Today's history lesson finding out about Tutankhamen was extremely successful! We started off by making a mind-map on the board of the things we knew about Tutankhamen already. The children then copied this into their books and set to work using the I-Pads to find out more facts about the life and death of the most famous pharaoh. This would all lead to a whole-class quiz: Who Wants to be an Ancient Egyptian Millionaire (Pharaoh Edition) with a prize for the winner. Those who could find out the most facts stood a better chance of winning.
I was extremely impressed with how well the children worked together. Learning was definitely collaborative, as alliances formed to find, record and exchange facts. Pupils were very proficient using the I-Pads which stood out in comparison with their work using the desktop computers in the suite. The fact that the I-Pads are ready to go the minute you open the cover is a huge bonus and saves valuable learning time (as opposed to having to wait to "log on").
The final quiz was also a huge success. I used an online "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" Powerpoint template and added in my Tutankhamen questions, making them gradually harder as the quiz went on. I displayed the quiz on the IWB and each child started standing up with a small whiteboard. As the questions came up, the children had to write their answer A, B, C or D on their whiteboard and hold it up. Those who got the question wrong sat down, while those who got it right remained standing.
This was a great way of assessing how much the children had taken in from their research and it was amazing to see the effect of competition and a prize on their motivation to learn! The class teacher (who had not been present) even commented the following lesson on how much the children had remembered. I felt that the I-Pads added fun and efficiency to what had the potential to be a dull, fact-finding session, and the whole class Powerpoint quiz gave it some glamour.