The iPad: An Opportunity to Change Education

Posted by | 01/28/2010 | 25 Comments

ipaddockAround 1450, a man named Johannes Gutenberg created a device that has had an immeasurable impact upon all people.  His machine, the printing press, made it possible for text to be distributed much faster than the scribing process.  Fast forward to 2010, the year that Steve Jobs and Apple Computer introduce the iPad.  The iPad, Apple’s new tablet computer, has the potential to forever change how students learn and teachers teach.

Here are three reasons why the iPad could be appearing in a backpack near you.

Price
Perhaps the biggest selling point of the iPad is the affordable price.  Early rumors and expectations placed the entry model near or above $1000.  The cheapest model of the iPad will be available at $499.  This realistic purchase price makes it a viable option for schools and students on a budget.  Although many high-end netbooks are currently available at a comparable or slightly lower price, the iPad’s design and software make it worth the premium.

Size
The iPad is perfect for mobile learning.  Stack the iPad with a pile of books and head to your next class.  Place it into a backpack and hardly notice it’s there.  Granted, there is still a lot to learn about the durability of the screen and case, but the iPad simply could not be any more perfect for transporting.  The available keyboard dock is a great accessory for those times when a traditional keyboard is more appropriate.

ipadsize

Operating System
The iPad runs a beefed up version of the iPhone/iPod Touch operating system.  This means it plays nice with all of the currently available iPhone apps out of the box.  Offering much more than a traditional e-book or the Amazon Kindle, Apple’s app store contains 140,000 useful applications and games to date.  I never expected to see a day when the amount of software for available for an Apple product far surpassed that of a Microsoft product (iPhone OS vs. Windows Mobile).  Gone are the days when nobody would by an Apple product because Windows software was more plentiful.

ipadbinderNot only are there a multitude of available apps, the operating system is intuitive.  An elementary child could easily operate and interact with the graphical user interface (GUI) of the iPad.  The iPad’s ease of use makes it perfect for the classroom or even someone who has been out of school for quite a while.

Sure, the iPad does have limitations and room for improvement.  It is very disappointing that Apple has yet to support inking capabilities.  Let’s not forget that Apple is a company which benefits from upgrades and newer versions.  Expect future iPad’s to have cameras, larger screens, and longer battery life.  We may even see support for inking through 3rd party applications and custom made pens such as the Pogo Sketch.  Despite some folks criticism, the iPad will eventually be a success in the classroom.  The device itself may not be as world changing as rumored, but the flood of soon to be released tablets are changing how we interact with the Internet.

If you work in education or currently take classes, we’d love to see what you think.  Hit up the comments to let us know how the iPad will change your studies.

Additional Reading:
Check out all of our coverage of the Apple iPad.
Here is an article detailing why I believe the tablet platform is excellent for education.
Read why I earlier thought of skipping out on the iPad.  Sometimes seeing is believing.
See that my early report of the iPad from July 2009 was pretty accurate.

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Category: Editorials, Hardware, Software

About the Author (Author Profile)

As an educator and school counselor, Matthew is an advocate for using technology in the classroom and passionate about exposing students to technologies that will empower them in their future careers. Follow Matthew on Twitter.
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  • SeanHI

    For a University student studying any science this device represents nothing. It would serve as little more than a toy and another useless distraction. The iPhone and iPod touch have served a role in labs and lectures, since they are small and make excellent voice recorders, unit converters, periodic table, and other simple tasks. But to fill the niche of notes, textbooks, research papers, data collecting, etc. this device would need to actually be able to do these things. For a student note taking is critical and must be done fast with efficiency. Keyboards are fast, but highly inefficient for science. Most science courses and labs require things to actually be drawn or characters written in. Also while taking notes it is sometimes necessary to open another document or look something up at the same time, without multitasking this is impossible. With or without speed, opening and closing something does not work well. Textbooks also will only be useful if offered at affordable prices, but it seems apple has already targeted books around the same as other ebook stores and I am sure they will follow suite with textbooks. I do not know if anyone has ever tried to read an ebook on an LCD screen for extended periods? It is not pleasant no matter the amount of eye candy. What seemed to me as a nice feature was the larger screened maps application. When doing field work my iPhone has been irreplaceable for maps and adding a terrain features seemed like a good deal. But AGPS is weak and some level of note taking on a saved map would be the only way to make this useful for that task. Also the most useful feature of any tablet is that you can take it outside and walk around. Sadly apple chose to stick with screens that do miserably in sunlight and once again remove another aspect of usefulness for this device. Also at the price they are selling it, it is much to expensive (even with ed discount) for most college students, who would still have to get a normal computer. For $300 or less at the bookstore we can purchase a netbook to do all the features of this device and we won’t have to worry as much about damage, since clamshells are better protected than this slab of glass. The back isn’t even flat to allow you to lay this on a desk or table.
    This product is shockingly disappointing for many of those I do research with and myself. It disturbs me that people would try to justify this as an educational device, since it only carries the merit of toys”R”us toy. I’m sure some teachers might find this a useful device, such as kindergarten teachers who need something to distract children. Since this device was announced I have held out hope of a sick practical joke or an Onion prank or something. Sadly I think apple was dead serious when they released it and honestly believes their own marketing. “Revolutionary,” more like remake of an old device. “Magical” is exactly what it will be if you actually see these on campuses.

  • Antimatter

    As a graduate student of physics and engineering, I have to wholeheartedly disagree with the author, and echo the sentiments of various posters here, especially SeanHI.

    I use a latitude XT for my work. I write and run physics simulations on it to collect data, and analyzed it using Excel. I take lab notes using one note, and do homework using journal. When I’m taking notes, I have my syllabus open, supplementary notes, and my textbook. I’m constantly switching between any of these, copying diagrams from my books into my notes and marking them up. When I read my textbooks, which are all on my computer in PDF, I’m writing on them and marking them up. I do presentations almost daily, sometimes ad hoc, and am constantly in the front of the room with my tablet hooked up to a monitor, annotating the slides. Finally, I’m constantly interfacing with a variety of devices, passing files between classmates’ computers, logging on to servers, printing to various printers, accessing robots, projectors, scanners… pretty much any standard device you’d find at a university.

    Every single thing I mentioned above, all of which are part of my daily workflow as a serious student, is completely impossible with this joke of a tablet.

    Apple designed this tablet for one thing, and one thing only: consuming media. It’s not a tablet, it’s an easy to use, intuitive portal to the iTunes store. This is for the passive couch potato, who wants to sit in a chair and consume their media like a good corporate drone.

    There are four things Apple needed to do to make this the perfect student device, and they only did one (they gave it the right price). First, they needed to add a stylus. This much is obvious. Second, they needed to add multitasking. This much is also obvious, but it applies to everyone. Finally, they needed to add some amazing collaborative and software. Think microsoft courier.

    I know I might sound a little jaded, and that’s because I am. I had high hopes for this thing to bring something new to the table. Now I’m just scared. I’m scared because if it’s successful, we’re going to see more and more of this tripe from HP, Dell, Asus, and the tablet market as we know it will be dead. We’ll be left with a stable of media consumption devices, which do nothing for those of us who want to do more than sit on the couch all day.

  • GoodThings2Life

    @Antimatter, your closing argument about your fears is spot on (along with the rest of your post).

    If this is the type of device that consumers want, it’s the type of device we’re going to continue getting, and all the progress we’ve gained for as Tablet PC users will not only disappear, but the progress we’ve requested will be forgotten.

    This is definitely the time for the Windows-based Tablet PC to shine if OEM’s are smart about it… inking, multitouch, multitasking, and price it right, and we’ll be there.

  • Eric

    Look, there’s a problem with the way people view education. Especially those who haven’t been in a classroom recently. I’m not criticizing, just saying that unless you’ve taught for a living, you haven’t thought about teaching from all the angles. I’m sure most of us can say this about our jobs, but since everyone went to school, they believe they understand what goes on there.

    So, what’s the problem? It’s that education is viewed as being about transferring facts and information from one source to another. Education is not about facts. The facts are already out there in books and, now, online. No education is about helping someone learn how to think, how to make connections between ideas and concepts, and to be able to make good decisions about that which they know and that which they haven’t experienced yet. In learning these skills, facts and information are used for illustration or as part of the language of the topic. But, the facts and info are NOT the learning.

    The iPad is all about transmitting facts and information. It cannot revolutionize education because it cannot help me in any way that a computer hooked up to projector cannot. It might help students carry all their books around, but that’s about it. These same students will still have to carry a laptop with them if they want to write a paper or use some program for their class. I’d much rather these students have a tablet and use it for an ebook reader…at least they’d have a place for digital notes and all their computer needs.

    The iPad looks like a really nice device that I’d only get if I was really wealthy and wanted a great toy. I’d not use it to educate anyone.

  • bb

    Why is it that every time some shiny, new but underpowered gadget comes out, it is hailed as the perfect educational tool?

    Rather than needing less power, educational tools usually need more.

    The iPad or something like it might come to replace paper textbooks someday (though more because textbook publishers hate the used book market and are always seeking new ways to keep their margins high), but replace full scale computers, let alone “forever change how students learn and teachers teach”? I doubt it.

    I find (convertible) tablets hugely useful in higher education and wouldn’t want to live without one (the only reason I haven’t gone over to the Mac OS completely), but they haven’t yet revolutionized either teaching or learning.

    bb

  • Scott

    @Eric:

    Very well said.

    My fear is that my district will see this as THE tool because it comes from Apple and it has a great price. I want my students to have tools to create…that’s what the Apple II was all about back in the day (showing my age). I love the fact that students aren’t waiting for our district to enter the late 20th century and are getting their own technology (not a low SES school)

    the digital divide is growing larger exponentially.

  • OMGWTF

    Hey Matthew – how ’bout you let Apple write their own ad copy?

    “realistic purchase price” For whom? Like you said, iPad costs more than a cheap laptop/netbook and WAY more than a library book, a pad of paper, and a ballpoint pen.

    “perfect for mobile learning” Unless you want to do something super advanced like, say, circling something important that you just wrote down.

    “keyboard dock is a great accessory” No, it’s not (unless you don’t plan to express ideas in your own words in more than one location). It’s a cludge at best.

    “Despite some folks criticism, the iPad will eventually be a success in the classroom” No, it won’t. It probably won’t be widely adopted for all the reasons the other commenters will point out. But if it is widely adopted, it will represent, more than anything else, an utter failure of the educational process.

  • tabletenvy

    I let my preschool age daughter play with some simple alphabet/spelling apps on my iPhone. Likewise, my grade 2 daughter plays with some simple math apps.

    I could see them using these on the iPad.

    For very young kids, maybe. Beyond elementary school, I have my doubts…

  • Norman D. Robinson

    The most important thing I need to do as a student is take notes. How do I do that effectively without a pen. Can you all just stop and reason that through? I’m assuming you have come to the same conclusion that both touch and inking features are a real requirement.

    Mr. Jobs please make this so….., I’m soooo disappointed.

  • MobileJoel

    I can see Microsoft’s ad retaliation for the iPad. Bring back the three ladies (or equivalent) from the Wendy’s commercial, dressed like librarians/teachers. Have them poke around the iPad, then one of them says, “Where’s the pen?”

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