPads to three different settings

  • The authors trialled and evaluated the use of iPads in three different educational settings in central England: a city suburb Sure Start nursery for 3-4 year-olds; a primary school reception class for 4-5 year-olds on the outskirts of a city; and a primary class for children aged 7-13 in a special school on the outskirts of a town.
  • At the outset of the study, none of the settings had an iPad dedicated for classroom use, but they all regularly used digital cameras and computers.
  • Each device was pre-loaded with a research-based, multi-media app (reference withheld, referred to as OS hereafter) which was developed by us and colleagues at the (reference withheld University), to give staff a starting point for understanding the potential of this tool.
  • The interview data were transcribed, and after multiple viewings of the video observations and data discussions, the research team agreed on common themes and conceptual categories, working within an interpretive analytic framework.
  • The questionnaires and interviews increased their understandings of the children's experiences with new technologies in their home and school lives, and their own observations of classroom practice gave us an insight into the actual use of iPads by the practitioners and the children.

Children's technology use and literacy at home

  • The parent questionnaires offered fixed choice responses ('often', 'sometimes' or 'rarely') about how frequently children played with 'traditional' and 'new' toys and technologies.
  • The responses revealed a trend for children from all settings to engage more frequently in traditional activities such as building with bricks, pretend play and sharing books than activities involving 'new technologies'.
  • Watching TV, videos or DVDs featured amongst some of the most frequent activities for nursery aged children and older children who attended the special school.
  • For the Nursery and Reception-aged children, activities with the computer and Internet were mostly rated between 'rarely' and 'sometimes', suggesting that many children only occasionally used interactive digital technologies when at home.
  • Children with learning impairments were reported by parents as being the most frequent users of computers, internet and handheld game devices.

Practitioners' views on new technologies before using iPads in the classroom

  • At the beginning of the study, practitioners in all three educational settings reported that children had less frequent access to new technologies in the setting than they did at home.
  • Before using the iPads, practitioners said they valued the potential of new technologies to offer stimulating learning opportunities, yet they also voiced concerns about their potential harm.
  • Some felt children were being denied early language learning opportunities due to the ubiquitous use of mobile devices: '… a lot of people nowadays run their lives via their mobile phone…they're walking along with the pram and they're talking on their phone and not to the baby'.
  • Practitioners also worried about the potentially addictive and 'over-stimulating' nature of many digital games, particularly for children with behavioural difficulties who could become 'a bit obsessive'.
  • The cost of digital equipment was a further issue for staff in all settings, along with concerns about technical problems, a lack of confidence in RUNNING HEAD: IPADS AND EARLY LITERACY their ability to overcome these and a lack of easily accessible technical support.

Practitioners' views on iPads during the study

  • In these instances, the iPad assumed the place of a precious and venerated object which could only be entrusted to children for a limited time period.
  • Thus, whilst practitioners had initially been reserved about the role of digital media in the literacy classroom, their enthusiasm grew once they had had time to familiarise themselves with the OS app, and also to identify further apps which they deemed suitable for classroom use.
  • Towards the end of the study, many spoke of the 'endless possibilities' the iPad offered to extend and vary classroom-based activities.
  • Once the study had been completed, the practitioners also spoke retrospectively about how easily iPad-based activities slotted into their delivery of the national curriculum guidelines, providing new and different ways to present core literacy concepts and knowledge.

Experts and novices in the classroom

  • Through the interviews and observations the authors were able to identify a progression of shifts in practitioners' attitudes towards using the iPad in the classroom, and these were common across the three settings.
  • In each class, one self-defined 'confident' adult technology user was assigned or assumed the role of iPad expert.
  • In each classroom, the adult experts were, perhaps not wholly by chance, the most senior member of staff.
  • Practitioners in each setting reported that some children had already used touch-screen devices at home, particularly smartphones, and were highly confident in their use.
  • 'Novice' children were keen to learn how to use them and 'picked it up really well'.

'Open' and 'closed' apps

  • Throughout the study, the authors heard how the adult technology experts had dedicated many hours of personal time outside the classroom searching for suitable apps to include in their planning.
  • The authors observed how these games were sometimes used effectively to support learners' independent practice of, for example, learning the alphabet or the names of animals, yet they positioned children as recipients of narrowly defined literacy knowledge, rather than as independent or collaborative and creative producers of original materials.
  • Furthermore, during their observations many children soon tired of the repetitive nature of these games.
  • Using more 'open content' apps (such as OS) engaged children more deeply in their own learning.
  • With the OS app, children were able collaboratively to create their own stories, initially by selecting a sequence of photographs which they or their teacher had taken, then developed this by adding, for example, voice recordings and/or typed text and also, as seen in the special setting, extending the story creatively through reenactments and staged performance.

Motivation and positive learning dispositions

  • Teachers commented on 'the magical athe authors and wonder' engendered by iPad activities which motivated children to learn.
  • Unpicking this enthusiasm, staff noted how children particularly enjoyed the facility to undo and review stages of their work, which reduced the consequences for them of making mistakes and appeared to be conducive to positive and confident learning dispositions.
  • As Underatuin (2011) discusses with regard to online literacy practices, the authors saw how the flexibility and responsiveness of digital literacy activities constituted new hybridised literate activities that combined characteristics of traditional literacy resources with the speed and feedback of oral literacy.
  • This combination of immediate feedback, along with tangible and satisfying end products, motivated children to engage deeply with iPad-based literacy activities, which as one practitioner commented, attracted their attention like 'bees to a honeypot'.

Independent learning with the iPad

  • A key contributory factor to children's motivation appeared to be the possibilities offered by the iPad for independent work.
  • The authors observed one simple example of such independence being appreciated by staff as well as children in the Reception class, where the teacher had identified a series of 'closed' content apps that encouraged children to spell words more accurately, and to use appropriate punctuation, such as 'Doodlefind'.
  • In the special setting, in addition to the iPad's touch-screen sensitivity and responsivity, the device's mobility further facilitated children's independent learning.
  • In the initial two frames, the teacher helps Matthew to make a pointing gesture, and then gently supports the weight of Matthew's hand as he taps the screen.
  • -Figure2 to be inserted about here-In some cases independent learning necessitated purpose-made devices to secure the iPad to the arm of a wheelchair.

iPad and concentration

  • Linked to children's motivation and independence, staff in all settings commented on how iPads heightened children's concentration levels, describing iPads as 'a good way of engaging the children in the work you're trying to get them to concentrate on'.
  • In the special school, staff noted how some children with complex learning and physical disabilities and very short attention spans persisted for extended periods with the iPad ('all afternoon'), encouraged by the interactive nature of certain apps, which focused their attention and led to engaged learning.
  • Without the support of more experienced others, rich learning outcomes were not always assured, and the potential benefits of increased concentration were not harnessed.
  • In the nursery setting in particular, the authors observed children becoming frustrated as they did not know how to complete some more complex activities, and/or staff sometimes lacked the time or skill to support them.
  • In situations, where children were unsupervised and vied for possession of the iPad, the tool caused considerable frictions among the children who each demanded access to a precious resource.

Enriching communication and collaboration with the iPad

  • The authors observed how more experienced children frequently supported their peers.
  • Nursery staff noted how children with children started talking more: '…even the quiet ones were gaining an awful lot out of it … it was making the noisier ones be quiet because they were concentrating and the quiet ones use more language'.
  • The Reception teacher encouraged children to find more images to put in pictures they were making on an app, leading to the naming and finding of items which extended their vocabulary.
  • Staff in the special setting welcomed the touch-responsive screen for children who did not have the motor skills to write with a pen or pencil, and they valued the RUNNING HEAD: IPADS AND EARLY LITERACY opportunities this offered to diversify their support for children's communication.

Creative use and integration with the national curriculum

  • In line with Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 objectives to use new technology for creative and independent work (OFSTED, 2008) , children worked creatively across modes and media.
  • Teachers found the iPad dovetailed with existing technologies in the classrooms, and provided another source of stimulation, so staff felt they could offer children 'as many different ways as the authors can to do the (same) thing over and over again but to engage them as well as … get more work out of them'.
  • The Reception teacher used a jigsaw app to make a jigsaw from a digital photo, uploading this to the classroom IWB, where they completed the puzzle as a class, promoting topic-focused learning whilst also providing a rich platform for language and communication, collaborative problemsolving, negotiating meanings and sharing experiences.
  • Often, despite their best intentions, the iPad or the software did not perform as they wished and there was a lack of support in the school for this kind of work.
  • Nevertheless, the practitioners were hopeful this would improve as they became more familiar with the device and gained more confidence in its use.

Discussion

  • The authors findings suggest that incorporating touch-screen technology in the repertoire of young children's everyday literacy experiences offers new opportunities for early literacy education.
  • Unless 'new' digital devices are woven innovatively into the fabric of classroom practice, then their potential could all too easily, and understandably given the lack of support and training for teachers, be reduced to being no more than a device for delivering potentially repetitive curriculum content , albeit with added interactive multimedia appeal.
  • For learning/teaching episodes to be rewarding, careful planning and sensitive support was needed by confident practitioners, with clear learning goals.
  • With just a little support from their team and a lot of teacher dedicated time -spurred on by the children's enthusiasm -the practitioners discovered creative uses for the iPad in their classrooms.
  • Through activity, individuals engage in collective imaginings of figured worlds (e.g. in a school context, of ability, learning disposition, gender etc.), which are enmeshed with local systems of power and privilege.

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New directions for early literacy in a digital age: the
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Journal Item
How to cite:
Flewitt, Rosie; Messer, David and Kucirkova, Natalia (2015). New directions for early literacy in a digital age:
the iPad. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 15(3) pp. 289–310.
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New directions for early literacy in a digital age: the iPad
Title: New directions for early literacy in a digital age: the iPad
Authors: Rosie Flewitt*, David Messer and Natalia Kucirkova
Affiliations: Rosie Flewitt (Institute of Education, University of London)
David Messer and Natalia Kucirkova (The Open University)
*Corresponding author:
Dr Rosie Flewitt
Early Years and Primary Education
Institute of Education
University of London
20 Bedford Way
London WC1H 0AL
Tel: 020 7612 6754
Email: r.flewitt@ ioe.ac.uk
1

New directions for early literacy in a digital age: the iPad
Abstract
Adopting a social practices approach to literacy, we discuss the potential of iPads for
classroom-based early literacy learning in three different educational settings. We
propose that iPads offer new opportunities for innovative early literacy learning
activities that can be woven into the fabric of classroom practice and curriculum
delivery. The study draws on data from an exploratory study, where we lent iPads to
a Children’s Centre nursery (3-4 year olds), a primary school Reception class (4-5
year olds) and a Special School (7-13 year olds). We observed how the iPads were
integrated into each setting over a two-month period and conducted pre- and post--
interviews with staff, while parents completed short questionnaires about home uses
of new technologies. There was some variability in the ways iPads were used across
the settings, but a commonality was that well-planned literacy-related iPad activities
stimulated children’s motivation and concentration, and offered rich opportunities for
communication, collaborative interaction, independent learning and enthusiastic
learning dispositions. Practitioners particularly valued the opportunities iPads
afforded to deliver national curriculum guidelines in new and different ways, and to
help equip all children with higher levels of technological confidence and
competence.
Keywords
Early literacy, iPad, digital, touch screen, apps, inclusive literacy practices, learner
identity
2

RUNNING HEAD: IPADS AND EARLY LITERACY
Introduction
The literacy practices of young children and their families are currently characterised
by the everyday use of an array of digital technologies, which over the past decade
have become increasingly portable, affordable and efficient (author, 2012; Lynch and
Redpath, 2012). These new and powerful cultural tools ‘create and shape the learning
environments in which our children grow up’ (author, 2013), so it is hardly surprising
that many young children are keen to imitate and master their use: as Vygotsky
pointed out, it is ‘real life’ that educates (Vygotsky, 1997: 345). Yet research
evidence has consistently shown that there is ambivalence and resistance to the
incorporation of new technologies in early literacy education. While some
enthusiastically embrace the use of new technologies (e.g. Galloway, 2009), some
argue vociferously that new technologies have no place at all in early learning as they
may have a negative impact on children’s imaginative play (House, 2012). Many
early years practitioners have found it difficult to integrate digital technology into
their literacy planning and practice, partly due to narrow curricular definitions of
literacy as primarily paper-based, and partly due to lack of time and expertise to
explore available hardware and supporting software, lack of understanding of the
potential of new technologies to promote early literacy, and lack of confidence in their
own ability to use digital devices effectively in the classroom (Lankshear et al., 1996;
Turbill, 2001; Carrington, 2005; author, 2011). In the meantime, technological
invention has continued apace, with a step change in functionality following the
development and widespread use of mobile touch-screen devices such as the Apple
iPad.

RUNNING HEAD: IPADS AND EARLY LITERACY
We therefore devised this study with the aim of enabling early years practitioners in
preschool and primary settings, and teachers of children with complex learning and
physical needs, to explore the educational potential of digital technologies with touch-
sensitive screens. We focussed specifically on classroom-based uses of the iPad, and
were interested in exploring how the affordances of these portable devices (with full
operating systems, touch screen sensitivity and a multiplicity of apps) might open up
new possibilities for learning and teaching early literacy.
Early literacy and digital devices: the literature
Research has begun to evidence how diverse digital devices are becoming integral to
young children’s early experiences of literacy in their homes and communities
(Plowman, Stephen and McPake, 2010; Wohlwend, 2010; co-author and author 1,
2010; author 1, 2012). Much of the emerging research in this field is founded on
sociocultural conceptualisations of learning (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 2007), where
mental processes are viewed as social in origin and mediated through interaction
using symbolic representations such as language and with cultural artefacts that have
evolved over time. By learning how to use new ‘digital tools’, young children are
able to engage in the meaning-making practices that characterise contemporary
culture. Young children’s everyday immersion in digital communication occurs at a
critical period in their lives when their emerging literacy skills (speaking, listening,
reading, and writing) are being moulded by the conventions of the social and cultural
worlds in which they live. New terms have been coined, such as ‘Digital Natives
(Prensky, 2001) and ‘the Net Generation’ (Tapscott, 1998) to describe the first
generation of children growing up in Westernised societies, surrounded by digital
media including games consoles, cameras, music players, video cameras, mobile
4

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Abstract: Since their first appearance in 2010, iPads and other comparable tablets have been heralded for their potential to revolutionize education, including that of young children. Like previous multimedia technologies (e.g., whiteboards, Kozma, 1991), iPads are multimodal, allowing users to use texts, pictures, and sounds. In comparison with other, so far available multimedia technologies, iPads have three novel features which have the potential to make a positive difference to early education: iPads are portable and light-weight (unlike netbooks and laptops), they eliminate the need for separate input devices requiring certain levels of dexterity (such as mouse and keyboard) and thirdly, they are specifically designed to accommodate a number of apps, many of which have a child-friendly intuitive design. With several of these apps, iPads provide unprecedented opportunities for children to create their own contents and participate in rich and dynamic learning contexts. Yet, despite the possible benefits, there is an absence of research supporting the enthusiastic claims that iPads will “revolutionize education” (e.g., Ferenstein, 2011). This is due to several reasons but in early education, two prevalent myths concerning new technologies hinder research progress and innovation in practice: technological determinism and the digital/non-digital binary. This article outlines how these technology myths relate to the emerging iPad research in early education of children aged between 2 and 8 years old. After a critical assessment of the assumptions underlying some of the studies, attention is turned to a “second wave” of iPads' research which avoids these conceptual obstacles. Recommendations for future research are provided throughout the article, with the aim of provoking a wider debate regarding some of the identified issues.

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Cites methods from "New directions for early literacy i..."

  • ...Similarly, Flewitt et al. (2014) showed that there was considerable variability in the ways iPads were used across three settings (Children’s Centre nursery, a primary school Reception class and a Special School) but that well-planned, iPad-based literacy activities stimulated a number of positive…...

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Abstract: Young children living in technology-based communities are using touch-screen tablets (e.g. iPads) to engage with the digital world at an early age. The intuitive touch-screen interface, easily downloadable apps (applications) and mobility of tablets drive their increasing popularity with pre-schoolers. This review examines research to date on tablets, apps and emergent literacy in young children in the home and at pre-school. Evidence is building that suggests tablets have the potential to foster emergent writing and letter knowledge. Although the impact of tablets on emergent literacy is not yet fully known, developing themes highlight potential benefits and hindrances of tablets for emergent literacy. Two important considerations are the quality of emergent literacy apps and the importance of scaffolding young children's use of tablets at home and pre-school to support emergent literacy development. Directions for future research and recommendations for parents and teachers are discussed.

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  • ...As a result, most apps marketed as being educational often lack basic pedagogical design features required to support learning (Flewitt et al., 2014; Goodwin and Highfield, 2012)....

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  • ...…pre-school setting, tablets are viewed as a tool for play, communication and expression (Geist, 2014) that stimulates positive social interaction, meaningful talk and motivation to learn (Flewitt et al., 2014; Hatherly and Chapman, 2013) and promotes ownership of learning (Conn, 2012; Lee, 2015)....

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  • ...In the pre-school setting, tablets are viewed as a tool for play, communication and expression (Geist, 2014) that stimulates positive social interaction, meaningful talk and motivation to learn (Flewitt et al., 2014; Hatherly and Chapman, 2013) and promotes ownership of learning (Conn, 2012; Lee, 2015)....

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Frequently Asked Questions (14)
Q1. What are the contributions in "New directions for early literacy in a digital age: the ipad" ?

Adopting a social practices approach to literacy, the authors discuss the potential of iPads for classroom-based early literacy learning in three different educational settings. The authors propose that iPads offer new opportunities for innovative early literacy learning activities that can be woven into the fabric of classroom practice and curriculum delivery. The study draws on data from an exploratory study, where the authors lent iPads to a Children ’ s Centre nursery ( 3-4 year olds ), a primary school Reception class ( 4-5 year olds ) and a Special School ( 7-13 year olds ). The authors observed how the iPads were integrated into each setting over a two-month period and conducted preand post-interviews with staff, while parents completed short questionnaires about home uses of new technologies. 

watching TV, videos or DVDs featured amongst some of the most frequent activities for nursery aged children and older children who attended the special school. 

Children with9learning impairments were reported by parents as being the most frequent users of computers, internet and handheld game devices. 

They also spoke of the ways the iPad activities stimulated children’s motivation and concentration, enriched the communicative environment and facilitated collaborative and independent learning in playful and creative ways. 

As one teacher commented, iPads afforded more possibilities than conventional computers through their easy access to combinations of audio and visual modes ‘adding another level to the work they produce’. 

As Burnett (2009) discusses, there is a growing call from education research for educational curricula to incorporate digital technologies into literacy teaching programmes. 

These were of benefit for children’s self-esteem, their engagement with a range of literacy-related activities and also corresponded to the standards and outcome-based teaching and learning agendas to which all staff were accountable. 

25Beyond these considerations, the authors observed in this study how the iPads were valued as highly desirable artefacts by young learners, who recognised them as powerful arbiters of communication, information and entertainment in contemporary society. 

Figured worlds are part of Holland et al.’s (1998) larger theory of self and identity, which draws on the work of Vygotsky and Bakhtin to illustrate how identities are formed through the day-to-day processes of social activity and practice. 

Despite their concerns, there was a strong consensus amongst staff that in order to help prepare children for their lives in a digital world, education settings should ‘make sure they’re ready for all the other things that are happening so quickly’, ‘keeping a balance’ between learning activities with traditional and new media, and making the most of new technology ‘to enhance teaching’, as encapsulated in the thoughts of one early years practitioner:‘… one of the things we’re supposed to teach them in the new EYFS is about the world as a whole and how those children are going to be able to move into that world and technology that is there for them in the future and it’s forever evolving … so therefore introducing it to them is one of those key skills we’re teaching them’Practitioners’ views on iPads during the study 

Almost all the children in this setting were able to use iPads more easily than other ‘new technologies’, such as computers with keyboards, which require very precise touch with considerable control of pressure on each key, or interactive whiteboards, where their fixed position often rendered them inaccessible for children reliant on wheelchairs and other physical supports. 

staff in all settings commented on the collaborative nature of interaction around the iPad: most children shared activities, took turns, supported each other’s learning and rejoiced in each other’s successes. 

As a further example, children in the Reception class used the iPad and ‘OS’ app to take photographs of their outdoor activities, and then used these as the basis for story creation - just moments after the photographs had been taken. 

Too many fingers on the screen made some applications not function as intended, and meant that content was lost which caused considerable frustration for the children who had produced it.