doug woods

I don’t have an iPad

But I have seen people using them and the first thing that strikes me is just how awkward and cumbersome they seem to be.

I daresay that when people first used a mobile phone or a video camera, they may have felt that it was cumbersome but soon got used to it. The iPad is slightly different, though, because it seems cumbersome and awkward when you finish using it.

Just what do you do with it when you’ve finished using it? Yes, I know, some of you have probably not got to that stage as you’ve been using it constantly, like a junkie, since you first got it and others will respond that the time to finish using it is when the battery needs recharging!

Seriously, though, unlike the iPod Touch which you can switch off and slip back into your pocket, the iPad is not so easy. I have seen some slip it into their laptop bag or into a briefcase. I guess many at home or at work may just put it down on a table or desk. I have even seen some who carry it around in their hand or even hold it in place under their arm or elbow; which doesn’t seem a very secure place to hold an expensive piece of technology.

Seeing this, my mind began to wander as to how the iPad might be used in schools. We couldn’t expect schoolchildren to carry their iPad under their arm or walk around with them in their hand all day. I guess they might keep them in their school bag or a satchel … (waits for fashion police to come and arrest him for suggesting people should go back to having satchels) … or would a teacher simply say ‘ right, children,’  (it’s a primary school!) ‘ put your iPads on your desk and look at me.’ ?

Put your iPad on your desk …

now that seems to conjure up new possibilities. With just one iPad face up on a desk or table (I’m referring to desks in deference to present government thinking!), you can have 1, 2 or up to 4 pupils working together with the one device. This is something that perhaps was not so easy with desktop computers, laptops, netbooks or even the iPod Touch (owing to its smaller screen). We could now have a small number of pupils working cooperatively together via the single device, the iPad.

I wonder, could the iPad bring about a re-emergence of board games? I know, we’ve all seen Scrabble (r) and Monopoly (r) software but, let’s be honest, they’re not quite the same when you’re playing by yourself or against the machine. Maybe, the format of the iPad could add an extra dimension to interactive boardgames?

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Tags: Apple iPod Touch Portable Audio Device, cellular telephone, iPad, iPads

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 09:33 and is filed under Classroom Technology, Handheld Learning, games based learning. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.