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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

How Schools are Putting the IPad to Work

Liz Exo’s Blog post:

I read the article about schools, mainly universities that are implementing IPads into the school. In the article the author describes the ways in which the IPads are being put to use. First off, they are being used as recruiting tools to get prospective students to go to their university. The students have a choice of purchasing a laptop or an IPad, which is about half the cost. Also, IPads are being used to increase classroom participation. There is an application on the IPad that allows for the teacher to ask the students quick true/false questions or even short answer questions throughout the hour, so that students that normally don’t participate can be held accountable. Other advantages to the IPad are that it can take the place of a traditional textbook, and that it is less distracting than a computer with internet.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for new technology in the classroom, but I am a bit wary about the idea of the IPad completely taking over the classroom. Personally, the idea of the IPad replacing textbooks makes me nervous. For some reason, I am not as comfortable reading online as I am reading through a textbook. I don’t seem to concentrate as much, and I think being able to write in the book helps me take in the information more easily. Also, I wonder where the funding for all of these IPads is coming from? Personally, I think that money could be used for education in other ways that buying the latest technology.