Using an iPad in Inclusive Preschool Classrooms to Introduce STEM Concepts

Abstract

Ms. Christa is a preschool teacher in an inclusive mixed-ability classroomand is leading a small group activity with four students. Kolby, a 4-year-old identified with a pervasive development disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), is sitting beside her as she introduces him to a new learning activity with the iPad. His peers wait for their turn on the iPad as she introduces Monkey Math, one of several science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) apps available on the classroom's iPad. Across the hall, Ms. Lena is introducing a new learning activity to her class by using the classroom iPad. In her class, students are learning about engineering through a BridgeBasher app. Students are strategically grouped so that each student has the opportunity to lead and learn from others. Ms. Lena is amazed by the students' engagement and success rate as all the students have a variety of abilities when navigating the BridgeBasher app. 34 COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

Stemming on STEM: A STEM Education Framework for Students with Disabilities

“…The severity of the performances for students with disabilities is even greater when compared to their peers. While comparing international scores of students with disabilities is virtually impossible due to varying definitions for determining disability, nationally, students with disabilities perform significantly lower than their peers without disabilities (Aronin & Floyd, 2013;Basham & Marino, 2013;National Center for Education Statistics, 2013).…”

“…Some researchers have referred to STEM education as a broad education category involving math, science, engineering, or technology education; thus, teaching any one of the four disciplines can simply be referred to as STEM education (Cotabish, Dailey, Robinson, & Hughes, 2013;Watt, Therrien, Kaldenberg, & Taylor, 2013). Others consider STEM education to be the use of technology as a part of the instructional tools (e.g., iPad, pc) used in education (Aronin & Floyd, 2013). These perspectives consider STEM to be simply an acronym for grouping four disciplines without any relationship among four interwoven domains.…”

“…Recently, Teaching Exceptional Children, one of the most influential journals in special education, published a special issue about STEM education to explore various ways to support students with disabilities in the K-12 educational system. In the issue, Basham and Marino (2013) noted that the foundation of STEM education lies in engineering and suggested the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a curriculum design framework to implement STEM education for students with disabilities; Israel et al (2013) and Kennedy and Wexler (2013) explored the connection among content literacy, reading, and STEM and offered recommendations to create a literacy-embedded STEM for teachers; Aronin and Floyd (2013) incorporated technology components by using iPads and apps in teaching STEM; and, finally, Moorehead and Grillo (2013) explored instructional commonality when teaching both mathematics and science and implemented a co-teaching method to benefit students in STEM learning. All these efforts viewed STEM education as an interdisciplinary approach emphasizing active collaboration among STEM disciplines and expanded it to make a connection with other subject disciplines as well (e.g., reading, literacy).…”

Children, parents and tablets: Preschool children's tablet use

“…In a study by Toledo and Mattoon (2012), it was revealed that tablets reinforce children to work cooperatively in the classroom, increase creativity and communication skills among children. Tablets, which can be used as new material in classrooms, are presented to small and big groups of students with the guidance of teachers (Aronin & Floyd, 2013), thus tablet use is practiced under the control of teachers. In preschools, tablets can be integrated into the curriculum due to its facilitative effects on learning through various applications Aronin & Floyd, 2013).…”

“…Tablets, which can be used as new material in classrooms, are presented to small and big groups of students with the guidance of teachers (Aronin & Floyd, 2013), thus tablet use is practiced under the control of teachers. In preschools, tablets can be integrated into the curriculum due to its facilitative effects on learning through various applications Aronin & Floyd, 2013). Herein, it can be concluded that when under the control of teachers and in accordance with the program, tablet use in preschools can be an effective teaching tool (Couse & Chen, 2010;McPake, Plowman, & Stephen, 2013;Shifflet, Toledo, & Mattoon, 2012).…”