Listening to Students: What Grades 1–3 Reveal About the iPad’s Role in Learning

In an earlier study (linked here), I asked 86 students in Grades 1–3 to draw how they felt when learning with and without the iPad. Those images revealed patterns in engagement and emotion, but they also left me with more questions. My guiding question throughout this research has been: How do students perceive the iPad’s role in their learning? This second phase, the semi-structured interview, was designed to dig deeper into their perspectives.

From the 86 students who participated in the drawing activity, I selected 16, evenly distributed among the three split classrooms and representing all three grades. Together, this group reflected the full range of emotions and perspectives seen in the drawings.

As I met with each student, I asked them all the same questions, but not necessarily in the same order. I wanted these conversations to give insight not only into what students use their iPad for, but the role they believe it has in their learning. The questions fell into three main categories: perception, behaviour and understanding.

Each interview was recorded, and then afterwards transcribed and coded. Coding involved tagging specific patterns, such as apps mentioned, types of problems and if they were easily solvable, required training or were simple user error. 

Looking at the results, 81% of the students mentioned that they use the iPad for research. Those that mentioned a specific research tool are noted below:

   

In collaboration with the teacher-librarian, we created a visual for students to reference in their classroom while conducting research. This helps ensure that students are receiving information from an age appropriate and credible source. 

Within these interviews, students mentioned creative apps (e.g., Keynote, Pages, iMovie) 24 times, while consuming apps 40 times (e.g., Google, Epic). This balance suggests a strong lean toward passive use, despite student enthusiasm for the iPad as a learning tool.

What stood out was that most of the “negative” feedback wasn’t actually about using the iPad for learning—it was about outside factors or issues that could be easily addressed.

  

Many students expressed a genuine appreciation for the ability to read and research on their iPads. Still, their comments made me think about how to create more opportunities for them to be active creators rather than primarily consumers. 

Some of my favourite moments came from their exact words:

 

In the end, these conversations confirmed what I’d suspected: students value the iPad as a learning tool, but the way they use it—and think about using it—depends heavily on the opportunities and guidance they’re given.

A ready-to-use Semi-Structured Interview Question Bank, organized into the three categories of perception, behaviour, and understanding, is included in the attached resources for teachers who want to try this process with their own students!