Discussion #3 – a couple of more thoughts
In regards to creation vs consumption with the iPad… If I am about to create media for tomorrow’s lessons, what tool am I going to use? My tablet, laptop or desktop? While the former two may be more comfortable in the sense that I can stretch out on the couch with them, by far and away I would want to make new documents that incorporate text and images using my desktop. And if video is involved, it’s most definitely going to happen on the most powerful machine. The tools that can be used with a laptop or desktop are simply much more evolved and efficient. I don’t think that dragging and dropping or dragging a finger is the most precise or efficient way to get things done.
I also have some reservations about using tablets or computers in general for textbooks. There are many positives of course. However, whenever I am using a textbook, I am invariably flipping back and forth between pages. A lot. Doing this on a printed textbook is so much easier. I’m resigned to the inevitability of everything going digital, but there’s no doubt that some things will be lost in the process. Quickly flipping around pages in a science textbook is one of the things.
The iPad could be a game changer, but a lot of things would have to happen in order for this to come true. Improved user interfacing, cost and support materials will have to change.
Here’s a thought. Given the iPad’s massive success, sales figures, and touting as being a fantastic educational device, do the support materials (apps and textbook/media) that are available for the iPad seem to live up to this billing? Everything around the iPad seems quite underwhelming to me, which raises the question of the future potential. We should have a clearer idea on this within another year or two, imo. However, I would have thought we would have seen more than what is currently on the market. Why haven’t EV capitalists taken advantage of the iPad? How come one year ago a bunch of EVC didn’t develop a bunch of amazing support tools and media for the iPad in education, of which we would be seeing on the buyer’s market right now? Instead I usually see and hear about simple math quiz apps and the like. So when we are talking about the iPad and EV markets, other than Apple, who are the players and do they have a significant role?
Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
David William Price 8:50 am on November 6, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
“Why haven’t EV capitalists taken advantage of the iPad? How come one year ago a bunch of EVC didn’t develop a bunch of amazing support tools and media for the iPad in education”
I suspect the reason is that most software used for education is not designed for education.
MS Word, PowerPoint, Google, reference apps, note-taking apps, etc.
A major trend is users demanding to use their own technology within companies and educational institutions. People already have the hardware and software tools they’re comfortable with. Does it make sense to get into a “get rich slow” educational niche when you can build a tool that everyone wants to use?
I think the prevalence of behaviourist apps in the education market simply highlights how poorly we integrate authentic learning into formal education. When people want to solve a real-world problem, they follow heuristics to find, evaluate, and implement information. I think it was Papert who said a child may not be able to add 3 + 3, but he certainly knows if someone else has more cookies than he does.