Lately, I find myself drawn into conversations about equipping students with iPads whenever discussions turn to technology issues. Schools
across the nation are reaching for the iPad as the next big thing in classroom
technology by equipping students with an interactive way to learn by instantly accessing
information through apps and interactive tools.
Students can access an entire library wherever they go as the learning
is mobile and easily carried from class to class moving away from the standard
bulky textbooks that require new additions vs. instantaneous updates. While the iPad is the newest craze, it is the speed at which technology's creative destruction is advancing that forces us to be more nimble as we introduce new technologies into the classroom through planned integration vs. knee-jerk purchasing. Absent well thoughtout application and expected educational outcomes, this purchase ends up being just a large expenditure with no real value add questioning the return on investment. |
| Typical Middle school backpak |
As more districts begin to embrace the
technology from coast to coast the real question is not if; but when they will
become an essential part of every student’s basic issue of supplies.
The iPads costs around $750 apiece,
and they can be used both in and out of the classroom making them a perfect alternative having two textbooks, one at home and one in the locker. They allow students to connect and interact with teachers in much the same way as electronic digital dropboxs used in most college and universities. They also provide students with the ability turn in papers and homework
assignments, and preserve a record of student work in digital portfolios.
According to a January 4, 2011 article in The New York Times, “It
allows us to extend the classroom beyond these four walls,” said Larry Reiff,
an English teacher at Roslyn who now posts all his course materials online.[ii]
"Technological
fads have come and gone in schools, and other experiments meant to rev up the
educational experience for children raised on video games and YouTube have had
mixed results. Educators, for instance, are still divided over whether
initiatives to give every student a laptop have made a difference academically."
"At a time
when school districts are trying to get their budgets approved so they do not
have to lay off teachers or cut programs, spending money on tablet computers
may seem like an extravagance."
"And some
parents and scholars have raised concerns that schools are rushing to invest in
them before their educational value has been proved by research."
[i] The
New York Times, Math That Moves: Schools
Embrace The iPad. January 4, 2011
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