Today’s reveal of the iPad by Apple has many interesting features that will not only change learning in the classroom but bring the same learning home. iBooks and iWork are two features that quickly stand out for education on the new 24 cm high device. Right now iBooks might help children and teenagers become interested in reading; allowing them to read an entire library of books at any moment, anywhere they are. But given a bit of time, students will have all their textbooks available too. Educators will not have to worry whether students have brought their books to class, instead it will all be in the iPad.
Apple's iPad tablet: Will it revolutionize education?
Secondly, iWork designed especially for the iPad will allow students to collaborate, take detailed notes and work on assignments at all points during the day. In a world where children are busy and stressed, this helps them maximize their learning during class hours.
The iPad, costing over half ($499 US) of the cost of a comparable Apple laptop, offers students a chance to browse the web, research, be in contact with other students around the world, read newspapers and plan their schedules. Although it won’t do everything a laptop might, it does handle most classroom and education needs. There are applications already that provide extensive calculators and graphic editing tools. If the software isn’t available as an app yet, then it likely will be.
The iPad will not radically change education in the short term, but it will make the technology more mobile, accessible and functional. And hopefully, it will get students and teachers excited about learning and reading. If it can do that, it is worth any price and all the hype.
How do you think the iPad will change learning and education for our children?
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About David Field
I hope there will be some third party software and hardware that will allow for written note taking. Some subjects, mostly the sciences just can't be confined to text notes only. I'm thinking of OChem, Biochem. I would like to have all of my notes on one device instead of having them spread across paper and digital formats.
I've just discovered a free iPhone/iPod app for note taking called Fliq. Hopefully it will work on the new iPad, but it allows people on the same Wifi network to easily share their notes with each other. This seems ideal for the classroom, even if it doesn't allow for visual notes like symbols and drawings as Dan has suggested. Hopefully those features will be added.
I think it will make learning and education a lot easier for students. The ability to do things on the fly out and about, is really cool.