In my research and exploration of the iPad, I have found that it is superhandy for media viewing, internet browsing, doing research and keeping my calendar organized. However, in my attempts to use it as I use the tablet PC for teaching, I found it was severely limited in three very important ways: 1. Projectability 2. Note-taking 3. Syncing. Currently, I use my Tablet PC for all of my classroom work: grading, lesson planning, scaffolding, modeling, etc. The Tablet allows me to write over text or documents, so I can project the text of a book we are reading, add to a lesson agenda, model proper mechanics, edit an essay. This is where the iPad falls short as a teaching tool because only a limited numbers of apps can a. be projected and b. allow me to write with a stylus on a document (none of the e-book readers that I have explored allow this).
Additionally, I have yet to find the best way to sync and access all of documents and OneNote files (my planner) on the iPad. That said, if we were to have a class set, I could see the iPad being a great tool in English for graphic organizer, reading, organizer, researching, brainstorming and collaborating. Additionally, students could use the iPad as an electronic notebook, binder, research tool and textbook. I think it would be really cool to pilot a program in which a group of students uses iPads for the entire year in place of traditional educational gear (pen, pencil, paper, notebook, binder, books, computer) to see how effective it could be.
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