iPads in Year 1: Small Steps, Big Impact

It’s been almost a month since I stepped into my new role as Primary Digital Learning Lead at Garden International School (which is why it's been a little while since I wrote here!) After ten years as a class teacher, the shift has been both exciting and challenging - but most of all, rewarding. I’ve had the chance to be in classrooms from Year 1 to Year 6 over the last few weeks, helping teachers and students bring coding projects to life, build healthy digital habits, and, for many of our youngest learners, take their very first steps with a tool they’ll be using for years to come: the iPad.

For many of us, the thought of handing out iPads to a class of five-year-olds can feel daunting. It’s easy to imagine the scene: a chorus of voices calling for help, login errors and low-battery warnings, and an overwhelming list of apps that feel more confusing than useful. But there's a truly fantastic way of getting young children creating original projects straight away with just one native app.

A year or so ago, I joined an Apple webinar event which featured a presentation by the very knowledgeable Rachel Minns of Tech Play Teach, which changed the way I thought about technology use for younger learners. Her advice? Always start with the Camera.

"Early learners can now easily document their discoveries and share their stories of learning with others."

Below, I'll take you though an example lesson for Year 1 students that introduces iPads to them for the first time, and takes them on a journey to capture their first photos and use Markup to share their thoughts and ideas.

• What can an iPad do? You’ll hear 'gaming', 'videos', 'chatting'. Acknowledge these responses, then reframe: in school, the iPad is a learning tool - it helps us solve problems, create original work, and express ideas in new ways.

  
  

• Set expectations. Share the goal of this lesson: to capture photos and make them our own by drawing directly on top of them. Agree a few simple rules: carry with two hands, keep the screen facing down when listening, and press the lock button to put the iPad to sleep when it’s time to finish.

  
  

• One step at a time. Remember, this could be the very first time ever holding an iPad for some students. Be explicit. Show them how to get past the lock screen, where to find the camera and which button to tap to take a photo. You might want to create a short screen recording that you can have on loop on your classroom screen that slowly shows each step:

1. Capture a photo (of an object, rather than a person)

2. Open the photo

3. Tap Edit

4. Tap Markup

5. Change the photo by drawing something on top!

You can take this activity even further. In Markup, tap '+' to drop in shapes, speech bubbles, stickers, emojis, and text. Here are a few real creations from our Year 1 learners.

Starting with the Camera keeps things simple, purposeful, and joyful. It builds early success, sets routines, and gives every child a way to capture and communicate their thinking, before you ever open that great new app.