Live from the First iPad Summit
The article was a report about some of the main issues covered in a recent summit on the iPad as an educational tool. The author begins by introducing how the summit went and what it was about. The summit focused only on the iPad as an educational tool. They never discussed any large philosophic or pedagogical ideas about education, just how the iPad might be implemented. There were many speakers throughout the weekend from all different backgrounds in education. The keynote speaker was Tony Wagner, Ph.D. and many of his topics revolved around the theme that we must use this technology to innovate our education system and not stay stuck in our old ways that our causing our system to fail.
The reporter took three main take aways from the summit and briefly outlined each. The first thing was that the iPad is simply a tool, not something that will on its own change the education system. Teachers must become familiar with it and understand how they can use it to add to their lesson and help their students learn. Second they discussed ow if a district is going to implement an iPad program they must be committed to the professional development of the teacher to know how to use the iPad. You can’t just expect even the best of teachers to understand the iPad and how to best use it. The last main point is that when integrating the iPad it can’t be just simply a replacement. Educators must use it for innovation, to accomplish things previously believed to be inconceivable, only then will the iPad be truly effective.
Q1: What is your opinion of the issue in the article? Agree or disagree? Why?
I believe that the issues covered in this article are very important the the current development of the education system. It is really important that we look to innovate our education system by integrating the newer and better technological advances into the system. I also thought that is was very good that they included the information about how its more than just simple throwing a bunch of iPads into a classroom. The schools must take the time to develop their teachers and prepare to completely and effectively use the iPad for education.
Q2: What limitations or criticisms of the idea are important to consider?
Sadly I think one of the limitations of this idea that must be considered is the cost of implementing the iPad into educations. The iPad is not a cheap item, it is a very expensive piece of technology. I hate to have money have an impact on the innovation of the education system and ultimately the betterment of society, but money is a big part of our current society. It should be ver important to consider were this money is going to come from and how effective and big the program will be based off the funding available.
Stephen Bollinger 