The Top Five Reasons I love teaching with an iPad.

[Jennifer Mitchell]

Hi,

This is an edited version of a post I did on my own blog last month, but I'd love to get some feedback on it. I got 200 views, and no comments. It has some strong opinions but all are views I can defend.

Soon I will post some questions to get feedback about designing and delivering Professional Development for teachers. Thanks.

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I have to admit right up front that I am not disinterested in seeing the very positive aspects of teaching students with mobile technology - and iPads in particular. My role as an Education Technology Manager in an Australian iPad Project needs me to be an advocate for the investment in time, money and resources so far expended. But before I took on this role, I was teaching Literature to nine different tutorial groups of English language learners a week, and I used my iPad in almost every class - sometimes frequently, other times not at all. If you are interested in reading more about this pilot, look at the blog, and the recent report on the six month pilot, here: http://bit.ly/gecgb3

My use of the iPad in the classroom has been wholly dependent on the learning task I have designed. It is never just about using the technology, and any good teacher will tell you that about any learning technology. The number of times I have read negative comments from people on blogs, and in response to positive articles about iPads in classrooms, arguing that the iPad is just a shiny toy deployed by Apple to take over the world, are not comments from teachers who have actually made a good effort to teach with one.

Here are five of the top reasons I love teaching with the iPad, and just a note, we have a reliable dedicated WiFi network for the iPads at our college.

1. It is a fantastic creation tool. This blog post is being written in a garden, while I am lying on a daybed. No cords, no keyboard or mouse, just me and the iPad - music is playing through the iPod app. I have gotten used to the virtual keyboard, and can produce long pieces of work with it. After I've posted this blog, I'm going to review and refine the Keynote presentation for my poetry classes for this week.

2. The display out feature on to TV screens and projectors enables me to work with and annotate text with a stylus in real time, with apps like GoodReader, Adobe Ideas and AirSketch. I can make it all visible to students on the classroom screen. I can also invite students to do annotations to text. This would work well in the Maths and science classroom as well - inviting student groups to collaborate to solve problems in front of the class, or design their own problems for other students to solve. We should enable our students to be teachers too.

3. The ability to show offline videos within apps and browsers, prevents the buffering problem of online viewing. This saves time, fuss and anxiety. If I know I can show the part of the video I want offline, I can be more relaxed, and be a happier teacher. Moving images - not solely the moving mouth of the teacher - keep students engaged.

4. The iPad works well on Wireless networks. I can go online and show real-time news and events. I can demonstrate Internet research skills, and pass the iPad around to groups so they can look up resources to complete their learning activities. If the wireless becomes problematic, my 3G network will take over and the class can continue. Try doing that easily with a Netbook!! I pay for my own 3G, but a hotspot could also be a solution.

5. Everything I need is at my fingertips. Dropbox to transfer files, emails, class handouts, the Moodle LMS, articles I've saved to plan activities, photos, videos, music. The ease with which I can extend a discussion which eventuates by finding some images to help with visualizing concepts, means class time can be dynamic; responsive to where the students are at, and not chained to a set and structured timetable driven entirely by me.

Many voices will answer that ""we can do all that with a laptop". My answer is, "but why would you choose a laptop when you can use an iPad?" They're generally easier to maintain, require less IT intervention, no virus software to update, and have a 3G option. I haven't even mentioned the huge added dimension of the 1:1 iPad classroom. These top five teaching benefits apply just to a teacher with a first generation iPad - imagine how much more dynamic it can be in a 1:1 environment, and with a second or third generation iPad.

My interests at the moment are concerned with enabling and supporting over seventy teachers to exploit the iPad's features, and enhance the learning experiences of their students. But the benefits for a teacher who actively looks for ways to streamline his or her work practices, administration tasks, and personal learning strategies are substantial.

[Jennifer Mitchell]

Thanks for your comment Deb. I really appreciate that you found my experiences useful, and worth passing on to your colleagues. I'm generally using the iPad for teaching in class most days, and I also use it for administration, collating grades, and gathering research papers and reading for my EdTech role. It's SO good for gathering papers, blogposts, articles and other links. I only wish I'd had it when doing my dissertation.
The other part of my role will be supporting students to use their iPads for studying, so, I'm looking at it as a teaching tool, and as a study tool. Very useful for several aspects of both.

[Deb Burdick-Hinton]

Excellent post. Thanks so much.  I think the reason no one has made any comments is that you speak from experience and you make so much sense!  Simple ideas, put into practice that work. What more needs to be said?  I am also impressed by your ability to compose your post on an iPad.  I keyboard very quickly so this has been a steep learning curve for me, but one I am going to try and conquer.  I like being "unplugged" and keeping it simple and since I am asking students, educations and parents to try things out of their comfort zone, I figure I need to also belly up the bar as well.  I plan to share your comments to others.  I really appreciate the practical, concise comments.