Just playing around with the iPad to see if it is useful as a blogging device. I am typing two handed with the device in landscape orientation and getting about one-third to one half my usual typing speed. I'm also staring at the keyboard rather than touch typing. I should add, though, that this happens pretty much any time I transition to a new keyboard type - like when I get a different laptop model.
I have spent the last 24 hours thinking about how a $499 16-Gb wifi iPad with about $100 dollars in accessories and software would work for students. A few ideas:
1. When my students come to class, the agenda for the day, the plan for the week, and their warmup problems or activities would already be in their hands on their desk.
2. The free whiteboarding programs are sufficient for student work that involves sketching and minor text - like doing free body diagrams, right triangle calculations, etc. Most importantly, this could be saved and quickly uploaded to a student blog so that it is permanently saved and accessible.
3. Applications like WolframAlpha would replace/reinvent our use of scientific calculators - for the better, since solutions are so multifaceted with graphs and such.
Oops Joey (my two-year old) is demanding access again. Gotta go.
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Ok some more:
ReplyDelete4. The iPad is intrinsically social in comparison to laptop, which can present a vertical barrier. This addresses a huge concern of those who see "1:1 laptops" to be synonymous with "laptops in the classroom" (I don't).
5. The battery life is exceptional. Exactly what you'd need and more. Addresses another huge concern of faculty.
6. Exchange compatible.
I'm feeling a bit of frustration that we don't just pick this or something like it up right away. Try it out. And go all four years - the idea that seniors might not be doing computing in a standardized way until 2015 or later is appalling.
My priorities:
- ubiquitous, reliable, portable Internet/web access for students 24/7
- students creating and processing content as much as consuming it
- applications which extend and revolutionize (end) the traditional textbook
- a tool students would use anyway because it's the right tool for the task
Good news: the Wolfram|Alpha app is now $1.99 (as opposed to the former, rediculous price of $49.99). The app's enhanced keyboard makes it far easier to use than the mobile website. I look forward to trying out an iPad for myself soon!
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