Educational+Opportunities+&+Challenges

 The Apple iPad presents a tremendous amount of educational opportunities by giving students new ways to search, communicate, relate, and visualize information. The power of the iPad in education is undeniable; the device is personal, portable, and mobile. Learning is not reserved for those students inside the walls of the school during school hours- it is now independent of time and location.

The value of this technology is derived from its many applications- it can be used in all subject areas to enrich learning and save time. For example, instead of spending valuable time reading about the Periodic Table and color-coding the elements by their various trends, students can now use the free Periodic Table App, which color-codes everything for the users, provides quizzes with feedback, and gives fun facts about each element. This lesson would normally take a teacher about 50 minutes in a general-education sophomore Chemistry class without the iPad and about 15-20 minutes with it- freeing time for the teacher to go more in-depth into the topic. More examples of how the iPad can be used in specific content areas are shown later in this wiki.

The iPad also presents information to students in new ways. Students can now learn through different methods such as game-based learning, collaborative learning, and gesture-based learning. According to the 2012 Horizon Report, within the next three to five years, more game-based learning applications will be available for teachers to implement in their classrooms: “Developers and researchers are working in every area of game-based learning, including games that are goal-oriented; social game environments; non-digital games that are easy to construct and play; games developed expressly for education; and commercial games that lend themselves to refining team and group skills. Role-playing, collaborative problem solving, and other forms of simulated experiences are recognized for having broad applicability across a wide range of disciplines.”(New Media Consortium, 2012) Without 1-to-1 iPads or other mobile devices, students would not have that opportunity to learn in a game-based environment.

Students with iPads are able to communicate and collaborate more than students without them through their access to collaborative Web 2.0 tools. One of the goals of the 2010 National Educational Technology Plan is that “states, districts, and others should develop and implement learning resources that exploit the flexibility and power of technology to reach all learners anytime and anywhere.” (U.S. Department of Education, 2010) The use of collaborative Web 2.0 tools allow learners to work together anytime and anywhere using their school issued iPad devices. Students can use websites such as Collaborize Classroom, CrocoDoc, Edmodo, Google Documents, Skype, Voice Thread, or WikiSpaces on the iPads to collaborate independently of time and space.

The iPad gives students a more natural learning experience through gesture-based learning. Students can tap, swipe, tilt, shake, and rotate an iPad to interact with virtual objects as they would with real-life objects. According to the 2012 Horizon Report, “gesture-enabled devices aid collaboration, sharing, and group interactions” as well as help blind, dyslexic and disabled students learn by reducing the dependence on keyboards. (New Media Consortium, 2012)

There are challenges associated with iPads, however, the benefits far outweigh them. Problems can occur with the devices themselves or can occur through physical, economic, social and educational mediums. Physical problems may occur with students with motor disabilities that may not be able to hold or shake the device as required by an App. Personal economics may be an issue for families that cannot afford internet or the price of the Apps required in a classroom. Social problems such as inappropriate online discussions or internet searches and cyber bullying may become a problem in school adopting iPads. Time wasting and distractions can also become a problem in a classroom that uses 1-to-1 iPads. However, many of these issues are discussed in this wiki along with ways to reduce these problems.

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