<LISTSERV@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU> wrote:
> Subject: Re: ipads Lower School
Two good Nings talking about the general issue of iPads in education:
On Isenet.Ning.Com, there is a forum on "iPads in Education".
There's also a focused ning just on this issue:
http://ipadeducators.ning.com/
Quite a range of responses ... I'd be hesitant to try to replace a lower
school laptop cart with a set of iPads for a variety of reasons: limited
software (the iWorks suite can do very basics, but is much less functional
then iWorks on the Mac - which itself can't do some of the basics that Word
can do), difficulty of printing, lack of universal VGA output/mirroring,
lack of Flash/Java (taking away the wide range of interactive websites that
are geared to youngsters and rely on this technology). As a longtime 3rd
grade teacher, I think the difficulties involved in using the iPad would
make it counterproductive as a "laptop replacement".
However, I think it's much, much, much more than a fad. It's a whole new way
to interface with technology. I look at some first graders who still touch
the screen when trying to move things around, or left-handed second graders
with OT issues who struggle to use the mouse - extreme examples that aren't
the norm, I'll admit, but the touchscreen interface is so intuitive to kids
of this age ...
When I was a third grade teacher at Norwood, I helped pilot the tablet PC
program. Demetri Orlando and Susan Stadnik asked me if I wanted to try one
and what I would need with it - my first response was a wireless projector.
And then they said "go explore." Over the years I figured out what it could
do, it's strengths and weaknesses, how to solve problems (like switching
from wireless projector to networked). As one of the early adopters I shared
these ideas with my colleagues, I learned from their suggestions as well as
those of my students (who came up with innovative ways to use it when they
had a chance to use "my" tablet). And after several years, it became the
standard computer at Norwood.
I think a similar path would be the best way to experiment with an iPad in
Lower School. Keep the resources for a strong laptop or computer lab
program, with a reliable network ... But get a few iPads, give them to
teachers who will experiment with unique ways to use it, and see what
happens. Perhaps you'll discover that it won't work, perhaps you'll see so
many wonderful uses that the next year you'll be them for another 10
teachers, or but a cart of 10 to share among the students, or...
*****
Nate Gordon
Academic Technologist, Lowell School
Washington, DC
202-577-2017
[ For info on ISED-L see https://www.gds.org/podium/default.aspx?t=128874 ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
