iPad as a teaching tool.

[artemishunter1]

Another Apple hater, go figure. Apple products, like it or not, are successful, and its because they work. Doesn't Apple still destroy the world of tablets as far as stocks and what not goes? There has to be a reason, and no its not "people gawking over 'shiny' things". Apple products just work, and it destroys my soul when people hate on them with stupid arguments, such as "You overpay for the hardware that's in it!", or "Your just paying extra for that Apple logo!"

How about maybe you pay more because your paying for a product that has its software developed by the same company that develops its hardware? Like the software/OS is made for the hardware that is in the device.

I've always said Apple is a company that focuses on it's software, and I will always say that, because its true. They make their software the way they want to, then decide what hardware is suitable for that software, and type of machine. They don't overdo anything, they do what works.

Well, you are paying extra for item that does the same thing cheaper product does. Do you not agree with that? Tell me the difference between Ipads and other tablets?

[Endus]

Naw, i feel like its unneeded. old fashioned text books and white board will still produce the same result imo. Saying that "i will learn/teach better if this ipad is used" is ridiculous.

Except that tablets are "cool". And that makes all the difference.

Job 1 of teaching is keeping students engaged and interested in the material. Particularly when some of that material isn't very exciting. If they're excited about the ability to play with the tablet, though, they pay attention. They're paying attention so they get to play with the tablet, rather than because they're totally excited about fractions or the US Civil War or what have you, but they're still paying attention.

There's not a big difference between blackboards and whiteboards, except for mess and such. Between those and a Smartboard, or tablets? There's a world of difference. Particularly if we include monitored Internet access in the mix.

Teaching is very difficult since you have an array of diversified students with different learning rates. How do we know ipad will be successful for the majority of the students? Textbooks don't fully solve the problem but i dont see how ipad will be any better. Technology doesn't always mean better.

That is, again, an advantage of the tablet. Heck, I've worked with students with an IEP that required them to have their computer in class. There's a host of advantages. In particular, it makes it easy to provide text and images to go along with lecture material, and can cut way down on paper use, above and beyond specialized purposes for which we already provide computers to those who need them (text-to-speech programs and so on).

The issue of handling the learning curves of every student is already a factor. Tablets wouldn't eliminate it, but it won't exacerbate it, either.

[Youarefired]

You could go with that, or you could get 3 equally good Android tablets for the price of one iPad.

[Elegiac]

I don't really understand why you'd ever need a tablet to learn things, that makes virtually zero sense.

I see no way in which this could really benefit anyone, just seems like a waste of money.

1) It means textbooks can be updated more frequently and more easily.
2) It lowers the cost of textbooks.
4) It is more environmentally friendly since less paper is used.
5) It allows for the use of visual materials far more easily.

To name a few.

[Reeve]

1) It means textbooks can be updated more frequently and more easily.
2) It lowers the cost of textbooks.
4) It is more environmentally friendly since less paper is used.
5) It allows for the use of visual materials far more easily.

To name a few.

It also allows for interactive learning. A geography game is much more educational much more quickly than a geography lecture.

[Windfury]

I'm a teacher.

All of my students already have laptops through a school program, it's the norm here and it works well. I've occasionally done supply work at schools without that technology and it makes a big difference in terms of being able to deliver more interesting, varied and engaging content. My lesson plans are generally built around the assumption kids will have that kind of access and then tweaked for those who do not, and integrating technology like that is considered a basic requirement of teaching here, it's absolutely on the list of things you will be required to demonstrate to get a job and so on. I'm a bit amazed that it's not the norm everywhere.

Here schools generally run a lease type plan for the laptops, the kids pay a couple of hundred dollars a year, plus repair costs for any damages that aren't under the warranty or were caused by them not using the cases etc. Cracked screens are pretty common, as is kids getting viruses and crap on them, in most lessons there's a couple of kids who won't have one that day because they're in for repairs. But it is definitely workable and manageable for schools to do.

Kids are of course kids and will use them for games if they can. There's software for me that allows us to monitor what's on their desktops from our own teacher computers (provided they're connected to the network), porn is an automatic total school suspension for three days for the first offense, and the computers can be taken away entirely for ongoing problematic use. That so rarely occurs I can't think of any of my students in the last few years who've had that happen. Most kids though will screw around with them when they're bored/disengaged/finished a task early and honestly it's on me as a teacher to stop that happening and to use behavior management strategies to manage it.

It can be frustrating - one of my subjects in particular involves a fair amount of independent research in the final year and there's always people that waste that time screwing around with their laptops. Ultimately though they have to make up the work in their own time, and a call home to their parents to let them know they need to generally goes a long way to making sure it happens and they get a little more motivated in their in class time.

In terms of tablet v laptop it depends a bit, tablets (assuming this is the kind that have optional keyboards) should be fine for school use mostly. I'd be able to do everything I use the laptops for with a tablet personally, some classes I can think of needing something more powerful though (music and various arts, industrial technology and things that have specialist suites of programs in particular come to mind), I guess computer labs could be used to cater to that though. They'd be lighter, smaller and cheaper, which is an issue for students. Personally I don't see why everyone wants an ipad - my own personal tablet is a Samsung that was literally less than half the price of the equivalent Apple model and I love it to bits, but it is on Android which I guess could be an issue. I'd assume the monitoring software and so on is only available on windows and whatever the Apple OS is.

Overall though it's great that your school has those kinds of programs OP if that isn't the norm. You're right that there's potential for abuse (but there is with everything - it's not like kids never slacked off before computers were common), but it can be managed as much as any behavior issues can be and teachers will be used to that. In general though it improves lessons a lot for everyone, and is much more convenient for the students, plus it teaches you the skills people are going to expect you to have when you get out of school. All good things imo.

[Endus]

4) It is more environmentally friendly since less paper is used.

Seriously, I don't think people understand how much paper teachers go through. In one of the schools I worked in, teachers had a 10,000 copy limit, per year, after that they had to pay. And 10,000 wasn't even close to enough, even fitting multiple handouts on a single sheet and cutting them up, to minimize wasted space (could usually get 3-4 quizzes per sheet, for instance).

And that was an elementary class. Grades 7+ are even worse; in an elementary classroom, it's one teacher handling every subject; you don't often need handouts for gym periods, art class has a separate budget, etc. If you're a history teacher, you can easily hit 30,000 or more sheets a year.

Sure, the cost of a tablet for every student is significantly more, but the paper budget for a school isn't negligible, either.

[skatblast]

little kids dont need ipads, they rarely use them for school work anyway. They just bring them home and dick around

[Elegiac]

I'd actually prefer them getting a laptop rather than a tablet.

Laptops build typing skills more effectively.

[Beasty]

For research etc iPads are far superior, the speed in which they are ready to use vs a laptop in an educational environment trounces them, I know for a fact our teachers far prefer using the iPads we have to the laptops when not doing large quantities of word processing.

If the kids had laptops you'd waste a good 10 mins waiting for them all to boot up for starters plus the battery life is far superior.

It goes without saying that students also prefer iPads to bulky laptops especially when transporting to and from school.

I've got 25 iPads sat next to me in multidock right now, within 5 mins they could be in a classroom being used vs a trolley of laptops, I don't even want to project a time for everyone to be sat down with a laptop that works and actually logged on. The only down side is that the only way they can access their files is through something called portico which on an iPad is clunky at best.

iPad 2's are £329 before educational discounts, that is really not a lot of money up.

[BHD]

At schools in my town, most students get a laptop for study, or depending on what grade they're in they might have to share with 1 other student. This mostly applies to grade 7-9 and then our version of high school (age 16-19), younger students usually gets to use stationary computers at the school, and teachers have iPads to use with the youngest kids to play and learn at the same time. It seems to be working very well so I'm for it, or at least some form of PC. Using a tablet for studying at a higher grade might be difficult if you have to write extensive notes during class.

As for the issue with inappropriate sites and playing games during class, I studied IT-Security so we all got our own laptop to use (same year they started with it in elementary school too, as a matter of fact, ours had more Adobe stuff for design-courses though) and while teachers scolded anyone playing games, they rarely took them from us. Without a laptop at a school only focusing on IT you might as well be at home sleeping. Some teachers did have rather large mirrors at the back of the classroom, so if anyone wanted to do something they shouldn't in class, it was rather hard to hide it. No one was stupid enough to watch porn at school, and what you do with the laptop at home shouldn't be the school's business at all.

[Prokne]

I dont see a problem with students using tables to do work, however they shouldnt be forced to use iPads. For one students should be using a computer system that is actually used in the real world and not just for toys. Secondly anything made by Apple is bad for students who want to learn computer science since it is such a closed system with very little upgradability. I also think its ridiculous that some schools are laying off teachers and dont have enough money for books or other supplies and some are getting computers for each student. These schools obviously have more money than they need which should be spread to schools that actually need it to teach their students rather than giving them a $500 pad of paper.

[ebah]

If students cant play with them in any way (unless its somekind of teaching game), then sure i guess its good teaching tool.

[paralleluniverse]

I am a Junior in high school and next year my district is undergoing a "1:1 iPad initiative". This means every student will be loaned an iPad and will take notes, do homework, etc etc on the iPad rather than pencil and paper. I am in an AP Bio class and we have them and i feel for the most part students use them to their potential. I'm just worried because i know kids that aren't in AP classes will not treat this as a learning tool but instead will use it as an entertainment tool as if it's their own.

Moral of the story, are you pro or no "1:1 iPad initiative"?

Write and learn and take notes on a iPad?

WTF.

In the real world, people don't write or learn or take notes on an iPad. They do these things on a computer or on a piece of paper, but certainly not on an iPad.

Can you run Excel on an iPad? What about Matlab? Can you code in C on a iPad? How do you write equations on an iPad? LaTeX? No? Time to get a laptop, with Windows 7. iPads are gimmicks.

[LocNess]

Write and learn and take notes on a iPad?

WTF.

In the real world, people don't write or learn or take notes on an iPad. They do these things on a computer or on a piece of paper, but certainly not on an iPad.

Can you run Excel on an iPad? What about Matlab? Can you code in C on a iPad? No? Time to get a laptop, with Windows 7. iPads are gimmicks.

iPads are extremely helpful in college though (and tablets in general) and for the future it is wise to be good at using them. They are relatively new and expensive at the moment, but I am sure given a couple years, just like smartphones, tablets in general will be everywhere in jobs. They are too helpful.

[paralleluniverse]

iPads are extremely helpful in college though (and tablets in general) and for the future it is wise to be good at using them. They are relatively new and expensive at the moment, but I am sure given a couple years, just like smartphones, tablets in general will be everywhere in jobs. They are too helpful.

Name 1 thing an iPad can do that a laptop can't.

[LocNess]

Name 1 thing an iPad can do that a laptop can't.

They are a lot more efficient and portable. Now before you jump on me, yes laptops are portable (no duh), but they are awkward and clumsy if you are quickly trying to pull it out and write something down. You have to either balance it on your arm and type with one hand, plus open it up and make sure it is running, or find a surface to set it down which may or may not be available.

Any sort of tablet or iPad you just press a button, open a program on the screen, jot down the quick note, and you are done. It isn't clumsy to carry around or hold while using. It is a lot more portable overall.

Now obviously laptops can do more than tablets and such at this time, but if I was going around an office collecting notes or in meetings, I would rather have a iPad over a laptop.

[BHD]

For simply taking *small* notes, you could always use your phone. When I'm out and about and I need to remember something (serial code or whatever) I either take a quick photo of it or write it down in my phone. But as this is about schools I don't see as much of that as you're usually in a class writing extensively.

[Pull My Finger]

do homework, etc etc on the iPad rather than pencil and paper.

How exactly is that supposed to be desirable or educational?

[S7orm]

iPads, seriously? if you really want to throw away some money i'll give you my IBAN

there are dozens of cheaper, faster, sturdy tablets around