ETEC 522 – Sept. 2011

D2 Market for iPad in education

1. AFFORDANCES OF THE iPAD

High portability, sharability (hand it around), touch and gesture interface, location-awareness, orientation/movement awareness, Internet access, image and sound recording. The limitations include a huge on-screen keyboard, small low-resolution screen, small storage space, no multitasking on the same screen, hidden/primitive filesystem.

2. MY WORKPLACE

I am a teaching assistant and an editorial assistant. I do all of my work virtually so my workplace is anywhere.

 As a TA, I answer posts on a web discussion board, I check a proprietary webmail account, I download MS Word assignments from a web-based LMS and mark them up with track changes and grade them, I email assignments back to students, and I enter grades in an Excel spreadsheet and the LMS. I handle a lot of files from students for each assignment and I need split-view or multiple document view to apply my rubric.

 As an EA, I administer a peer-review process for a journal. I request and receive articles and reviews through webmail. I log articles and reviews into an Excel spreadsheet and a shared filesystem. I prepare articles for peer review, and later for publication. I handle a lot of files from authors and reviewers.

 I currently use a MacBook Air to do my jobs. The MBA is extremely light and portable, is instant-on and quiet, has a full-sized keyboard, and 128GB of solid-state storage. The battery lasts 7 hours. The operating system has a touch -enhanced interface through the trackpad, and multiple desktops I can access with simple swipes.

 Working with MS Word and a web browser and a filesystem full of files is comfortable on this platform. I don’t see how an iPad would fit into my workflow. Limited screen size and storage, lack of multi-tasking on the same screen, and a keyboard on which I’m always making mistakes work against the iPad.

3. AS A STUDENT

As a student, I read journal articles and websites, take notes, write assignments, attend classes, participate in in-class activities, and write exams. I access Moodle for one course, but First Class for most other courses. I work at home, on the metro, and on campus both in class and the library.

 Again, I currently use a MacBook Air for school. It’s easy to read and markup PDFs using SKIM, access First Class using the proprietary client, write up documents, and do my jobs when I’m not studying. In class I can easily switch from Word to First Class to a web browser to an email client and back… this allows me to check on ideas I have during class or follow-up on tasks. My notebook is my one-stop location for everything I do. I have used the iPad to read PDFs and an ebook textbook and it’s certainly more convenient on the metro. The issue is remembering to transfer PDFs to the iPad when I have to download them from an LMS.

4. iPAD USE

 I don’t see the point of trying to force the iPad to be something it’s not. I see them around campus. Some people take notes on it but when I take notes, I use outlines and I want to see as much as possible without the keyboard taking up all the screen space. Someone passed me their iPad in class to show me a PDF and I liked that ability, but I just as easily passed my netbook around to people when discussing things.

 I do have an iPad but I got it for a very specific purpose. I am word-focused: articles, screenplays, novels, reports… all words. In my first year in the ed tech program, I read an amazing article about the “Assertion-Evidence” model of PowerPoint presentations. The model replaces bullet points with images. I realized I needed to develop my visual language literacy (Google for Robert Horn). I looked into Information Mapping and other ways of representing information.

 I do all right using PowerPoint and drawing basic shapes but I wanted a system that let me use my hands to create images. I wanted to force myself away from the keyboard and do concept maps and flow charts and diagrams. To some extent it worked. I used my MBA to summarize a textbook but used the iPad to draw a flowchart to make the concepts visual. I carried the iPad on outings with my partner and explored ideas using mind-mapping software.

 For me, the iPad remains a luxury item. The iPad usually remains at home for web-browsing, reading the news, watching movies, usually in bed and on breaks. Considering how light the MBA is, I could carry them both. I do want to expand my visual literacy and I guess I need to make a commitment to it. The problem is my life is on my MBA. If I want to grab my iPad and go with it, I need to remember to put stuff on it first.

5. “ENGAGEMENT” vs ANXIETY MANAGEMENT

 I’ve been a gadget addict in the past but I’ve come to realize that while gadgets appear to increase “engagement”, they’re really just a form of distraction from anxiety. When I am in “flow time”, I get a lot of work done on my little MBA. When I am anxious, I can think of all sorts of reasons why I need another gadget to do my work. I suspect it’s the same in any context: the gadget appears to increase engagement, but all it’s doing is providing enough novelty to distract the user from their anxiety about doing a task. It would be far cheaper and easier (and better for a person’s longterm life—do we really want to always buy stuff to reduce our anxiety?) to teach anxiety management techniques directly. We can have flow with paper and pencil. We can engage with good pedagogy. The gadgets often just get in the way… and then we waste all kinds of time and energy rationalizing them. It doesn’t really help to have a long list of things that a gadget “can do”… those are rationalizations. All that matters is whether the affordances of the gadget measurably improve our workflow in the real world for a reasonable total cost of ownership.

6. COMMENTS THIS WEEK

 The most exciting posts for me this week were from people talking about the use of iPads enhancing communication for people with autism. Here’s a situation where the affordances of the device appear to match real needs and genuinely provide a quality of life improvement for all involved.

 I’d urge people to consider the total cost of solutions before comparing them. Saying an iPad is “green” compared to a textbook… well, you have to look at the environmental impact of creating iPads… the metal, glass, components, industrial manufacturing, labour conditions at Foxconn, use of rare metals, pollution, etc. What is the difference in cost from dropping an iPad vs dropping a textbook? What are the costs of recycling an iPad vs a textbook? What is the true lifespan of an iPad vs a textbook? When I was in school, our textbooks were pretty old. Which one needs electricity to run?