Should they have iPads, tablets, and nooks in the classroom? Are they too young? Will they break them? Are they educationally appropriate? These are a few of the questions and answers that teachers and educators want in order to have their children/students’ progress in the twenty-first century classroom. In California it is becoming popularized, “In September, the Los Angeles Unified School District began carrying out a $50 million plan to equip 30,000 students in 47 schools from kindergarten through 12th grade with an iPad. Giving kid’s iPads sounds like installing candy machines on every desk, or worse, Xboxes. The educators naturally disagree. They spent $678 per iPad, loading them up with software from the Pearson (PSO) educational group and locking them down so that students couldn’t wander around the Internet unchaperoned.”(Bloomberg, 2014) Tablets have great educational benefits when used correctly. Tablets can offer educational resources such as educational apps, Microsoft office, and etc. While these are beneficial there is controversy under whether or not they should be used. Their concerns are that the students will break the merchandise, they are not old enough to be responsible for it, what if the student comes for a low socioeconomic status they will not be able to afford it-How will the school accommodate for those students? The list goes on. A lot of teachers are not comfortable with the change from the standard didactic teaching style to the new twenty-first classroom techno-savvy classroom. One of the concerns of students having tablets in the classroom is that the younger students are not responsible enough to maintain the merchandise. There are two options that could solve that issue. For the first option, t... ... middle of paper ... ... versus electronic books that are accessed on tablets. In conclusion there are many pros and cons of having tablets in the classroom. The pros include eliminating the need for textbooks, it can teach the primary students about technology early, and it is a new innovative way to assist teaching. The cons against tablets in the classroom are that they are pricey and there is low funding in the schools where the student’s families cannot afford them. Also, the primary students have short attention span and without the proper monitoring the tablets can be distracting. “It’s plausible, and even probable, that at some point iPads will be the standard in the classrooms. While there are still definite cons to the approach, they aren’t anything that can’t be dealt with, and the pros weigh heavy in favor of the switch to a tablet-based learning experience.” (Aubrey, 2012).
I am a current student of Thompson Rivers University and I would like to have a device that would easily provide me with accessible data and personal files, as there is a lack of available computers in the computer laboratories. This need has prompted me to the idea to buy a tablet. Many factors would convince me to purchase a particular model/brand, such as: national/religion and geographical environment, social status, and age. My interest to a modern device is a result of the upbringing in a modern society, with achievements in the field of electronic equipment and attendant skills of a consumer and corresponding set of values. Having a background in computer science, I know how important it is to have a good quality
Tablets can help improve the way students attain their studies. According to Cam Lincoln “Students who used the iPad version of the textbook scored 20 percent higher on standardized test versus students who learned with traditional textbook”(parag.2).This demonstrates that, students who used the iPad version of the textbook learned more effectively than the students who learned with traditional textbooks. The iPad clearly shows that it can help improved test scores. According to National Association for the Education of Young Children “for children with minimal exposure to technology or limited engli...
Tyre, Peg. "Are IPads and Other Classroom Gadgets Really Helping Kids Learn?"TakePart. N.p., 31 Jan. 2013. Web. 18 Jan. 2014.
In conclusion, iPads are detrimental to young children's social skills; cause harm to balance, posture, muscle development and fine motor skills; are liable to cause an addiction in younger children; and slow down the ability to process words and sounds as well as limiting vocabulary. These reasons are concrete proof that children up to the age of seven should not be using devices in a one-on-one environment for the six hours daily that they are at school. As a country, do we want to have our younger generation being dependent on their smartphones, tablets, and internet; or do we want strong leaders who can think for themselves? The choice is yours New Zealand.
Today’s world is constantly evolving and technological advances are surfacing it seems like every few weeks. Apple has produced the country’s most popular devices and the question has arose whether or not iPads are effective in the classroom. This research project will thoroughly entail the pros of implementing an iPad in the learning environment. As for my personal take on the debate, I side with modernizing education in order to keep up with technology and to preserve the student’s enjoyable learning environment.
Four of my sections are classified class within a class. During these sections I work with a co-teacher. Together we provide opportunities for one on one instruction for kids with IEP’s and ESL students. One item I immediately embraced is the ability for the iPad to define a word by simply highlighting and clicking on it. Also the ability for the iPad to read highlighted text to the students. This helps students struggling to read complex texts and increases time we can spend helping everyone within the classroom. Ultimately I want the classroom to be completely paperless. Everything from bell ringer to exit tickets, formal and informal assessments, also the daily activities of reading and writing needs to be done through technology. Every year technology integrates more and more with our work and daily activities students need to learn how to manage and incorporate technology so they can compete in the 21st century
The first advantage would be teachers embracing tech in the classroom.Teachers embrace tech as a teaching tool in a way the students will understand.According to Eric board when students took an assignment of translating passages of Othello into other dialects,some students used the texting dialect,”resulting in some very interesting dialogue between lago and othello.The kind of technology teachers are embracing on are high tech calculators,Ipads,smartboards,and a variety of sites.Today’s high tech calculators don’t just calculate certain equations but also graph equations,how to find the greatest common factor,and even get a larger view or smaller view of the graph.The use of ipads in the classroom is useful for both the teacher and the student. For the students the ipad can give them some hints on the problem their solving and maybe even keep a record of their grades that certain student has so they can easily check up on them at any time. While for the teachers they can easily set up tests and quizzes and even grade assignments quickly and effecently.Although some teachers still use regular boards,most teachers use smart boards to teach. These boards are like ordinary boards except these are controlled by remote control pen.By just clicking on the board questions can be written...
The movement to use laptop computers to provide a first-rate education to all students has quickly been spreading across the nation. Throughout the United States, Microsoft has counted more than 125,000 students and teachers at 800 schools participating in such programs. (Chute, 2000) In researching this topic, I have found documentation of programs in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools in a number of different states. These states include, but are not limited to, New York, Maine, Pennsylvania, California, Michigan, and Texas.
The second pro listed is 81% of K-12 teachers believe tablets enrich classroom education. The explanation goes further to state that 77% of teachers found technology increases motivation in the classroom to learn. This data was collected by the Public Broadcasting Service. However, the second con is the cost; tablets are more expensive than using printed textbooks. With the purchase of tablets, schools have to build Wi-Fi infrastructure and train teachers how to use the technology―this costs 552% higher than new print textbooks in an average high school. The average cost per student per class with tablets is $71.55, as opposed to $14.26 for printed textbooks.
Last year Manteca Unified School District implemented students to use tablets instead of books and writing on paper. How exciting to have technology in the classroom for reading, learning and communicating. Every student from first grade to twelfth would be provided an iPad of their own. Teachers, parents and students would be required to attend a seminar on how to use them. Parents were required to pay a fee for insurance purpose, in case the iPad got broken or needed repair. But what the district did not anticipate were the disadvantages that would come along with using the tablet.
Ginger Dunbar's article is an overview about how the city of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, is considering purchasing iPads for its school's sixth graders. This article has a fairly neutral tone and is not overly complex. It simply gives details behind the process of giving iPads to students but doesn't state an obvious opinion. If there is an opinion at all, it may be that Dunbar is vaguely hinting that this practice could be more widely accepted further down the road. Dunbar is a writer for the Daily Local News, so she is credible.
Tablets have been around for decades. In 1972, Alan Kay, a researcher at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center came up with a design for a tablet called the Dynabook. He published a paper describing its specifications: 12 inches by 9 inches, with a keyboard, a stylus, and a graphics user interface (GUI). His vision was to develop a "personal computer for children of all ages." Children around the world would be able to use this dynamic book (Dynabook) to further their education. The Dynabook was never made because technology in the 1970s was not advanced enough. (Steele,
Tablets or laptops which restrict its use to only study purposes can be given to students for their school. They are many companies which specially designs tablets for school students. The price of these resources is not going to be more than purchasing eight different textbooks for a year. It is important for every human to being to know how to read and write at least one language. Technological advancements should be able to help the illiterate to learn to read and write. In a way, the reason I can speak English coming from another country is because of the growing technological
As the first decade of the 21st century lingers on, one constant remains—technology rules the world. New products are released routinely, allowing workers to work faster and smarter than ever before. The drive to excel is thrust on students daily, and technology holds the key to a teenager’s future. With kids buying more iPods, cell phones, and laptops than ever before, one is driven to ask: “Should schools embrace technology and, perhaps provide each student with a laptop?” Gary Stager, from the Irving Independent School District believes “technology, as a tool, has the ability to drastically change teaching and learning, and when coupled with student laptops [available 24/7], our students will be empowered for their future”.
As more people began to access the Internet through smart phones and tablets rather than laptops and computers, it is not a surprise that they would also want to transform the American education system by bringing tablets into classrooms. In fact, a few schools around the country have already replaced textbooks with tablets and have seen improvements in students’ standardized test scores. Using tablets instead of textbooks is not only convenient and helpful, but it can also reduce the amount of paper wastes in school. However, it is not a good idea to completely transform textbooks with tablets with the current technology, for it can not only be damaging to the environment and costly to set up, but also might not be effective in improving K-12 education in the long run.