Discussion 2 – Market for Self-Paced and Individualised Learning
In teaching College Mathematics, I think the use of the ipad would greatly enhance students’ interaction in self-paced individualized learning as well as working with applications that target specific areas for development. The use of the whiteboard app would be very useful as lessons could be shown in situ and then archived for retrieval and review by students at their own pace, anywhere, anytime, given the online access and storage.
A potential disadvantage within the classroom of ipad use would be an issue of interoperability. For example, in the area of instructional design and development and the generation and viewing of educational content. Consistency in educational content across platforms may be compromised. Also, not all content, for example flash media, can be viewed on an ipad.
Kerry-Ann
Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
Angela Novoa 6:10 am on November 5, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Kerry-Ann, thanks for sharing your thoughts about how iPad can be useful for Mathematics classroom. Interoperability has always been an issue for Apple technologies. In the case of iPads no compatibility with Flash is one of the primarily issues to consider. Every technology has benefits and drawbacks.
One question came up to my mind. Is there any benefits of gaming apps for Mathematics classroom?
khenry 8:07 pm on November 8, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Angela,
Every technology has its benefits and drawbacks indeed but I do think that in this age and stage of technology more can be done to create more compatible platforms et al. but then we would have to fight commercialisation dragon.
Re your question. I do think that there would be many benefits for gaming apps. Much research in and use of use of games in education have shown benefits. For examples see http://www.wideopendoors.net/educational_technology/gaming.html. A game app would therefore go down well. An example I saw of one such potentail is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_puzzles_with_algebra_of_binary_variables
Kerry-Ann