The iPad is changing Schools! article summary/response

As stated in previous blogs, I love Apple products. Therefore, I whole heartedly agree with the statement that iPads are changing the way in which we do school for the better. However, I also know that I am quite a  bit biased. Anyways, I decided to select the article written on June 3 of this year about some of the ways in which the iPad is changing our education techniques and school systems.

The article itself states something that I, too, agree with. Kaufman writes, "...I feel the iPad itself won't make the difference. What is truly needed is a rethinking of the 'how' as well as the 'what' in schooling. Teachers must become much more learning facilitators and coaches." Making this point before becoming enraptured with the tools and features the iPad offers remains vital because while the iPad is great there is never going to exist a substitute for a teacher in a classroom full of students.

With that foundation in mind, the iPad holds great significance in the impact it is making in schools and on the school system's use of technology and integration. The development of apps has changed the face of learning. According to the article there are hundreds of apps specifically designed for learning such as: doing research, taking notes, writing papers, creating presentations, making films and more.

In California, a school district uses the iPads to help teachers deliver physical education programs to students. The school uses the SPARK PE curriculum on the iPad which provides teachers the ability to waste less time on administrative tasks and also gives students a visual of individual training skills and interactive dance videos. Paul Rosengard, the executive of SPARK states, "Mobile technologies are allowing physical education teachers to better manage their classes and keep students engaged. As we move to a focus on inclusion and participation of all students in PE, technology allows instructors to better track the data that addresses individual student improvement." This is only one of the ways listed that iPads are being used in classrooms all over the U.S.

Another way iPads are changing education is the 1:1 concept. Each student receiving an mLearning device within their classrooms improve the availability of thousands of educational opportunities that were not available before. Avenues to aiding special needs students with auditory or visual disabilities or autism are also being expanded through the widespread school adoption of iPads in school systems all over the world.

Overall, I cannot believe all the ways that iPad technology opens up worlds of possibilities to students and teachers. I have to say that being able to explore the iPad apps and all the different features and tools provided by the product has made me anxiously await the day that allows me to utilize everything I have learned. The iPad would be one of my first technology tools to integrate into my lessons. I have already brainstormed dozens of possibilities for uses. Therefore, this article just furthers my excitement at all the ways this one creation could aid students all over the world learn about the millions of differing human experiences available to them in their lifetime.