Colleges see possibility for usefulness of Apple’s iPad in classrooms
By Marcus Torrey
April 13, 2010 9:28 p.m.
April 3 marked Apple’s latest attempt to revolutionize the technological world with its release of the iPad, a computing device that falls somewhere along the spectrum of a Smartphone and a laptop.
Boasting a 9.7-inch LED-backlit display, 10 hours of battery life, Wi-Fi capabilities and nearly 150,000 usable applications, Apple’s Web site presents the tablet as a versatile gadget that can be used to surf the Web, play different forms of media, and create content such as documents and business presentations.
Despite the number of features crammed into the iPad, students might not want to retire their laptops just yet. Aside from missing a CD-ROM drive, the iPad also lacks USB and other ports.
“We only received about 50 to 60 units last week, and we sold about half of them,” said Jan Griwach, director of computers and supplies at the UCLA Store.
While Apple’s multipurpose tablet has sold nearly half a million units nationwide, students at UCLA have been reserved when it comes to the iPad.
“I’m curious about it,” said Meir Chodakiewitz, a second-year neuroscience student, as he fiddled around with an iPad on display in the UCLA Store. But he said his curiosity would not translate into a purchase until the price drops since he does not believe the iPad and its features warrant its current price.
And while Chodakiewitz said the iPad was not a replacement for a laptop, specifying the increased precision of using a mouse as opposed to using a finger, he saw the usefulness it could provide in classes, such as for typing up notes.
The functionality of the iPad in the classroom is something people other than Chodakiewitz have realized.
Even before the iPad hit shelves, schools such as Seton Hill University and George Fox University introduced plans to see this new device make its way into the hands of entering freshmen undergraduates with hopes that its mobility will offer increased learning capabilities.
Robert Bjork, a UCLA psychology professor, said there is the potential for the iPad to be a classroom tool.
“There are some possible ways, like with clickers, to make the lecture (environment) more interactive (with an iPad),” he said.
However, with the ability to go on the Internet, there is also the possibility that the iPad could make classes less interactive, depending on how distracted students get, Bjork said.
The iPad is a tool, and it is not necessarily a good or bad thing, but it is whatever one makes out of it, he added.
