Thursday, August 5, 2010

The iPad is undoubtedly very cool and sleek looking. However does it do what we need in our classrooms? There are limitations. It is certainly not like a full laptop, however it is half the price so we could put a lot more of these in children's hands.
The iPad that we have in school has been loaded with 'Pages' and 'Keynote' which are two of the applications which make the device a possible replacement for a laptop. Both are mini versions of the full software packages that run on a Mac. The question is, do they do enough for what our children need?
The internet speed on the iPad is impressive. This could be useful for our children when they are blogging, but how easy is it to blog on an iPad?
If you have answers to these questions or an opinion on any aspect of this decision, please comment on this post now!!

7 comments:

  1. The initial comments from the class were, of course, to do with how 'cool' the ipad is. The children were impressed with its portability and the ability to use so many things with which they are already familiar.

    Logan - it's easy to use, but it loses the internet quite easily so you have to keep on reconnecting.
    Amelia - Does it have the classroom server? It's really quick to load. It loses the internet quite often.

    More to come!

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  2. Ben - The negative is the letters are quite close together, so it's a bit harder than a laptop - easier to make mistakes. It was quite easy to use in other ways - comes up with what you want and you can just touch it and it'll go there...

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  3. Room 19 Has some thoughts:

    The Ipad is quicker to load- mouse is slower on Macbook
    Doesn't take up too much room
    Giving the school another device to use
    For typing you can look at screen and type at same time- don't have have to look down (but how are we going to practise actual typing)
    Easier to use- all the programs are on the screen.
    Use it whatever way you want.
    Easier to carry around (not as heavy as the pods of MacBooks)
    Easier to fit on lap when sitting
    Find it easier to type on

    2 students think we should get the 10 mac books
    7 students think we should get the mixture of macbooks and ipads
    16 students think we should get the 20 ipads

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  4. I think the 10 laptops would be better and i have several reason why: you cant print on the ipads, i think ipads are just noveltys, you can't store more than 16 gb compared to 250 gb on the laptops, you certainly couldnt run an assembly with a ipad, i havnt enjoyed the reviews about them on click on bbc, toofragile if you drop them they are dead, touch typing are too difficult compared to laptop but most of all i just think they are toys. 1 or 2 would be cool but not 20.

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  5. Room 12, a Year 2 class, found the touch screen capability enhanced our ability to access and use this ICT. It removes the barrier of the keyboard and allows the children to interact without needing to learn keyboard skills... and it was lots of fun!
    In conclusion, Ipads may be an easy access tool for the younger children at school.

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  6. I think the iPad is a gret idea for Fendalton as I have used the MacBook and are quite hard to use sometimes. The iPad and is easy to use and has a size is great. And if the iPad can have the classroom server on it that is really good. There is only 1 problem and that is that the iPad can be a bit slow on the internet (it may have only been the one I used thought)

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  7. personally, i think that the apple ipad should be used for something recreational, not for work. Using "mini" versions of things like keynote often lack in options you can choose from... and as the old saying goes "a new broom sweeps clean but an old broom knows all the corners". I think it is better to stay with more macbooks as they haven't seem to have many technical difficulties. But this is arguable.

    Jared C.

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