iPad and Apple Pencil proposal

In the diocese I work in, we have Education Officers and Inclusions Officers (approx 16 in the team). Recently I proposed to our Assistant Director of Learning Services about equipping all of our officers with iPads and apple pencils to help the officers lead the way in schools.

Below is part of the proposal. My Assistant Director has approved the proposal and the project is due to be started in December, next month. The officers will have an upskilling session and then time to simply play with it the iPad and pencil over the summer break. Next year we will then regroup and target more of the professional learning with it.

Proposal:

In a study entitled “The Pen Is Mightier Than the Keyboard: Advantages of Longhand Over Laptop Note Taking”, the authors Pam A. Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of the University of California-Los Angeles found that students who took notes by hand, outperformed laptop note takers on the understanding of concepts. One reason for this is that laptops increase the tendency for students to record information word for word therefore constraining the thinking and processing of information. Keyboards provide ways of writing faster and neater, however often students type the presenter's words, not process the information. The ability to sketch, draw and annotate is needed so that students are able to make concepts with their own knowledge that the information being shared by the presenter. 

If students had access to digital inking they could process and summarise the information instead of typing factual information. Students would be able to problem solve, hypothesis, conceptualise through the power of digital ink and access higher order thinking skills. The notion of digital inking is also supported by research from the Association for Psychological Science on how notes taken by a pen support better long-term comprehension (cite 2).

This is relatable to the work EO’s and IO's do. We would take the affordances of handwriting with the affordances of technology.

Some examples include:

• Mark up of emails using screenshots etc - this allows you to highlight important sections, draw diagrams, provide feedback to teachers and members of the leadership team.
• Draw directly into note taking apps. These notes can be collaborated on within the EO team.
• The use of the split screen function allows for the reading of professional articles, system documents and take handwritten notes while having the articles, documents open side by side. This stimulates the processing receptors of the brain and allows for meaningful and relevant note taking. 
• Limits the amount of plagiarism - as the user converts and processes the read or verbal information into their own words. The use of digital inking allows for teachers, EO’s and students to use the iPad as a mobile “whiteboard” with the ability to draw, annotate and explain ideas and concepts.
• Digital "Inking" or Sketchnoting

iPads enable improved learning and productivity, to ensure the iPads stimulate thinking and problem solving, a pencil and the ability to digital ink is crucial.

References:

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140424102837.htm