iPad in Education

iPad has been introduced into education recently, and it seems that many people are fascinated with its use in informal learning and formal education.

This post provides a brief review on the current use of iPad in education.

Henderson and Yeow state that having a mobile device (like an iPad) right in front of students allows them to strongly engage with content. This way of using mobile device seems to align well with constructivism – which is based on the principle that children learn by doing and that they construct their own knowledge through their surrounding, and in particular that the best way to ensure constructive learning is through actively performing a task.

The introduction of iPad as a part of the educational technology strategy in formal education institutions is relatively new.

It is only relatively recently that educational technology has been able to support a constructivist approach. Smaller devices are better able to facilitate social collaboration than PCs which users must use singly, and the rise of more social application software enables much better opportunities for collaboration than were possible in the past. (Henderson & Yeow, 2012)

To what extent would students improve their learning using iPad as part of educational technology?

There is still no clear evidence that educational technology improves student learning (Weller, 2012). The conclusion is that the mode of delivery made no difference to student performance, so it is the content and not the medium that seems to be important in learning. If the content is that important to student learning, does iPad provide the content necessary to improve the learning in a classroom environment?

Kinash et al. (2011) described an Australian investigation to evaluate the impact on learning of students’ use of mobile devices such as the iPad; feedback from students was positive and optimistic, even though most students did not believe that their learning had improved. Hall and Smith (2011) described an iPad initiative in a US graduate management program and noted that while learning outcomes were not significantly improved, student convenience and flexibility were enhanced, along with aspects of environmental sustainability. (Manuguerra, Petocz, 2011)

If iPad is to be used for collaborative problem solving, or project work, either individually or collaboratively, then it could become a tool for facilitating the process of learning. With the use of games available in the iPad, would students be able to learn more effectively, as compared to conventional classroom teaching?

iPad is surely an enabling technology, though its use in classroom has to be managed in order to ensure that it is not treated just as a novelty or another game device, in a formal education classroom environment (Henderson & Yeow, 2012).

Would the introduction of iPad reduce the need of instructors or instructor’s time, when students could interact with others in the networks or with contents on the web and internet, in Higher Education?

To what extent would iPad be able to enhance teaching and learning practices in K-12 and Higher Education?