I have just come across a great blog by Ian Wilson who is a freelance Apple Education mentor. In one of his posts, he discusses why iPads should be used for learning. Here is an edited extract (full blog can be found at ipadineducation.co.uk):
1.It occupies a new space in technology, one which is still undefined to some extent, yet which is likely to be significant over time. The space is between the mobile space occupied by phones and iPods, and the portable space which is where laptops and netbooks live.
2.It will help to personalise learning - it is widely recognised the 1 to 30 one-way knowledge-transfer model is fast becoming redundant. As teachers and lecturers begin to create new ways of tackling this issue, the iPad could play a useful role in this transformation.
3.The end of networks? - the iPad could be the beginning of the end of the dominance of managed networks in education. How much time is wasted not being able to ‘log in’? How often is the network ‘down’? The iPad could hold all the apps a learner needs for a day/ week/ month/ term’s work. The only network needed will be robust wifi throughout the school buildings and in as many open outdoor spaces as possible.
4.No more ICT suites - too many schools segregate their technology from everyday teaching and learning by placing it often in a dark, windowless room and timetabling when learners can access computers. Children are then herded in large groups along the corridor to use the computers. Thus technology becomes compartmentalised and discrete rather than ubiquitous and generic.
5.It’s a blank canvas - the scope for apps written specifically for teaching and learning is huge. Educationalists can work with developers to create new and innovative software which reflect the learner’s needs and expectations in technology. Essentially the iPad is a tactile and engaging mobile device which could transform the way people learn.
6. When all the potential functionality of the iPad is added up, its form factor, the iOS, the cameras, and the apps, it becomes clear that the iPad is a Personal Learning Studio. It can be a science lab, literacy tool, research station, history archive, language lab, art canvas, music studio, video editing suite, games console and library.
What do you think?
Ryan
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I've really enjoyed reading these posts - fascinating to see the insides of these changes that you're making. I've particularly enjoyed reading about the blocking of the timetable and the yr 7 challenge days - all great stuff.
While I think iPads are exciting and interesting, it's mostly because of the ease of which we can do things. I'm reminded of Clay Shirky's point that :
Communications tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring… It's when a technology becomes normal, then ubiquitous, and finally so pervasive as to be invisible, that the really profound changes happen.
The challenge then for us as educators, is to think about what kind of education we'd like to provide with that technology.
The danger is we get too swept up in either one device or too obsessed with possibilities to see the reality. To an extent this has ever been the case. Videos, Language Labs, IWBs - now all used as part of teaching and learning, none of them ever quite delivering the revolution they promised!
Anyway, thanks again for the blog. Hope to meet you face to face before too long!