Lots of people have been bringing up excellent questions about implementing and using the iPad in classrooms. Some of these comments and concerns have come from my own blog, while others have come from the blogs of others as I have tried to learn as much about the iPad as possible. One thing I have noticed through my research is that no one has really attempted to address these concerns. As an educator, I know that a teacher’s time is invaluable and often does not have time to seek out the answers themselves, and I know how frustrating it is to have lots of questions and not being able to find the answers. That was part of the reason behind me developing this blog.
Below I will discuss some of the common concerns I have read about the iPad and it’s use in the classroom. If schools are really going to start using the iPad, then these concerns and questions must thoroughly be answered. I do not claim to know all of the answers, but I will share what I do know. Some of the things I will say are still speculation as the iPad is not available for purchase yet, but I will try to address the concerns as thoroughly as possible.
The iPad as a Distraction (Games, Music, Etc.)
This is probably the most common complaint I have read about for using the iPad in the classroom. Even some of my students admit this could be a problem with students.
At first I was totally stumped on how this problem could be addressed. It is common in college lecture halls for students to take notes on laptops, but there are always some who are playing games, checking email, or updating their Facebook status while the professor is lecturing. It goes without saying that the same problem would exist in K-12 classrooms as well as the number of students using laptops or iPads in the classroom would increase.
I am not aware of the ability for a teacher to disable certain apps from being used remotely on the iPad. However, the iPad should have the ability to set up student accounts on the iPad which could limit their ability to install new apps or block access to certain apps already installed on the iPad. This could be one way that teachers could ensure students don’t use unapproved apps. This would only work if the school owns the iPads though. There is some debate as to the possibility of multiple users on one iPad though. Until the iPad is officially released, this will be unanswered unless Apple comes out with an announcement. It would be terrific if this were possible though.
If the students use their own iPads, this sort of restriction could not be used. It would be impossible to prevent students from using unapproved apps while the teacher was not looking. The only prevention here would be good classroom management.
However, I feel the real issue is not the iPad being a distraction because of games, music, and videos that can easily be accessed on it. The real problem is the content that is being taught in schools which do not actively engage students. To read a post I have written addressing concerns like this, go here. If students are really engaged with the content and what is being taught, if they really connect with the content and the mode of its presentation, if students value what is being taught, then the concerns of the iPad being used for non-educational purposes disappears.
Generally speaking, students who bring laptops to school use them appropriately during class. It is always the few who ruin it for the bunch. I do not think it is fair to ban the iPad just because it could be used inappropriately. As I said in a previous post, the iPad has the power to make the content and lessons much more engaging, so the likelihood of the iPad being used inappropriately would be greatly diminished. And, possibly if you provide students the reward of being able to play around on the iPad occasionally, you may be surprised how much more engaged they are during normal instruction time.
Opening, Editing, and Saving Documents
Apple has announced they will have an iPad version of iWorks. I works is a productivity software package available for Macs and is similar to Microsoft Office. For the iPad, iWorks will be available for $10 per application (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) for a total of $30. Apple says it will have the ability to open Microsoft Office documents like Word, and will also give the user the ability to save to these formats as well. This will make the using, sharing, and creating of common document formats very easy.
The only caveat is that an external keyboard might make this easier than using the onscreen keyboard for the iPad. A Bluetooth keyboard would be the best choice here. An external mouse will not be necessary though.
If you do not want to fork over the money to purchase the iWorks software, then you can always use free online web 2.0 applications like Google Docs [Not Supports as of May 5, 2010] and Zoho Writer [Works on the iPad, but has one to two second delay displaying the key strokes], which are the two most popular. Other options can be found here and here. These options should be available as long as you are connected to the internet and are using the web browser. Also, some of these might have issues if they require Adobe Flash to run, considering the iPad does not support Flash.
I am sure that shortly after being released that there will be apps available from the App Store that will also allow for the easy creation and sharing of documents. I mentioned what I would like to see in such an app on a previous blog post.
Mobile Carts or Just a Few iPads
Some schools have experimented and have succeeded at implementing one to one computing programs so that each student has a laptop. It would be terrific if every school could make it so each student has an iPad as well. However, I realize this probably will not be the case for most schools, at least for now. Due to financial constraints it just isn’t feasible in some schools to purchase an iPad for every student. In this case, how can the school successfully implement the use of a mobile cart full of iPads or a few iPads left in each classroom?
As mentioned earlier, it is only speculation if the iPad supports multiple user accounts. However, it can have a shared account so multiple students could use the iPad. That much is for certain right now.
Even with just a few iPads in the classroom, the entire makeup of the class can change. If groups of students are working on a project together, they can easily share one iPad. The iPad’s screen does support a wide viewing angle, so this can be done the same way computers or laptops are shared in the classroom.
These groups of students could work on unique assignments based on their abilities and interest level. One group works on one while another group works on another. Then they can share what they learned to the larger class.
If the iPads will be used on a mobile cart, each iPad can be synced to one account so they have the same software apps installed on it. This will ensure that each iPad has the same content. However, this could pose a problem for saved documents if they are only saved locally on the iPads. You would need to encourage and make sure students email themselves a copy of their work before turning the iPad back in. It would be awesome if an app would have this feature built in so it saves it as an attachment in an email automatically.
So, although my previous posts have worked off the assumption of one to one computing, there are definitely ways to make limited numbers of iPads work for a school, just as schools make limited numbers of computers or laptops available. However, it is my opinion that the greatest impact would come from having one iPad per student, because only then would electronic textbooks become feasible.
Final Thoughts
I know there are other concerns out there about using the iPad in schools, but these are the three largest I know of. If you still have other questions or comments feel free to ask me and I’ll do my best to address those as well. Stay tuned in the future for more posts about the iPad and other topics. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Related posts:
- Six Ways the iPad will Transform Education
- Is the iPad the Future for Schools?
- Three Concepts of iPad Apps for Schools
- 15 iPad App Concepts for Education
- A Friendly Disagreement about the iPad and Education
- iPad App Development…for Education
- The iPad’s Potential for Science Education
- iPad as an Education Tool
- The iPad IS a Media Creation Device
- My iPad is in Transit
21:10, 18.02.2010
online backup and/or virtual office apps could send created data offsite without the hassle of using email as an ftp. I know specifically of one online backup company that is currently developing such a capability, already with the capability to access/share files from the backup account.
23:43, 18.02.2010
Derek,
Wonderful comment. You bring up a point I had forgotten about. There really wouldn’t be a need to email if you could automatically save it to a online backup or storage service. I’d imagine you could even save wirelessly to a Bluetooth enabled external hard drive as well.
Thanks for bringing up the option to save without using email attachments.
18:30, 19.04.2010
[...] Common Concerns about the iPad’s Use in Education: This is one of the many articles written before iPad was released. It is included because this article is fairly thorough, and because the links in the right column of this site lead to many more articles about education and the iPad, all at Edutechnophobia. [...]
04:16, 05.05.2010
I was hoping to run students through google docs as well. But once loaded I found that students were able to view documents but not create new ones or edit documents. Fingers crossed it is possible soon. Am going to check out Zoho writer so thanks for that.
Amanda
09:43, 12.05.2010
One-on-one iPads is a ridiculous concept. Netbooks and even full-blown laptops can be obtained for the same price (or cheaper) than an iPad. They support Flash, ship with a keyboard, and have more memory and processing power.
True technology/curriculum integration is not about “sit-and-get”, it is about project creation. Students need to be taught how to work with information and media and turn it into something useful.
Playing games and surfing the net falls rather low on Bloom’s Level of Learning. Although the iPad is “cool” I think the novelty will wear out and people will realize that there is more “bang-for-the-buck.” Give students the processing power and know-how to build rich media!
06:46, 17.05.2010
Thank you for the earlier post. However, I still believe this unit has some intrinsic problems, especially for education purposes.
1) No Flash support, negating the use of many websites.
2) No simple way to add apps (mutli-user licensing, no ghosting of hard drives, etc…), and they must be purchased via iTunes. I already know of one district that is considering adding a $10 iTunes card as part of their school supply list.
3) No way to save student work, unless posted to an internet or intranet website. Either brings problems with student privacy (Google FERPA for details).
4) Difficult (or impossible) typing (the digital keyboard sucks), making writing assignments impossible unless you buy the external keyboard.
5) Price. Even with education discounts, the price is still comparable to low-end laptops (Gateway NV-79 $599 300 GB HD, 4 GB RAM) with much more functionality.
6) Even if we don’t allow students to take them home, who is responsible when one gets broken?
7) Reading books is one thing. How do you highlight or underline important passages? How do you make notes on the side?
The apps I’ve seen can be good educational tools, but once the “Oooo, Cool’ factor is removed, the true usefulness of the iPad seems somewhat lacking.
08:33, 23.07.2010
i took several ipads into class this morning…it took less than a minute for an enterprising student to upload angry birds onto the ipad.
so much for directed learning
the pdfs were loaded
the podcasts (chapterised ) were laoded
the video files were loaded
..but they played games regardless
it is not possible to disable APPs
it is not possible to have multiusers on one machine
the only way to limitm this sort of thing is to turn off wi-fi
and have required APPs pre-loaded
if it is 3G or a student device…..no way to conrol
so in K-12…we have a problem.
neybooks less so as there are fewer games
though same wi-fi issue as there are so many flash game websites..another reason not to have flash at all !!
looks like more worksheets on the way
or look to have fully featured creative devices eg macbooks rather than a cunsumer device like netbook/tablet/ipad
yes i have written ibooks and APPs
but the angry bird style game is difficult to compete with
13:27, 27.07.2010
The iPad as a distraction is a big deal. However, my personal iPad is set up to my own personal iTunes account. A student iPad that would be loaned to them from a school would not be linked to their personal iTunes account, but to a school-owned iTunes account. In that case the password would prevent them from downloading anything, including free apps. This way the admin for the iPad would only be able to choose what is on the iPad.
13:28, 27.07.2010
The iPad as a distraction is a big deal. However, my personal iPad is set up to my own personal iTunes account. A student iPad that would be loaned to them from a school would not be linked to their personal iTunes account, but to a school-owned iTunes account. In that case the password would prevent them from downloading anything, including free apps. This way the admin for the iPad would only be able to choose what is on the iPad.
Come visit our discussion of useful tips for iPad educators:
http://www.ededco.com/blog
21:10, 27.07.2010
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