Tablets are certainly the current hot item in educational technology. Teachers are willing to forgo some functionality in exchange for portability and a smaller price tag. The leader in this emerging category is clearly the iPad. Apple has hit it out of the park with this device, selling it before consumers even realized they wanted such a tool.
One of the reasons for iPad's success is its extensive collection of applications. Here's a list of the 40 Most Awesome iPad Applications for Science Students. And remember, this is just the beginning of tablet computing.
Ars Technica reports that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak was a featured speaker at Abilene Christian University's recent Connected Summit. Wozniak spoke about the need for teachers to embrace new technologies as a way to reach out to students that may soon consider themselves "failures." A long time advocate for technology in the classroom, he cited that very little has changed over the last 40 years to foster student creativity or alter information delivery methods.
There was an interesting story in the New York Times a couple days ago. It seems that with every new technology Apple creates, schools are always major focus of their sales and marketing strategy. The high school I work at owns over 1,900 MacBooks, while iPod Touch labs are also becoming a familiar sight in schools. It isn't surprising that we are now seeing Apple's newest product, the iPad, infiltrate our classrooms, too. The article does a great job of analyzing the academic benefits of iPads versus the costs of iPads. Sure iPads are beautiful, engaging, and probably a great classroom resources, but they're also expensive. The school in the article payed $750 for each new device. It's an expensive hobby, but is it worth it?
I credit The Unofficial Apple Weblog for finding this artifact, and I think it's a great way to kickstart the grand reopening of Technology&Education. This video is so accurate that if we just updated the video quality and some of the outfits, I think most wouldn't guess it's over 20 years old.
iphoto is a program that comes pre-installed on every mac. it is used to import, organize, edit, & publish photos. like most mac products, iphoto is extremely easy to use & makes a professional looking product. if you have macs in your classroom, iphoto should be your go-to application for any projects requiring photographs either imported from the web or taken by your own students.
welcome to cloud computing. cloud computing is seen by many as the way we will use computers in the near future. no longer will software applications be housed on a computer's hard drive. instead, programs will be housed & accessed online through a web browser. mobileme is a service provided by apple that houses several web applications, online backup storage, wireless synchronization, & many other features. this service stores information in a "cloud" & pushes the information to your cell phone, computer, or online portal. the service costs $99 a year & it can be a teacher's best friend.
thenew york times reports that apple has recorded its best nonholiday quarter in the company's history. pc shipments declined 3 to 5 percent while apple reported an 18 percent increase over its previous quarter. the introduction of iphone 3gs & mac price drops have been cited as a major factors in the company's success. it's also important to note that steve jobs was absent from his ceo duty for the quarter (march - june). the record success is further evidence that apple has one of the best management teams in the industry.
currently in summer school, students are making their own podcasts. a lot of teachers i know use podcasts as a way to replicate lectures or they present professionally created podcasts to students. in my opinion, this is poor use of a powerful tool. the purpose of technology in the classroom is not as an additional toy for the teacher, but as a learning tool to be operated by the student. there is much talk about the importance of building 21st century skills & technological literacy. these goals cannot be achieved if the student is not an active user of technology. i understand that access to a class set of computers is frequently not a possibility, but it is important for us to encourage student use of technology whenever possible. podcast creation is one tool i find to be extraordinarily engaging & meaningful.
