It has taken me some time to get my post up about the new IPad from apple; however, it has definitely been on my mind. I first watched the apple press release on my own. Then picked ten minutes worth of the press release and watched it with my fourth grade class. My student's were very excited about the new IPad! They immediately asked if I was going to purchase one, which I would love to have.
I asked them the hypothetical questions, "What do you think it would be like if we each had one for our literature circles?" First, I got the typically fourth grade response, "Cool!", but after some more probing a few students gave it more thought. One child asked if we would be able to communicate between IPad's? Like they do on their DSI systems. They also asked about if they could write on the IPad's? Like we do on the smartboard in our classroom.
It was a very interesting conversation. There seemed to be no fear in their view of using the new technology in class. I must admit that my student's are used to a lot of technology in their learning this year. We were fortunate enough to have one of two new smartboards installed in my room. It came with 24 hand-controlled clickers that we have been using for quizzes, on the spot assessments and tests. It would be interesting to have the same conversation with another fourth grade class where the teacher is still using the chalkboard and overhead transparencies?
The conversation in my class sparked the question in me, "Would an IPad for every student enhance my ability to help student's learning experience?" The answer for me is a resounding "Yes". I think the IPad is an awesome new piece of technology that will slowly work it's way into the public education system. Today, I incorporated my smartboard with introducing the new Weekly Reader magazine about the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics. I captured their attention with a quick three-minute video and then showed them on Google Earth where Vancouver, British Colombia is. It would have been great to tell them to turn on their IPads and open the new electronic Weekly Reader!
Mike
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What a great post!!! I think that is great that you were able to share this with them and ask them about their thoughts. Great that they were able to ask you some interesting questions. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI like your idea about the electronic weekly reader, however if they are able to chat back and forth on this i-tablet is their an application that can block that while they are in school? Which I am sure their would be because that would potentially be a distraction.
Laurin,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a great point! With every piece of technology introduced there is a distraction factor that must be evaluated. There would need to be levels of restrictions to help keep students focused during lesson, and not sending electronic notes back and forth. I am thinking about starting to blog with my fourth grade class. I did some blogging a few years ago with my fifth grade class and the distraction factor definitely reared it's head. Your comments are very timely for me.