Top of the Apps (part 1)

iPads are ideal for use in primary settings, due to their portability, speed of use and range of apps. In this series of posts, we will explore the most useful iPad apps, the reasons for them being so useful in primary settings and possible applications across the curriculum.

Distilling a list of the useful apps down to the top 5, 10 or even 20 is quite a challenge! For this reason, this will be the first in a series of 'Top of the Apps' posts, all exploring the most useful, versatile and best value apps for primary schools.

Let's begin! (cue the music...)

#5 - Voice Recorder

Voice Recorder is a simple, often overlooked app on iPads. It has a single function, to record and save voice recordings. Why would you use Voice Recorder over tools like iMovie, Book Creator, Puppet Pals, Arduino Science Journal, or other multimedia apps?

As stated, the power of voice recorder is in its simplicity. Through using Voice Recorder, children can focus on their voice input without worrying about other multimedia possibilities.

This can be particularly useful for talk for writing. Children can rehearse their sentences verbally before committing them to paper. Children's internal voice is often a precursor to their effective writing and giving them the opportunity to rehearse their ideas verbally before committing them to the page gives them confidence and reduces their cognitive load when it comes to writing.

Voice Recorder can also be a useful tool for children to use while interviewing, creating podcasts or recording their findings in Science or Humanities subjects.

Overall, Voice Recorder is a tool that children should be fluent and effective at using on iPads.

The power of Voice Recorder is in its simplicity, allowing children to concentrate on the content of their voice recordings.

#4 - Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a virtual learning environment (VLE) . We are all familiar with concept, but is is easy to forget what a revolution this has been.

Using Google Classroom, teachers can post materials to students which they can access at their own pace. Children can access differentiated materials, including images and videos. Children learn to communicate with the teacher and each other, learning digital citizenship and digital literacy skills as they access their learning.

And this is only scratching the surface.

Using Google Classroom, teachers can organise materials into assignments for students to complete, materials for reviews and Forms for testing and assessment.

At primary-level, Google Classroom enables children to learn the basics of working effectively in an online environment, as well as benefitting their independence, ability to review past materials and ability to communicate and collaborate.

For these reasons, it is an essential iPad app.

#3 - Canva

I covered Canva in a blog post here. Canva is quickly becoming one of the most powerful tools for education, owing to the development of the Canva class environment, teacher tools and the range of templates available to children and teachers.

Teachers can set up classes and invite children to join using links shared with them via a VLE. Once children have joined a class, teachers can assign them work and see work handed in to the teacher.

What separates Canva from a VLE like Google Classroom is the seamless integration of graphic design tasks like infographics, posters and collaborative whiteboards. Teachers can create templates and share these with children, or ask children to create their own. Collaborative whiteboards are a particularly powerful tool, enabling a class to contribute ideas on a topic in real time.

Children can also use Canva to create infographics, posters, advertisements and their own collaborative whiteboards. Put simply, Canva is a joy to use and children love its design and collaborative tools.

Creating whiteboards in Canva is an effective way of engaging the whole class in idea sharing and collaborative work.

#2 - Keynote

Keynote allow children to quickly and easily present their ideas, using cutting edge design tools.

Children can choose from a range of templates and add images, shapes, text, animations and design to create effective and engaging presentations. These is a strong case for Keynote becoming the primary method of children's presentation of idea, since it combines ease of use with striking visual results.

In this blog post, I wrote about he potential for Keynote to create animations at primary-age level.

Children can import images from the internet, or us their own photographs as a base layer to draw on top of. They can then develop their drawings through animation in Keynote to cerate animated ideas about a topic. In this way, Keynote becomes much more than a presentational tool, becoming an an effective tool for creating animated work about a topic.

Children can use Keynote to create animations.

#1 - Book Creator

And at number 1, yes, you've guessed it, it's Book Creator!

Book Creator is, in my opinion, an essential paid iPad app. It combines drawing tools, voice recording tools, text editing, digital design, comic strip creation and e-book creation into a single app.

Book Creator can be used as a digital workbook or portfolio across the curriculum. It can be used to record observations in Science, progress in Computing, practical work in Maths and progress in PE lessons. Photos and audio clips can be easily inserted, annotated and presented.

In this blog post, I wrote about how Book Creator can be used as a flashcard maker, in language learning, but also across the curriculum. Making flashcards is a highly effective way of children learning new ideas and taking ownership of their learning.

One of the best uses of Book Creator is making flashcards. By making flashcards, children take ownership of their learning and learn knowledge effectively.

Book Creator is a great precursor to a full virtual learning environment (VLE) like Google Classroom. Children can use Book Creator to save their digital work, take photos of their learning and annotate their photos. Teaches can open children's e-books and leave types, written or voice feedback.

Comic strips are a great way for children to show their learning about a wide range of topics. In their comics, children can combine text, photos and drawings, as well as traditional comic strip tools like speech bubbles and actions. Children can make comic strips to show their understanding in Science, History, PSHE and English. Choosing which words and phrases to use is a valuable challenge that makes children think carefully about the key ideas they wish to convey.

A simple, but effective tool in Book Creator that is easy to overlook is the emoji tool! Opening the drawing tools gives access to emojis which can be used as illustrations or even artwork across the curriculum.

Concluding thoughts

In the Top of the Apps post, we will look at subject-specific apps in more detail. examining how iPad apps can support leaning across the curriculum.

In the mean time, try out the above, highly effective, cross-curricular apps!

Metacognition across Primary Subjects

Metacognition is often defined as 'thinking about our thinking'. Children can to be taught to apply this metacognitive thinking to the activities they do, both in education and in their everyday lives. Metacognition is referred to through the computational thinking requirements in computing, but is an important part of subjects across the primary curriculum.

The importance of metacognition

The Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF) states,

'pupils who are metacognitive demonstrate independence and resilience throughout the learning process.'

https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/guidance-reports/metacognition

Children who are taught metacognitive strategies are more likely to succeed as they adopt logical approaches to solving problems. They are able to recognise the resources around them, and become more aware of their own knowledge and barriers to success. In this way, they become more active participants in the learning process. The Socratic maxim, 'know thyself', ('gnothi seauton'), refers to the value of knowing one's own thinking.

A common metacognitive process

I am interested to explore commonalities in metacognition between subjects. While subjects have unique challenges, the more we can help children connect thinking process between subjects together, the more likely they are to use metacognition successfully.

These are some child-friendly principles that have application across subjects:

• Reading the instructions carefully

• Looking at the tools available to me

• Deciding what success looks like, including looking at examples

• Thinking about patterns

• Remembering where I have done this before

• Pausing

• Breaking the problem down into solvable chunks

• Thinking about things I get stuck with and ways to overcome these barriers

• Being considerate of others and the environment I am in

• Persevering when something is difficult

• Implementing and testing a solution

It is difficult to produce a list that covers all aspects of thinking, but a concise list such as that above is a useful, cross-curricular way of prompting primary metacognition.

Where metacognitive strategies can be agreed upon within establishments, they can be referred to frequently in lessons by students and teachers.

English

Reading activities in English have particular focuses that children can be taught to recognise. When I started teaching, I learned these as the 'AF' (assessment focuses). Children became competent at understanding what type of questions was being asked, enabling them to draw upon their previous experience of answering similar questions and to identify patterns when answering questions well, such as giving two pieces of evidence from a text. Giving children strategies to answer different types of reading comprehension questions taught them to produce insightful, confident and informed responses to texts.

Writing is one of the most difficult activities for many children at school. Writing can involve so many aspects, including fine-motor skills, spelling, recall, creativity, knowledge of context, grammar and concentration.

Primary English teachers often support children with their writing by reducing their cognitive load across these areas. Children are given opportunities to freely discuss creative ideas, so that these are ready when they begin the writing process. Children can be provided with vocabulary, writing scaffolds and common sentence structures, such as those provided by writer and educational consultant, Alan Peat. This helps them to spot patterns in writing and use structures that they have used in previous tasks. Children also become aware that they have a toolkit of sentences structures to draw upon, decreasing their cognitive load and giving them confidence as writers.

Children can also use the language of metacognition when they are writing. Teachers encourage children to break story writing down according to the 'story mountain' of opening, build up, problem, resolution and ending. Children can then focus on one aspect at a time. They can think about patterns within sections of writing, such as patterns of description, dialogue and persuasive writing. They might identify barriers to their writing and recognise when they encounter these, knowing where to go for additional ideas and inspiration. Children using talk for writing, perhaps using the iPad voice recorder app to rehearse sentences, are implementing and testing solutions to the writing problem.

Maths

Maths is best though of as a language. Like a language, maths requires repetition of concepts until they become familiar and fluent. These concepts can then be applied to solving problems, just as vocabulary is used in communication.

Because of the repetition that is needed to learn something, children need perseverance and effort within Maths lessons. They need to be taught to recognise when they are expending this, what to do if they are not making progress and when to recognise their success. They also need to be taught to recognise the value of repetition, being the only way to learn new skills and ideas.

Children should be taught to recognise the tools they have available to them when solving maths problems. These tools can include them using physical resources to help them, as well as drawing diagrams and using taught methods. This also includes them reading questions carefully and identifying the language and amounts that are important for solving the problem.

Recognising where they have solved similar problems is an important part of children's success in maths. In computational thinking, this is known as 'generalisation'. Children need to be taught to make connections between repeated addition, multiplication and division. They need to be taught to associate their experience of measurement with conversion questions, and to link this to multiplication and division. They should be taught that formal division methods like short division are really just shortened ways of asking how many times a number goes into another number.

Computing

Metacognition is crucial to computing, as made clear in the opening part of the National Curriculum for primary computing, stating,

'A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.'

Computational thinking is a form of metacognition that is particularly well-suited for computing. Computational thinking involves,

• Decomposing a problem

• Pattern spotting

• Abstraction (ruling out unnecessary information)

• Algorithm design

• Debugging

Generalisation is sometimes included as a step in computational thinking.

While these terms are commonly used for computing problems, they have clear parallels with some of the cross-curricular strategies described above.

In computing, children need to be taught to identify and use the tools they have to solve a problem. These tools can be physical tools, including motors, sensors and electronics equipment, blocks of code or types commands.

Children need to be able to identify patterns and sequences that are needed to solve a problem. Once patterns are identified, shorter more efficient code can be written using repeat loops.

Children should be taught to recognise where they have solved similar problems before. Whenever they are programming a game using Scratch, children will need to make sprite move around the screen using code like 'forever, if pressed, change x or y by 10'. They should not have to think of the solution to this problem if they have used this code in a previous task.

Children will also need a significant amount of resilience when solving coding problems. They will need to be taught the importance of this, as well as strategies to use when they cannot solve a coding problem. (I have been stuck on coding problems for hours, for the solution to come after a period of rest and other activity)

The BEBRAS competition is a yearly event run by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. It is a perfect opportunity to focus on metacognition with children, thinking about where to start solving problems, ruling out information, process of elimination and other strategies.

The BEBRAS competition is a perfect opportunity to discuss metacognition with children and make them more aware of their thinking

Conclusions

It is clear that there are crossovers between subjects in terms of the thinking processes required. Even in practical subjects like PE, children can be taught to look for patterns, break movements down, look for support when needed and use resilience.

Metacognition, like growth mindset, is becoming much more prominent in primary schools, supported by organisations like the Educational Endowment Foundation (EEF).

For metacognition to become established universally in schools without adding to an already significant teaching workload, it needs to become embedded in subjects through common language, also recognising the subjects specific challenges that exist. This embedded approach, along with opportunities for explicit practising of thinking skills, will give children the independence and confidence they need to tackle challenges across the curriculum effectively.

The 2025 Curriculum Review and Primary Computing

In 2014, the updated English National Curriculum set out revised standards for teaching in England. For primary computing, this included the powerful opening statement,

'a high-quality computing education education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.'

I have no doubt that computing teaching has offered life-changing skills, opportunities and inspiration to children in the years since. From primary computing, some children will have progressed to become developers, digital artists, filmmakers and engineers. The introduction of computing has opened doors to students and tapped into a huge wealth of talent in the UK.

Eleven years later, does the National Curriculum meet the requirements of the modern, rapidly developing digital society we live in? How will the recommendations of the 2025 curriculum and assessment review affect primary computing and wider digital literacy?

Current situation and the need for review

Imagine introducing a brand new subject into primary education. There are arguably plenty of possible candidates: engineering, gardening, politics, entrepreneurship, to name a few!

In 2014, this is what happened when Computing replaced ICT.

The response to this new subject and the success of computing has been astounding. Teachers have risen to the challenge of teaching coding, problem solving, digital literacy and use of IT in creative and inspiring ways. Supported by enthusiasts and organisations like MIT (authors of Scratch), code.org, the National Centre for Computing Education (NCCE), First Lego League and Apps for Good, computing has not just succeeded, but flourished in primary schools, as children create games, films, apps, robots and physical systems.

However, 12 years is a long time in the digital world. Opportunities and challenges arise and evolve quickly. Our primary children now live in a world of smartphones, virtual learning environments, social media and now of course, generative A.I.

Does primary computing do enough to prepare them for these opportunities and challenges?

The 2025 Curriculum and Assessment Review

The Curriculum and Assessment Review sets out its aims in the 'Foreword' section, including 'to build on strengths, in addition to identifying numerous opportunities for improvement', and being 'mindful of the school curriculum beyond the national curriculum'. Indeed, the subtitle of the review, 'Building a world-class curriculum for all', is surely the correct, and only conceivable aim we should have for education in the UK.

In the 'Computing' section of the review, there is little that seems to directly impact primary computing. The opening paragraph states,

'Computing education must equip children and young people to participate fully in a technology-driven world and thrive in the workplace, whether they want to pursue careers in the digital world or use technology effectively in other fields.'

This does apply to primary computing and encourages teachers of primary computing to match up the skills and knowledge taught in computing with the modern world, with specific reference to the workplace. Design of physical systems and engineering using technology like Microbits or Crumble kits and work on projects like Apps for Good address this creative, employment-focused approach.

However, the main focus of the Computing section of the review is secondary education and the effectiveness of GCSE Computer Science. The review proposes replacing Computer Science with Computing, broadening teaching to include digital literacy and specifically, teaching about A.I.

The other part of the Computing section of the review that could be relevant to primary computing is the recommendation that the Government,

'provides greater clarity in the Computing curriculum about what students should be taught at each key stage so that they build the essential digital literacy required for future life and work.'

In Computing and Digital Learning for Primary Teachers, I provided a progression of skills, specifying what the key-stage objectives of primary computing can look like for each year group. Further clarity of what the three strands of computing: computer science, digital literacy and information technology, as well as computational thinking look like for primary year groups would be welcome, but I think this is unlikely when the recommendations are implemented in 2028.

Digital skills across the curriculum

In the national curriculum, computing is not the only aspect of children's education concerned with preparing children for the digital world. Personal, social health and economics education (PSHE) and relationships and sex education (RSE) set out teaching requirements for e-safety, healthy online activities and sources of information. The new RSE requirements are due to be implemented in 2026 and address many of the risks that children are currently exposed to.

In the Curriculum Review, the Citizenship/PSHE/RSE section includes media literacy as an area that young people,

'have highlighted a need for greater support to interrogate information in the context of a proliferation of misinformation and disinformation through various media, especially given the amount of time that many children are now spending online.'

The review also states,

'The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and trends in digital information demand heightened media literacy and critical thinking, as well as digital skills'.

The 'Digital Literacy' section explains how being digitally literate 'empowers children and young people to thrive in a technology-driven world, use technology safely and fully engage with learning across the whole curriculum.'

The review is concerned with current digital literacy provision, stating that,

'a lack of digital literacy has a negative impact on the ability to safely use, and critically engage with, digital technology for personal and work purposes. Those who are digitally disengaged can struggle to navigate a digital society and access work opportunities.'

The review makes if clear that digital literacy is primarily located in computing teaching, and this need to be refined. Digital literacy is also present in subjects like RSE Geography and Science, which require use and critical analysis of empirical data.

In terms of AI, the revies states,

'Recent advancements in AI and generative AI have made digital literacy even more critical. While the long-term impact of AI remains uncertain, young people should understand how it works, its capabilities and limitations.'

The review recommends that AI be addressed in the computing curriculum.

Implications for primary computing

As noted, the main focus of the review of computing seems to be on secondary teaching. Some of the observations of the review are relevant to primary computing, but primary computing is scarcely mentioned in the review. What are the implications for primary computing teaching?

Despite the lack of specific focus on primary computing in the review, many primary teachers will read the review and see opportunities and challenges relevant to the children they teach. Primary children are able to engage in economic, career-driven projects, as participation in programs like Apps for Good proves. Children at primary level benefit from having real-world, vocation-related contexts to their work and will benefit from projects that help them to understand careers and structures in the society around them.

Teachers will also recognise some of the challenges mentioned in the review in primary children and will want to improve media and digital literacy. Many primary children have unrestricted internet access at home and digital literacy and safeguarding are vital to address this. This includes age-appropriate teaching on sources of information and AI.

The UK is well placed to become a leader in technology education. The Curriculum and Assessment Review aims to ensure the UK offers 'world class teaching for all'

Conclusions

The review recognises that in come cases, the ten year review cycle might be too infrequent, stating,

'Some areas of the curriculum may therefore need more regular updates than others, and this is particularly the case for disciplines affected by rapidly evolving digital technologies.'

It is likely that given the quickening pace of technological development, computing teaching, digital and media literacy teaching will receive further review before ten more years have passed.

I am positive about the curriculum review and implications for primary computing, its ambitions for work-related teaching and its aims of addressing media literacy and digital literacy.

Primary teachers will have to consider how the mainly secondary-focused recommendations apply to them, but I have no doubt that, supported by the incredible primary computing community, they will embrace the opportunity to further develop primary computing teaching.