Technology and innovation power learning at Yennadon Elementary

At Yennadon Elementary, being an Apple Distinguished School is more than a title.

It’s about creating an accessible, inclusive learning environment where students and staff use technology to collaborate, think creatively, and engage in meaningful ways.

“Technology can be seen as being more of a consumption tool to access information,” said Gary Lozinski, principal of the school. “Yet, I think that what we try to emphasize is it being a productivity tool, something that will actually facilitate learning and also [the] curiosity that comes in that process.”

Students in Grade 6/7 classes at Yennadon Elementary each receive their own iPad to use in class and while working on assignments at home for the duration of the school year.

This one-to-one program helps meet students where they are, according to Grade 6/7 teacher Megan Kossaber-Graham.

“We use the iPad for every single subject,” she explained. “We have different ways that we use it within projects or to link to the curriculum, and then students have the choice and a lot of flexibility and creativity where they can pick how they would like to present the information to us through different apps.”

Grade 7 student Madden says he has used Pages, Keynote and iMovie to show his learning.

“We did a novel study wrap up where we could do our own thing,” he explained. “I made a movie trailer for it to wrap up the entire book.”

It’s also great for brainstorming ideas, he added.

Yennadon Elementary is one of only three schools in British Columbia and 18 across the country to be recognized as an Apple Distinguished School.

To qualify for the three-year designation, a school must have an established one-to-one program that uses the Apple platform in an innovative way to create new opportunities for learning.

“It really does make learning accessible for all,” Kossaber-Graham said. Students are able to “show their understanding at their [ability] and their grade level and where they are, which is a great thing for accessibility for kids.”

For Grade 7 student Colton, using the iPad to learn has been a game changer.

“My ADHD has made things a lot harder to learn, definitely,” Colton said. “And then in Grade 6, when I first got to use the iPads, it helped me so much, like, it was amazing. It makes it a lot easier to type.”

Zoey, who is also in Grade 7, says the iPad is useful in every subject, including English, French and math.

“It helped me learn how to write papers better and learn how to use Word, which is really helpful for high school since that’s basically what we’re going to use,” she explained. “It helps with math a lot, doing equations that I can’t do inside my head. And with French, WordReference is really helpful.”

Her classmate, Alexa, agreed, adding the iPad has “drastically” improved her French, essay writing and typing skills.

“If I want to find a synonym for a word to spice up my essays, it’ll help me find that so I don’t have to sit there thinking for hours,” she said.

Yennadon Elementary is reapplying for the program in June to renew its designation.