iPad 2 and Education

[Sam Gliksman]

It's faster, has front and rear cameras, HDMI output, iMovie, GarageBand and more... Does the release of the new iPad 2 do enough to address the needs of the education market? Add your opinions below.

[Jason Schmidt]

Funny that this should be posted right now. I just finished a blog post about how our school has some options for overcoming some of the limitations of the iPad in our school's setting because of our virtualization software. The iPad 2 is even more compelling, and it will be interesting to see what the future will hold. I think the added ability to create content with the iPad 2 makes it a more viable option for education.

[Jonathan Nalder]

Hi Sam - my thoughts blogged today:

Top 3 things that iPad 2 has going for it as far as education is concerned:

1. Screen Mirroring – Almost from day one of the release of the original iPod touch, the number one question that educators have asked is “can I display the screen on a projector or tv?”, and the answer has been “no”, then “no, but yes if you use a document camera”, then “yes some apps can, but its still limited”. Now FINALLY, the iPad 2 (and presumably all iOS devices going forward) will support full screen mirroring of everything via the VGA cable or the new HDMI cable. For showing apps and using the iPad as a shared whiteboard etc, this is a huge leap forward.

2. Lighter – apparently the new iPad is 15% lighter – just enough of an improvement to make it more usable by students. I know my first generation iPad does get heavy even for my adult arms after 15mins or so – for primary school students especially, the weight drop might be just enough to allow for extended mobile use of iPads without as much hand/arm strain.

3. Price drop of the old model – for now at least, the iPad 1 has had its price dropped by large amounts – up to AU$200 on some models – so its a great time for schools with limited budgets (ie all that I know) to do a learning and management plan, then purchase iPads at the cheaper price point.

What does the iPad not have yet for education? As mentioned above, the iPad is a consumer device – its not been designed with the needs of education in mind specifically. So we still need a good system for managing and syncing more than a few iPads. We also need clarity around education use off apps and iTunes content. The hope is that the app volume licensing program available in the US will be extended overseas and enhanced with provision for iBooks and music/movies as well as apps. For Mac users, the next version of the Mac OS (due in around 6 months) will reportedly include iOS device management built in. Until then, proceed with caution; join an online iPad in education community, and create a good learning/management plan as always!

 

[Reynaldo A. Macias]

The most exciting piece for me as an educator is the HDMI output - anything on my iPad can be pushed out to a projector/television for class consumption.  With my iPad 1, only certain apps would allow me to project... that's going to be awesome.

[Jaime Lassman]

The biggest changes that I see impacting the educational value of iPad are video mirroring and the cameras.

I can instantly see how teachers can hook up to a projector and demonstrate some amazing things without having to go the route of purchasing an entire class set of iPads and figuring out new classroom management policies.  There are actually some apps for the iPad that are better than what is available for the computer, and mirroring solves a big problem.

The second piece that I'm instantly excited about is the camera with iMovie on the iPad.  I immediately imagined kids shooting and editing video on the best video camera I've ever imagined.  I'm sure that tiny camera will have some limitations, but you can realistically have kids shooting, editing, and presenting all from one device, anywhere.  Wow!  Kids can incorporate video into Pages/Keynote projects.

I'm excited to see this in action.

[Tim Cooper]

Although I think the iMovie - instant and editable video documentation - GarageBand - on the fly podcasts - language stuff - are cool, I am hoping that the new iOS 4.3 will be asset. I know it won't run flash but if it could run the desktop version of google docs, that would be awesome. It has a new JavaScript engine. There are a couple of programming tools, such as processing.js that would also be cool to run. There are also some syncing options that look promising.

I think overall the camera is the biggest thing for me. It will allow kids to take the outside, put it into the iPad and mark it up/ remix it. Take a picture of your science lab and then markup the picture with your understanding, and then share it on the web. Solve a math problem on the chalkboard or piece of paper and narrate your procedure. Teachers could assess that or use it to teach other kids. Think of a kid videoing a tour of his/her prized possessions in his/her room in another language. The kid benefits from making it and is excited about bringing a personal part of him/her self into the classroom. The kids who watch it benefit. Exciting times to come.

[Reynaldo A. Macias]

@Tim... those are pretty good arguments for the camera. I have serious reservations about the back camera just from a surreptitious/bullying angle.  But I do think you have hit on a couple of great uses that hadn't occurred to me. Thanks!

[julian coultas]

I hope GarageBand has audio/copy audio paste as this will make workflow incredibly exciting with all those 3rd party apps. My guess is that it will be in version 2 of the mobile GB.

I'm yet to be convinced of making a movie with an iPad's front facing camera - but in class I think as an informal video recorder it will very popular.

[John J Caprice]

Dear Jonathan,

The first Sync and Charge system for 16 iPads was released on the market yesterday in the US.

This system can be used as a desktop, stand alone unit, or it can be mounted within a cart or cabinet. It will take a few days to appear on internet searches.
This not a cheap product and will retail for over $1000.00 US.

I have this unit listed on my website. Please contact me for a direct link.

John J Caprice
Visualedtech

 

Jonathan Nalder said:

Hi Sam - my thoughts blogged today:

 

Top 3 things that iPad 2 has going for it as far as education is concerned:

1. Screen Mirroring – Almost from day one of the release of the original iPod touch, the number one question that educators have asked is “can I display the screen on a projector or tv?”, and the answer has been “no”, then “no, but yes if you use a document camera”, then “yes some apps can, but its still limited”. Now FINALLY, the iPad 2 (and presumably all iOS devices going forward) will support full screen mirroring of everything via the VGA cable or the new HDMI cable. For showing apps and using the iPad as a shared whiteboard etc, this is a huge leap forward.

2. Lighter – apparently the new iPad is 15% lighter – just enough of an improvement to make it more usable by students. I know my first generation iPad does get heavy even for my adult arms after 15mins or so – for primary school students especially, the weight drop might be just enough to allow for extended mobile use of iPads without as much hand/arm strain.

3. Price drop of the old model – for now at least, the iPad 1 has had its price dropped by large amounts – up to AU$200 on some models – so its a great time for schools with limited budgets (ie all that I know) to do a learning and management plan, then purchase iPads at the cheaper price point.

What does the iPad not have yet for education? As mentioned above, the iPad is a consumer device – its not been designed with the needs of education in mind specifically. So we still need a good system for managing and syncing more than a few iPads. We also need clarity around education use off apps and iTunes content. The hope is that the app volume licensing program available in the US will be extended overseas and enhanced with provision for iBooks and music/movies as well as apps. For Mac users, the next version of the Mac OS (due in around 6 months) will reportedly include iOS device management built in. Until then, proceed with caution; join an online iPad in education community, and create a good learning/management plan as always!

 

 

[David Cox]

I won't give up my iPad, but the lack of Flash and a real file system are still serious classroom hurdles.

[Sam Gliksman]

David, have you tried using a cloud-based file storage system like DropBox? I find it indispensable - both on the iPad and elsewhere.

David Cox said:

I won't give up my iPad, but the lack of Flash and a real file system are still serious classroom hurdles.

[Jean-Yves Duguay]

Does someone can explain to me why the iPad can't play flash?

[Kevin Taylor]

I just received my iPad this week and have begun migrating all of my docs to google docs (cn I say google docs here?) and it is working well so far. I am very excited about our one-to-one inititiative with iPads at the new middle school we will open in our district in August. We will have the iPad II for every student and the possibilities for instruction are incredible. I feel confident that when issues arise or ideas are born, Apple will come up with an app or hardware to address it.