ipads in school

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#495580 20-Jul-2011 09:04

wreck90: My 2 year old has already mastered the ipad. He beats his grandma. It's amazing how he can get stuff going without actually knowing how to read ha ha.

iPads/computers should extend existing education rather than replace it.

Just my opinion.

My almost 4 yr old knows the iPad/iPhone pretty well now, the 18month old has figured out how to flick through the photos.

I agree on the extension of education, not replace. At this time anyway.

At work we looked at an iPhone/iPad learning system to push to students, but looked at the demographics of our students and figured it wouldnt be worth it - only a small % had one of those devices and I highly doubt those without would go get one in a hurry.

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#495582 20-Jul-2011 09:07

hairy1: Asus Transformer would be awesome. Removable keyboard. 16 hours battery life with the keyboard. Google apps integration .... what more could you want.

That Asus Transformer is a very cool looking device!

Kyanar

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#495588 20-Jul-2011 09:21

I personally see it as a problem of creating a class division of "haves" and "have nots". Back when I was in school there is no way that my mother could have afforded an iPad. Or even a $300 netbook for that matter. And I can certainly guarantee that WINZ will not fork out for portable computers because "that's not compulsory" (and most kiwis would probably go berserk if they heard WINZ was paying out for that).

So now you've got the kids who sit around at their desk playing on their expensive toys, which those who can't afford it either have shared school devices (and as a result are pointed out as "the poor kids" to their classmates) or they simply go without and receive a sub-par learning experience.

No, this needs to be stopped before it catches on, unless the government wants to start declaring it a universal right for kids to have netbooks or iPads or whatever and start subsidising them via the welfare system.

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#495592 20-Jul-2011 09:29

The college I went to many moons ago, "won" a large sum of money from the govt which was to go towards technology in the school.... the only new technology I saw over that year was the flash new car the principal started driiving, and a lot of classrooms had some keypad things installed which were to be used for monitoring student class attendance.... I left the end of that year - friend of mine was a year behind and he said that when he left, the keypad system still wasnt working.

Great use of tax payers money to push technology in the school...... :)

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robjg63

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#495594 20-Jul-2011 09:36

I would have thought that an ipad would have been one of the more fragile IT items around...

Surely a cheap(ish) notebook would be somewhat more versatile? At least you can change the hard drive, swap/upgrade some memory or replace the battery yourself which a netbook (well most of them). The ipad is glued together - you cant do any maintenance without sending it away!

Yeah - great deal - they have a finance package - the parents would be paying off an item for several years that lasts 12 months in a backpack (if you are lucky.

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dclegg

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#495595 20-Jul-2011 09:36

myopinion: Macbook pro's apparenty have a battery life of up to 7 hours which would be plenty. Cost would be more of an issue.

That is pure marketing drivel. While it may be technically accurate, you have to disable so many services that you would render the laptop essentially useless. I have a 2010 Macbook Pro, and while I am happy with its battery life, there is no way I get anywhere near 7 hours. 2.5 to 3 hours is more accurate, IME.

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#495596 20-Jul-2011 09:38

dclegg:
myopinion: Macbook pro's apparenty have a battery life of up to 7 hours which would be plenty. Cost would be more of an issue.

That is pure marketing drivel. While it may be technically accurate, you have to disable so many services that you would render the laptop essentially useless. I have a 2010 Macbook Pro, and while I am happy with its battery life, there is no way I get anywhere near 7 hours. 2.5 to 3 hours is more accurate, IME.

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geekiegeek

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#495597 20-Jul-2011 09:47

Kyanar: I personally see it as a problem of creating a class division of "haves" and "have nots". Back when I was in school there is no way that my mother could have afforded an iPad. Or even a $300 netbook for that matter. And I can certainly guarantee that WINZ will not fork out for portable computers because "that's not compulsory" (and most kiwis would probably go berserk if they heard WINZ was paying out for that).

So now you've got the kids who sit around at their desk playing on their expensive toys, which those who can't afford it either have shared school devices (and as a result are pointed out as "the poor kids" to their classmates) or they simply go without and receive a sub-par learning experience.

No, this needs to be stopped before it catches on, unless the government wants to start declaring it a universal right for kids to have netbooks or iPads or whatever and start subsidising them via the welfare system.

So do we hold back the kids that can afford it because some cant?

jaymz

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#495598 20-Jul-2011 09:48

tdgeek:
freitasm:
It all sounds like a fad, and reading from some of the reports it sounds like some lobbyist group managed to convince someone that hipster iPads should be the norm for everyone.

Two, I'd like to see how the technology is going to be used, it will be faster to give information to the kids via a webpage than a teacher talking or handing out notes. It will also give the kids a buy in as its "cooler" to do stuff online. So assuming these devices are used to gather educational info, I feel it will be more efficient time wise and more liklihood to get kids interested.
I do agree though that teaching them to think and formulate decisions is a key. Too often they dont need to think they just need a tool

I too would like to see how they plan to use these.

I can see them being open to the internet, so rather than kids working out how to get a formulation to solve a problem, they will just google it.

Back to the example of calculators, it is far better, in my opinion, to teach kids how to perform basic calculations in their head before giving them a calculator. It is the whole garbage in garbage out theory, if they have no way to estimate what the answer should be then they will just assume the calculator is correct.

I would hope that these devices would be used to display a Intranet of educational data that the teachers have picked out. so rather than handouts on paper, it can be a visually more stimulating experience for the learner.

Time will see how this plays out, the media will soon forget about it.

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#495599 20-Jul-2011 09:52

tdgeek: Two, I'd like to see how the technology is going to be used, it will be faster to give information to the kids via a webpage than a teacher talking or handing out notes. It will also give the kids a buy in as its "cooler" to do stuff online. So assuming these devices are used to gather educational info, I feel it will be more efficient time wise and more liklihood to get kids interested.

That's assuming kids can read and understand, or assuming they can do it without tutors being around to explain things where they get complicated. Kids might just lose interest if something is too hard.

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DonGould

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#495600 20-Jul-2011 09:53

Bold and fantastic move from Orewa.

Very funny move by Campbell Live to interview the principle in front an opera house back drop - that humour of that was not lost on me.

School is sending a clear message to Apple that it's got something right and to other manufactures that they need to set up with marketing their products.

FLOSS community on lists are making me laugh at present. Whinge, whinge, whinge... rather than focus on that positive features of their product offering (credit to cyril7 for highlighting the positive use of open software and providers in his posts here!).

When I was at school, our parents wanted us to have computers, when there was not budget, so they got busy and did fundraising. I heard no mention of PTA involvement to address the cost issues.

Interesting that the schools aren't wanting to provide electricity and expect kids to be bringing it from home each day.

Also interesting that a system with a common power system isn't being mandated. Not helpful if Johny has forgotten to charge is battery, forgotten his charger and then has a power failure half way though a lesson meaning he needs to share with someone else.

Also why isn't charging being done during lunch time? In my mind, everyone should be taking a break away from the technology and getting some fresh air.... or are we focused on a generation of IT savvy blimps?

Which brings me to the obvious question... if we "need" this technology to engage children in learning, then should the PE classes be fitted with WII's?

With UBF and Wifi in every location, will be stop polluting the air with smelly inter-school buses for sports matches and have teams play tennis, etc, over the net?!

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tdgeek

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#495604 20-Jul-2011 10:01

freitasm:
That's assuming kids can read and understand, or assuming they can do it without tutors being around to explain things where they get complicated. Kids might just lose interest if something is too hard.

Again. I wish to see how the devices will be used. To me, they should be used as a more efficient tool to gather information, not to replace the ability to think. Faster and better then a textbook.

Kopkiwi

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#495605 20-Jul-2011 10:03

Que an increase to property being stolen. Will the school replace any stolen ipads/computers for free?

Kyanar

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#495606 20-Jul-2011 10:04

geekiegeek: So do we hold back the kids that can afford it because some cant?

Not allowing schools to mandate expensive technology as part of the stationery list is hardly "holding back" the kids. That's rubbish.

If schools want to take this approach, they should be providing the devices for all students, not putting it on the parents to provide them. If they chose to, they could even make part of the cost back by setting up a scheme allowing students/families to buy them at the end of the year. If they insist on requiring parents to bring them in, then WINZ needs to start paying out to buy laptops and iPads (and that'll go down a treat with National and ACT supporters) or the school itself needs to find a way to ensure that all students can get these devices affordably (maybe the school could run a layby scheme or something where parents can pay in instalments for a device, and it stays at the school overnight until paid off).

But even still, it all rolls back to "Every Child has the Right to a Free Education". If we start requiring them to bring in $300-$1200 devices just to learn at the same pace as the rest of the class then.. well, yes. The other kids should be held back. Every kid needs education, and that education should be universal. If parents want to send their kids to a school demanding iPads and laptops, then that parent needs to send their kid to private school. End of story.

tdgeek

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#495607 20-Jul-2011 10:12

Perhaps the moral is to stop schools demanding mandatory devices. Let the kids learn the traditional way?

If so, we can back off the UFB to schools and divert them to the homes instead?

The real answer is can education benefit from smart devices? Can educational material be provided faster and better? If so, then there does need to be a scheme to get the devices to the kids.

The only way this debate can end is if the use of these devices in schools is spelled out.

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