Dwight Williams (left), LIME's head of products, visits the grades four and five music class where the students are learning to play the piano using a keyboard app on their tablet devices. Dalton Spence (right), music teacher at the school, gives instructions.
This class of four-year-olds practise their colouring skills on their iPads.
Patsy Palmer, principal of the Praise Tabernacle Christian Academy, shows a sample of the electronic lesson plans utilised at the school. Palmer has been spearheading a movement at the institution that will create a paperless learning environment in the future.
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High impact, interactive and targeted learning are some of the values which have been embraced by Patsy Palmer, principal of the Praise Tabernacle Christian Academy, in guiding the young minds who have been put in her charge.Students at 'Praise Tab' use iPads and other tablets powered by LIME's mobile data network to navigate lessons, complete practical activities or do research for school projects as part of their daily routine.
"They use it for subjects like French, arithmetic, and social studies and even for music," says Palmer. "We find that there are many apps that can be incorporated into the learning process and they are so interactive and child-friendly that we have seen where the children now learn faster."
She added: "The classroom is under a lot of competition. The children play with their computers, PlayStations and other games at home and so when they come to school, we have to move with the times and bring that competition into the classroom to create a tool for accelerated learning."
She further highlighted that the students have responded extremely well to getting music lessons via their devices, where previously interest in the subject was low.
"You have to look at the various learning styles and find a way to appeal to kinesthetic learner. Our teachers email homework, submit lesson plans electronically and use the device in the classroom to engage the students in an interactive way", she added.
Classrooms at Praise Tab are also equipped with projectors and in some cases speakers to allow for ease of use in teaching.
Naturally, many parents expressed concerns about the cost to acquire the tablets.
"I said to them, if you want your child to succeed, make the sacrifice and that's when I contacted LIME, which offered a payment plan for parents as well as for our teachers," related Palmer.