Just outside of Taipei’s business district is Zhiqing Municipal Elementary, a public school that serves over 700?students from kindergarten to sixth?grade. The school is led by Principal Chang Juiting, who believes technology enhances students’ critical thinking skills and creativity — and that learning with iPad can help them compete on a global?stage.

“We always believed it should be 1:1?for the students,” says Tsai Weijung, Director of?IT. “iPad helps students achieve more personalised and diversified learning, and it gives teachers a lot of flexibility in their course design.”

Their iPad rollout started in just one department: Natural Sciences. Now, the school is 1:1?across fourth, fifth and sixth?grades. They use a blend of school and parent purchased devices to round out their deployment — so every student gets an iPad and the school stays within?budget.

Teachers across the school are finding it easy to integrate iPad into their teaching practices. They’re now able to develop creative, engaging lesson plans that fit their students’ learning?styles. Teacher and Apple Distinguished Educator Li Chinchi attributes this to the broad array of Apple Professional Learning resources?available. “For me, Apple is not just about products. They understand what we need. They design products that allow us to present content in the classroom more intuitively and let students present creatively,” says Li.

In Wang Tingyi’s Chinese writing class, students use dictation on iPad to help write essays — which allows them to sound out syllables to figure out characters as their ideas come to?life. Not only does this give Ms Wang’s students a boost of confidence, but it also increases output?too. Their average word count in essays has nearly doubled since the introduction of?iPad.

International studies instructor and Academic Affairs Director, Wang Xinjie, creates imaginative, engaging assignments from start to finish on?iPad. He assigns prompts in Keynote and sends his students out to take photos of murals around the?campus. Students then work collaboratively to make short videos using the built-in camera on?iPad?— allowing them to express their learning in their own?way.

As a result, iPad has also been embraced by parents as a tool that enriches their child’s?education. Each student’s learning history and course work is available on iPad — so parents know what the teachers are teaching and how their child is doing at any given?time. And parents get to see first-hand how it helps them understand new concepts and apply what they learn in innovative?ways.

From teachers to school leadership to parents, everyone at Zhiqing Municipal Elementary has seen the value of iPad in the classroom?—?fostering more personalised learning and teaching for?all. And as an Apple Distinguished School, students are given a great foundation to achieve their fullest?potential.