Thursday, September 15, 2011

Emerging Technology

A current technology that has emerged and submerged itself into our society is the iPad and iPad2.  This technology has taken over the way we communicate, learn, and view news today. 






This technology has also shaped learning and how some students learn in the classroom.  According to some experts, iPads have revolutionized the way kids learn today. Here at Davidson Middles School in Crestview, FL, our science department won a grant and has outfitted each student in advanced science with an iPad to use at school. The instructor has stated that students who used to hate science are now anxious to come to class because they get to use the device.

See below how the iPad has influenced math classes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?pagewanted=all

The iPad hwoever, does not come without some problems.  Most school districts are in a budget crunch so it is hard to get the money needed to have this type of technology in schools.  In addition to that the right classes need to be selected for use and wifi has to be installed in the school if its not there already.  Another problem is filtering what the kids can access and what they can see.  Most schools have filtering systems but the extra precautions are needed with new technology.  The benefits to this is that students will get to use in the classroom tools that most of them use everyday at home. Students whose parents have iPads would have an advantage over those who don't have them in their household.  Therefore, we even the playing field when everyone is exposed to the same type of learning.  Another benefit is that the traditional classroom is given up for more advanced and higher level thinking which is where we want our kids to be in school.  As educators we owe it to the kids to provide them with the tools needed to succeed. If they have never worked on a computer what type of jobs are we setting them up to have?

According to Winnie Hu, "A growing number of schools across the nation are embracing the iPad as the latest tool to teach Kafka in multimedia, history through “Jeopardy”-like games and math with step-by-step animation of complex problems."(New York Times,, 2011) To stay a step ahead we must allow more technology in our classes and not be afraid to use it.  We must also find grants and benefactors to help offset the cost of providing this technology. Last,  we must insist that companies like Apple provide better pricing on these devices like the XO laptop, so that they can be brought into the classroom without breaking the bank.

Hu, Winnie(2011)Math That Moves: Schools Embrace the iPad.New York Times. Published January 4, 2011. Retrieved from 

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?pagewanted=all

2 comments:

  1. Toni,
    I see that we chose the same emerging technology. I guess I have ESP because Dr. Thornburg wanted us to pick our group members based on our technology likeness.
    I think you did a good job in describing the ipad and its benefits in the classroom. As always with any emerging or new technology, there are going to be some problems. We just have to be able to correct these problems or get them corrected by either the company or tech team.
    Marion Bush

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  2. Toni,

    I agree wholeheartedly with your post. I almost laughed out loud when I heard at a meeting that we would be getting iPads within the next 3 years - I wonder what technologies will be available by the time we finally have access. We also suffer from the same issues that you spoke of in your post. I think that iPads are often, even without the additional software. Just the ability to read textbooks, write papers, and manage your personal information all in the size of a tablet that can fit in your purse is an absolute plus, everything else is just a bonus. I almost wish they added phone capabilities so that I could use mine with a headset instead of carrying my iPhone too!

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