As a follow-up to Zoe’s post about the iPad:
Some schools in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Virginia, and other states are buying iPads for students to use in the classroom as part of a pilot program. They are being used by kindergartners and high school students, special ed students, and high- and low-achieving schools alike. The iPads are being used as replacements for textbooks, for turning in assignments, for learning material through different kinds of media, and other diverse purposes for all subjects, from math to history to science to English.
The effectiveness of the iPads as an educational tool is largely debatable. The schools that are experimenting with them believe that the iPad is the technology “they have been waiting for;” they think that not only will the learning process be aided through apps (applications) on the iPad, but the rate of homework completion will rise because students see the iPad as a “cool new toy.” They also believe that the iPads, in the long term, will be cost-effective, though they individually are expensive at $750 apiece. Opponents argue that the benefits of multimedia on learning are not proven, and that the money spent on these iPads would be better used recruiting and training teachers.
Though I do think it is important for schools to use updated rather than outdated technology, I think they have jumped too quickly to spend enormous sums of money on the iPads. It is likely that a better version of a tablet computer will come along soon enough, and I do think that relying on apps on the iPad will affect the quality of teaching from real, live, actual teachers.
So, take a stance! Do you think this is a good idea or not, and why?
7 comments:
Although iPads sound great and all and are a step forward into using more of the technology around us, in many ways there are flaws in using these in schools. I find Ipads would be distraction to use because many students are going to find ways to not work on their work on them or not read there textbooks on them and instead play games or explore the apps. kindergarten students may not be able to do all this but i know that many little kids get frustrated when they don't get things and typing on an ipad or any touch screen device is quite difficult and the little kids will become annoyed of the ipad.
Another thing about using an ipad in school is that you don't get the sense of being able to touch a book, highlight ideas, write notes, and easily turn back to a page or forward when desired. Yeah ipad's most likely highlight and write notes in the margins but it is not the same as using a traditional book. I find technology really distracting and if i were given an ipad to do work on i know i wouldn't learn like i would with a book and i would also be busy fooling around. This may be an opinion but i fell for many this would be true.
In addition to Christian's arguments, I also believe there could be a chance of increased plagiarism and cheating that could occur with the new technology. Although it would be great for some students to use and probably assist a great amount of them in making homework more doable, there will undoubtedly be a few students who will be clever enough to circumvent the rules and find ways to manipulate the system to benefit themselves.
Even though I think it is a great idea for school to use better technology in the classroom, I agree that the schools have jumped too quickly. Although it may seem neat and fun for students to learn from iPads, I believe that the cost for so many will not be worth it. Where would the schools even acquire the money to fairly supply the students? I believe hat the money should be saved on training the teachers more effectively because I believe that a textbook kind of education is better than using technology (besides the internet and obvious things like that).
Ipad: Because a smartboard wasn't enough.
Not a good idea. Kids would break the IPads costing the schools thousands of dollars a year to replace each one. Also do you really think students would actually do their work with the IPads or just play games on them all day.
Ipads do seem like a good idea for the schools, but it's just another distraction for the students. Everything from Safari to games are things that will cause them to diverse and disturb the learning process.
Just pointing something out to josh and cris....
Ipads don't need to come with all the standard features you see in the stores. Things like the app store or the internet can be disabled. For example, there are some restaurants that use Ipads for their wine list and NOTHING ELSE. Basically the argument that the use of Ipads in schools is invalid. BUT you can still argue that its a waste of money.
This is obviously just a stunt set up by the school (and possible apple) in order to attract attention. Ipads are not needed to accelerate our learning. Its basically like dangling a shiny object in front of a cat. (smartboard anyone?)
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