D3: Money, Sprouting, & Leaning Back and Forth
1) When administrators consider that a new set of Mac computers will cost a great deal more that a set of ‘educational app rich’ iPads, this could be a game changer. You can get ‘more for your money’ taking the iPad route.
2) It feels like there is a new tablet being released every week. If I were to make a major investment for tablets in my school or district, I would be very hesitant. iPads are a ‘trusted’ brand and are selling well, so I’m sure many people would take that route. However, the rapid release of tablets could make a ‘smart’ investor wait to see what works. This investor may have to wait a long time, though.
3) In my personal experience, I have found the iPad to be a lean back tool, rather than a lean in tool. When it comes to producing something that involves a lot of typing, I always sit ridgidly at my computer. This could just be old habits though. A keyboard/mouse dock could help. But with experience, working on a touch screen may become normal for me. I have students already who claim they can type faster on a touch screen (perhaps due to never mastering it on a manual keyboard).
Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
Jay 7:37 am on November 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for addressing all three of these questions Andrew. You are definitely correct in that it would cost a lot less to buy a set of iPads than it would to equip a classroom with as many macs. The mobility within the classroom that the iPad allows also provides an advantage over a stationary system.
I think one of the difficulties of being in the decision making and investing postion for a school district is that you don’t always have a lot of time to wait, although you pointed out you would be waiting too long. I think this is for the same reason in that these technologies are changing so quickly it’s impossible to keep up or as you suggest you’d be waiting a long time because everything keeps changing. Like you mentioned, Apple is a trusted brand and I think this is what becomes the deciding factor for many. Some schools have started pilot programs as well and I think this is a good way to see what works for the school, teachers and most importantly students.
Lastly, I also need to be sitting “rigidly” at a desk or table with my laptop when I am writing. Even if I got used to a touch screen keyboard I don’t think I could be lying on the couch and typing something out.
murray12 6:21 am on November 6, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Jay,
I seem to only manage pecking with one or two fingers when I’m typing and lounging on the couch:)
Doug Smith 5:42 pm on November 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I think even less expensive that a set of iPads could be a class set of netbooks, or notebooks perhaps. They are not as immediate as a tablet, but perhaps they offer more in terms of a creation tool. Who knows though? I never would have thought that someone would prefer to type on a tablet touchscreen but maybe that’s just my bias because of 20 years of keyboarding.
murray12 6:19 am on November 6, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Doug,
I agree that some netbooks or notebooks could be a reasonable purchase for lean in activities, as opposed to iPads. But we don’t hear much ‘buzz’ about good old laptops anymore.
At a iPad seminar I was at a few weeks ago, the speaker said that tablets are here to stay and soon we will be looking at laptops the way we now look at old computers that used to fill up half a room.
hall 11:46 pm on November 1, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi murray,
Thank you for appropriately answering the questions. Your answers definitely acted as a springboard for further discussions on Ipad Apps. I support your view that the purchasing of Ipad is a better option Ipad over than purchasing other devices such as the Mac. I think another reason that Ipad is a better choice than other devices on the market is its flexibility. I found that Ipad is flexible to use. In August of this year I was waiting at the airport to board a plane and during the waiting period I conveniently used a Ipad to catch up on my UBC assignments. IPads can be easily used by educators and students almost anywhere.
murray12 6:15 am on November 6, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Hall,
I agree that iPads are great to bring out to catch up on some work. I’ll admit though that I’ve had a few instances where I haven’t had a wireless connection or was too stubborn/cheap to pay for a wireless connection while I have been out and about. Unless I pre-load everything I need onto the iPad, a time consuming task, I can find myself carrying around dead weight.
jarvise 11:31 am on November 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Andrew,
Good point about typing on the pop-up. For students in k-12 today, this is their life. Think about how often you see them texting on those tiny little keypads. They are probably more comfortable on the pop-up than they are on a regular keyboard. For the younger set, this works. As far as using a bluetooth external keyboard, there is a pain-in-the-butt snag: if you have the keyboard ‘paired’ to your computer already, you have to unpair it first, then pair it up to the ipad. Everytime you switch it back and forth, you have to repeat the procedure. Annoying. As a result, I’m getting faster and faster on the pop-up. I wonder if there are keyboarding sites out there to train you on fast typing on a pop-up?
Emily
murray12 6:11 am on November 6, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Emily,
I didn’t realize that you had to recalibrate an external keyboard between iPads and computers each time, bummer. I also wonder if there are apps or sites that help people from ‘chicken pecking’ at their pop-ups rather than using ten fingers 🙂