Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Kids using IPad...Successful or No?

It has been suggested that my dd10 use an Ipad with dragon speak for her classes due to dysgraphia. Has anyone done this with success? Any thoughts? Thank You in Advance!

I'm not sure an iPad is a very good replacement for a laptop. The battery isn't going to last as long, the software keyboard definitely leaves something to be desired as well. You can work around these issues, but for less than half the cost you could have a netbook and spare battery.

Our dysgraphic ds12 has used a regular Mac laptop for his schoolwork since 4th grade, but is enrolled in a school which requires all students to use an iPad for 7th - 8th grade. Hes in 6th this year. We researched iPad vs laptop solutions last summer looking ahead one year, and at that point in time I would have said the voice recognition wasnt up to speed with the laptop plus word substitution software and math software that he needed werent available. I've been to a presentation by a local tech support group that works with people with disabilities later in the fall which was specifically focused on iPads and left with the impression that things were evolving quickly and perhaps my ds would be able to more fully more to an iPad in school next year.

I don't have any answers at the moment, but we'll be looking at ds specifics with the tech group later this spring - I'm purposely waiting to take that next look until closer to the time ds enters 7th grade because the technology does seem to be rapidly evolving. My guess at this point is the iPad is going to have most of what he needs except math support software.

polarbear

Ps for Amy - fwiw our school chose iPads for size, portability home to school, ease of support, and file transfer purposes and gave each child access to the school wifi network. Apparently previously the teachers spent a lot of time dealing with file transfer issue between home computer and school; with everyone on an iPad they can require same format for files turned in for everyone.

Another reason for deciding on the iPads was access to online textbooks through iBooks. The bonus with the iPads is an amazing array of educational apps that the students have discovered as well as the teachers.

Re cost, most of the families chose to purchase non "g" pads which are lower cost.

polarbear

Right now, she is using a laptop but for portability, it is heavy and she has a weight restriction, so by time she carries the laptop, she is already over her 5-8 lb limit. She has a netbook which is ighter but it does not have enough RAM to run dragon speak. She also has access to learning Ally, which has an app on the ipad...not sure if this is something that can be added to a laptop or not.

With the keyboard issues that were mentioned, has anyone used the add on kepboard? or would that take the only USB port that would be needed for her headset for dragon speak?

I think I still have lots of questions that I will need to research! I suppose if the school decides that an ipad is what they are willing to offer, then that is what we will learn to work with.

Thanks again for all of your thoughtful responses!

1) there is no USB port on an ipad. There's a headphone jack with 3 connectors - that allows microphone usage as well.

2) There are bluetooth keyboards that work great, but seriously eat up battery. If you go that route, I would make sure your DS knows how to turn bluetooth on and off, because if it's left on all the time her battery will be dead very very quickly.

Our son uses an iPad and iPod touch, and he does fine with the screen keyboard. The battery life is 10 hours on an iPad, so he doesn't need to plug it in during the school day. We were having issues transferring files from the school computer to the teacher's laptop, so my son now uses his email account to send files from his device to the teacher's laptop. And there are several universal connectors to connect the iPad 2 to VGA, DVI, and USB.

With his dysgraphia and dyslexia, I'm just sorry we waited so long. There are some great educational math games that have already helped him over some barriers he was having.

I'd get a mac air.

Yep. Macbook Air or an ultraportable Windows notebook, or even one of the new Windows ultrabooks, would fit the bill nicely.

ABQ, what math games do you like?

I find the ipad's toylike qualities might pose a distraction for in-school use. But if you set a lot of restrictions (don't let the child make purchases, download apps, etc) it could work for some things.

I find that the ipad's built-in word completion cramps my style-- I wish that could be turned off. If you're trying to teach a child to spell independently, that may be a hindrance.

DeeDee

ETA: Dragon for the Mac is also apparently nowhere NEAR as good as Dragon for the PC. Read some reviews before you make that investment.