Thank you for including the article in your wiki that discusses the game-changing ability of iPads. I agree that this is a cool tool that students will enjoy and engagement will likely follow…but I noted 2 comments that tell me that the iPad, as it stands now, will not be as globally accepted as hoped: […]
Continue reading Game Changer? Posted in: Week 09: iPad Apps
I think that there is a market for the IPad in K-12 but I work in the area of corporate training programs and I think that this market is a long way off. One major strike against it is that the IPad is Mac based instead of PC based. This is a disadvantage because the […]
Continue reading Discussion 2 – corporate training perspective Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 09: iPad Apps
Hi Julie,
I definitely agree with you that changing to iPads will take time, which depends highly on the use of which computer companies are used to: PC or Macs.
i believe the Mac generation is aimed towards younger students, who are mostly trained using
macs, therefore may see a major shift in the future. As for now, most companies are familiar with PC because that’s what they’ve been using for so many years.
I wonder what the shift will look like years from now? PC or Macs?
Jenaca
@jenaca – I find your question intriguing – what will be next PCs or MACs? It’s the same question that has been asked since the Mac first came out and focussed so much on the education sector. Exactly your argument – surely the technology of the younger generation will prevail has been used before. But that didn’t happen with the first round of competition for the workplace desktop marketplace and I’m curious to see what will happen next.
The closed architecture of the Mac is part of the reason they haven’t ended up being adopted as well in business. Quite simply there are far fewer applications designed for the Mac because the system is proprietary and therefore it’s more costly to design for. Right now, in Canada anyway, from a mobile application perspetive, the Blackberry has a stronghold over the Iphone. If this were to change then I think we could see a strong impetus for other changes to follow -including the Ipad, including more Mac desktops/laptops.
One thing to think about is the heavy investment in PC infrastructure across so many companies. The cost of transitioning a whole company’s infrastructure from PC to Mac, and the cost of an interim transition of maintaining and providing support for two architectures, and the staff training that would be required. This is surely to prevent a massive transition from happening for a while. Which is not to say it will never happen. I like both platforms for different reasons. Mac is better for design and entertainment and the PC is better for business. Which one is better for learning? Personally, I think Mac wins hands down, particularly with the invention of the IPad and it’s potential. I’m not sure Mac will ever want or need to go into the business specfic market. Interesting thoughts to contemplate.
Hi Julie,
Thanks for touching on a perspective that we didn’t give all that much attention to; the corporate sector. The fact that so many companies are entrenched in PCs really disadvantages the iPad in moving into this market. The cost and time to make the switch may outweigh the actual benefits if what the iPad has to offer is not that much more than what can be done now current devices.
You mentioned some companies actually blocking iPads from the network. I wonder if this is due to the perception of the iPad as still a media consumption device so companies are trying to discourage iPad network use for gaming, video and music downloads?
As you mentioned, with more businesses creating mobile applications this may open the market and create a shift to the iPad but as other tablet devices compete closely, companies may decide to go with android device to avoid the shift from PC to apple OS.
@Jay. Good question – why were they blocking the IPad. I had a chance to ask a bit about this question and in one case the answer was the additional load on the corporate network. IT didn’t want the network to slow down for the business applications. This implies as you suggested, that the employees would be using it for non business purposes. In the second case the IT department wasn’t ready to support these devices. They were testing and doing analysis on them and it would only be a matter of time before they eventually added them to the ‘acceptable and suppported’ device list. I found it interesting that it was even physically possible to blog a connection to the internet based on the type of device.
I think you’re right that the increasing applications for mobility and non traditional interfaces (finger vs. mouse), motion sensing and the like may speed up advances in technologies like Android devices and provide options to the IPad. It sometimes seems to me that the IPad is the only ‘game’ in town because I own one and am so intrigued by it. It will be great if the IPad drives further innovation in the Android market.
This weekend, I was helping my best friend move and as we were packing as many boxes onto a flatbed dolly as possible, I thought of Tetris. The three of us – all Tetris players in our youth (though not together… we’re from BC, Alberta and North Carolina) were incredibly adept at find little gaps […]
Continue reading Developing Spatial Intelligence with Tetris Posted in: Uncategorized
Hi Allie, I agree with you. Even though I do not practice a lot with digital games, now I remember that I loved playing Tetris. As you, I think it is huge for developing spatial intelligence, specially today’s versions that are in 3D.
Allie and Angela,
Nice that both of you have brought up spatial intelligence. Here’s a thought for you: my 5 year old daughter is quite into the games and my iPhone in particular and, funnily enough, she has some very “boy” like traits when it comes to her play. I know we are not supposed to gender stereotype but it’s interesting to see. And I am not surprised that the North American boys outperformed girls in spatial aptitude tests.
So, anyone up for a good old fashioned head to head Tetris game? lol
thanks all for your comments; I’m intrigued by what might be the more practical applications of this spatial aptitude – beyond packing boxes and moving of course! I can imagine that this aptitude/intelligence would be significant for engineering (a field in which women continue to be vastly underrepresented).
Hi Allie,
I remember playing tetris too! I also remembering hearing that statistic of boys doing better with spatial games such as this. Interesting that you bring up that games like this could help to bridge the gender differences with spatial skills. Also, whenever I think of tetris and moving, it also reminds me of “The Simpsons” episode that alludes to this too. Here it is if you’re interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po5eiqXG5uw&feature=related
I’m always up for a Simpsons reference. 🙂
me too! that was awesome! I’m reminded of lecturing in my Aboriginal art class about the “crying Indian” PSA in the early 70s, and trying to convince my students of its cultural importance at the time. One student then said, “yeah, The Simpsons made a reference to it!” – which cemented my point for them!
I know that one from the Simpsons too. The ultimate post-modern experience…
me too 🙂 I did remember that episode before watching it again
Hey Allie,
Great post! I remember playing tetris when I was younger, but never thought I could relate it to relate to it like you have: I was wrong!!! This goes to show that games do have meaning and that in the big picture it is learning!
Thanks for your comment! I really enjoyed exploring games in 510, and one of my take-home lessons from that course was that there is a *lot* of learning that goes on in gaming that isn’t necessarily content-focused… or even intended. Since then, I’ve really paid attention to what I am learning when I play games. I think that’s because games are experiential and involve our affective domains.
I loved Tetris too —- glad to hear that it finally came in handy in ‘packing and moving’ of all places. Good to see those many hours were not a waste of time!
I have a lot of personal experience with gaming on the computer. At a young age my parents enrolled me in a computer program, outside of school, where I learned how to use the computer as well as playing games- math, reading, ect… Then throughout myK-12 schooling years we were constantly in and out of […]
Continue reading I have a lot of personal experience with… Posted in: Uncategorized, Week 05: Game-Based Learning
@jenaca – great learning experiences. Do you find that you’ve been drawn to any learning games as an adult? Given how engrained you have been with digital games since childhood I wonder how that’s impacted your perspective on the value of games for adult learning?
Wow! Jeneca, you are a true digital native! You had an early start. Your students I guess in a way using games to learn removes a stereotypical formality from the learning process. It is like placing the kids in the domain (play room) only you unlock learning at the same time. I remember non-computer games I played that taught me counting in twos and fives etc.
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Jay 8:37 am on November 2, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks Brenda. The two comments you have highlighted that the iPad as an educational technology device does not fill a need or aim to solve a problem since it cannot replace other “computing or communication devices”. While it offers features and applications that other devices may not, the cost of supplementing computing devices instead of replacing them is too high to be considered a good investment for some.
What features would Apple have to include in their next model for you, as an administrator, to consider its purchase and see it as a device more able to meet the needs in schools?
jenaca 4:06 am on November 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Brenda,
I am very curious about the second question you posted here.
“At what point do we have too many devices and choose to buy the one device that combines the features of two? “
I think that because there are so many different kinds of technologies available, we are all becoming unsure of which “new” device to buy. Right when we think we’ve decided to purchase something, a new and upgraded version comes out on the market.
Jenaca
jenaca 10:27 am on November 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. ~Albert Einstein
andrea 11:21 am on November 3, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is an interesting point, because we want to have devices that do things *well* but we also don’t want to have 10 devices each with only a specialized purpose. For example I’ve heard that the Kindle app on the iPad isn’t as good as Kindle itself, and while the camera in my iPhone is really good it’s not quite as good as my other camera. I wouldn’t trade my iPhone for anything, but it would be nice if the screen was a bit better for reading… You know how it goes!