eTextbooks and Educational Apps: iPads Enter the Classroom
Rolling backpacks are lame. There, I said it. No one wants to be that kid rolling into class, crushing people’s toes and running into desks with their weapon on wheels. On the flip side of that coin, no one wants to be the kid in the back brace either. But textbooks are heavy, and there’s really no way around them, or is there? Trinity College in Melbourne Australia recently conducted a study to find out – they dispatched iPads to a small group of students and teachers at the start of term, and monitored how the new technology affected the classroom. The results of their study – called the Step Forward Pilot Project – were recently published online and outline a few of the pros and cons of iPads as a learning tool. Trinity College isn’t alone - schools around the world are incorporating iPads into their daily routine and changing the way students of all ages access and learn new information.
iPads in education are a hot topic at the moment, with entire websites dedicated to the discussion of their use, and the general consensus is positive. The results of the Trinity College study were generally positive as well, though the conclusions are based mostly on qualitative statements about how much the students and teachers liked using the iPad, without much data to support conclusions. Some of the key findings include “iPads are effective, durable, reliable and achieve their educational aims of going further, faster and with more fun” and “Past TCFS students and current TCFS students in other intakes have expressed interest in iPads and a wish that they had the chance to use iPads at Trinity.” A recent study conducted at Notre Dame provides a slightly more quantitative view of how students used the devices, ultimately concluding that the devices were mostly a good thing.
Schools around the world are incorporating iPads into their school day. Check out this AP report on the use of iPads instead of textbooks and notebooks at some US schools, including Stanford’s School of Medicine.
High school, college and graduate students alike are making use of eTextbooks from companies like Inkling and CourseSmart. These companies work with textbook publishers to provide digital versions of the cumbersome textbooks we are so used to lugging around. There are also apps available that aid in note taking and information gathering. Older students aren’t the only ones with iPads. In some schools, children as young as 5 are using iPads to learn the basics. At Cedars School of Excellence in Greenock, Scotland, every student from age 5 to 17 was given an iPad as part of their “1:1 technology” program.
One big argument against the iPad in classrooms is the potential for distraction. With the ability to check their email and surf the web, many fear that kids will stop paying attention all together. Let’s be honest though, kids will find ways to be distracted, technology or not. It used to be paper airplanes and passing notes, now its text messages and games on cell phones, and iPads really don’t add a whole lot if you ask me. Just because you can check Facebook every 5 minutes in the middle of math class doesn’t mean you should, and with the ubiquity of the internet these days, that is a lesson that kids need to learn. Students that can overcome distractions will succeed, and those who can’t, well, we can't all be winners. One staff member in the Trinity College study commented that iPads did provide a potential for distraction, but that “This is not a large problem, rather it fits within the typical classroom management issues faced by teachers dealing with younger student cohorts.”
So, what do we think? I am all for it, but in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I have already jumped on this bandwagon. I am halfway through my first semester using eTextbooks on an iPad and it has been great. It did take some getting used to, but ultimately it has been both a money and time saver. Buying subscriptions to digital versions of my textbooks has saved hundreds of dollars, and since 