Through a guided discussion students shared ideas about how, when, why, and by whom. They began by deciding that they could only learn 2 apps a day. Next, they thought about the fact that some students already knew some of the apps. After that, they debated on how a student could teach other students an app. Then, students self-selected which app they felt was their 'expert app'. Lastly, students applied a technique from PE for grouping off in order to group students with a kid techxpert in class. Finally, each student techxpert took a small group of students and demonstrated the functions of the app for five minutes. Once the five minutes had gone, the other students got their ipads and practiced what they had learned. The student techxpert would monitor and support the others while practicing.
Over the 2 days, we completed the process for all 4 apps so students had the opportunity to either be the techxpert or learner. Not only did these lessons accomplish our goal of students learning how to use 4 out of the 6 core apps for first grade, more importantly, it set a foundation in the classroom that students saw each other as excellent ipad/app experts and resources.
