Friday, February 15, 2013

Week 6 Group 6 Current Event

Current Event Topic: iPads... Are they all that they are made out to be as they relate to whole classroom?  Identify an article, blog post or website that takes a position (which you agree with) on the usefulness of the Apple iPad in the classroom.

Group 6 Members: Warren Shaw, KayLee Taylor, & Maile Yap


Online Source: "How Tablets are Invading the Classroom" by Digital Trends


       All three members in group 6 can agree that tablets in the classroom are a useful education tool. Many schools also agree that tablets are useful in the classroom and have begun using them. Students are tech-savvy at young ages that it is easy for them to adopt all forms of new technology. Digital textbook are becoming popular and saves students for lugging around backpacks full of heavy books. Schools are also putting more money towards IT spending, more spending than ever before.

      While tablets such as the iPad, Kindle, Nook, Surface, and Android tablets are cheaper and more handy than desktop computers and laptops, we still believe that is a pretty costly learning expense for something so fragile. We can assume that high school students can be responsible with these learning investments in school, but how about the younger students? Some schools are trying to even get their Kindergartners to use tablets. It could teach them to be responsible with technology, but at what cost?

     In addition, are we beginning to depend too much on technology? How about the "old school" methods of reading actual physical books and hand writing papers and notes? Personally, I still find those methods useful. We don't want the new generation to be totally dependent on technology and be devastated and lost if something like a power outage (or the internet crashing- haha) to ever happen.



The article "How Tablets are Invading the Classroom" by Digital Trends compares the "contenders for the top classroom tablet". Apple iPads are the most popular, but most expensive. Less expensive tablets such as Amazon Kindles, Barns & Noble Nooks, Google Nexus 7's, other Android tablets, and Microsoft Surfaces are also gaining popularity in trials at many schools.


1 comment:

  1. Thanks for posting something that I have been really thinking about but felt too old fashioned to mention. In your blog, you mention our dependence on these technologies. What if there is a computer crash? What if these kids take home their tablets and lose them/break them? How will kids ever learn cursive or natural keyboarding skills? Yes, tablets are lightweight and economical but they are also fragile, costly, and expensive. And I would hate to see books become obsolete! Just thoughts.

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