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For anyone that didn't read the link, this is happening in New Zealand.
I think it's wrong anytime a school mandates something very expensive and of questionable value. Ipads are great but they are not nearly as versatile as laptops, which I also don't think are essential for the majority of students.
I respectfully disagree. At the very least, highschoolers should all have laptops/netbooks. A netbook costs only as much as a few textbooks.
It seems as if districts would even be able to save money if they went to netbooks or e-readers instead of textbooks. With GPS locators and remote kill-switches, the devices are useless if stolen and relatively inexpensive if lost. The typical student at our school is issued between $300 and $500 worth of books every year. If they are lost, that's much more than a netbook.
It's a Status Symbol, Plain and Simple
Like any gadget, the iPad is a status symbol. Like any Apple gadget, it's an expensive status symbol. It's something we've been trained by society and lifestyle magazines to want, simply because it's a luxury — and if we can be the first to have it, somehow, we "win." To combat this, you can sit your kid down and, being very earnest, tell them that they don't need things to make them popular with their classmates.
Very true. Apple applications are all style and no substance.
I'm not Apple fanboy, but that's kind of an uninformed statement. From what I've seen of them, they are an incredibly powerful multimedia tool with the ability to allow the use of digital textbooks and a host of other teaching tools, while simultaneously giving a platform to do work.
I'm not Apple fanboy, but that's kind of an uninformed statement. From what I've seen of them, they are an incredibly powerful multimedia tool with the ability to allow the use of digital textbooks and a host of other teaching tools, while simultaneously giving a platform to do work.
Like I said in my previous post - it's good for business but not so great for engineering or other technical uses.
"Improve" education by giving a struggling kid an ipad...and at the end of the year, if all else remained equal, he will still have the same chicken brain and fail algebra.
Real education requires real disciplined effort that isn't always fun. Real education requires active involvement and support from parents as well as teachers. If these things are not addressed, then shelling out cash to give the kid the latest doodad gadget is ultimately a waste that will not move the needle on student achievement.
If you wanted kids to be technology ready wouldn't you use a regular laptop that has a diversity of programs instead of an Ipad that only has Apple applications?
An iPad doesn't only have Apple applications. It has an extremely large variety of applications made by thousands of worldwide developers. And they are a lot lower in price than programs you would purchase for a laptop, if not free.
As a teacher I see iPads as fantastic for the classroom with digital textbooks that can be updated regularly. I can't stand it when I walk in a classroom and see textbooks that are over 5-10 years old. Plus, it would lighten the load in students' backpacks with no excuse for not brining their textbook to class.
The money school districts would save in the long run from buying way-too-damn-expensive physical textbooks would be a blessing in disguise.
The iPad is a status symbol? Gee... I guess I better not get one to make my teaching life so much easier. Never mind the iPod touch I want to get to control Keynote presentations from my MacBook.
Last edited by A Flock Of Budgies; 07-30-2011 at 12:30 PM..
An iPad doesn't have any more inherent capability than a netbook. It is just cooler. Further, a netbook is FAR more practical to type on, so students could have their textbooks, essays, and class notes all in one place.
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