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  • Questions About the iPad

    By Joshua Kim April 11, 2010 9:18 pm EDT

    Spent this weekend "moving in" to my iPad. Been thinking about what to say, which made me think about what we should be asking.

    Most of the debate around the iPad has focussed on the utility of the platform for teaching and learning, the problematic nature of a closed and proprietary system, and the relative merits of the iPad form factor vs. the laptop. Good questions all, but I think perhaps the wrong questions.

    What we really should be asking ourselves is:

    - Will the iPad catch on with our students?

    - What proportion of our students will transition from a computer to a mobile device (including the iPad, Touch, iPhone, and also other smart phones such as Androids) for interacting with media and content?

    - How will the total proportion of time spend consuming/interacting with content move from computer to mobile device?

    My big takeaway from my first weekend with my iPad is that this device will accelerate and catalyze a shift from computer to mobile. We might have our (legitimate) complaints and dissatisfactions with the iPad and the Apple mobile ecosystem, but our misgivings will not stop students from adopting. The iPad may not be perfect, but it will get better and cheaper. And seeing the iPad as part of an ecosystem, which includes devices, apps, and contents (as opposed to a standalone device) only supports the hypothesis that student interaction with this ecosystem will grow.

    So yes, I think we want our learning content to be accessible on the iPad, Touch, iPhone, Android devices, and maybe more others. And yes, mirroring our LMS content on mobile devices is going to be a huge challenge. My first attempts to get all the content that can play through a browser and an LMS to play correctly on an iPad (curricular articles and videos) resulted mostly (and disturbingly) in failure.

    This is a case where I don't think we should let student demands (or a lack of complaints) drive our actions. I don't think students will complain much about course content not accessible on their mobile devices because they will have plenty of other wonderful content and apps to keep them busy. I cherish any student requests to make LMS course content available on their mobile devices, as these requests are evidence of relevance. Working to get course content and media to play on mobile devices, including the iPad (and despite what we may think of the device), is one area where we should be out in front.

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Comments on Questions About the iPad

  • iPAd is more like a laptop
  • Posted by Brian Mulligan , Open Learning Coordinator at Institute of Technology Sligo on April 12, 2010 at 9:00am EDT

  • Your question "- What proportion of our students will transition from a computer to a mobile device (including the iPad, Touch, iPhone, and also other smart phones such as Androids) for interacting with media and content?" seems to indicate that you classify mobile as these smaller devices and include the iPad among them. However, I feel that the iPad, because of it's size (I can't put it in my pocket) is more like a laptop/netbook (possibly with nicer input but not particularly more mobile)

  • iPad vs mobile devices
  • Posted by alex messinger , Senior Instructional Developer at Norwich University on April 12, 2010 at 10:15am EDT

  • The iPad certainly far surpasses any mobile device for its ability for users to input data. Any institution that subscribes to a constructivist model would be well advised to consider the additional utility that this provides. We want users to participate in the classroom; to raise their virtual hands. Mobile devices are only good for surfing the web it nothing else is available, and entering data is far more tedious than typing. A full keyboard and larger screen may address both students' mobility needs and the instructor's need for students to 'speak up'.

  • iTunes U on the iPad
  • Posted by Richard Regan , English at Fairfield University on April 16, 2010 at 3:15pm EDT

  • I can download and play on my iPad both audio podcasts and video clips posted in my iTunes U courses. Although the filing pathways are not clear and I have to search the iPad to find them (especially the video), they play beautifully. The video also projects quite well on a good projector, although I'm not sure what adjustments have to be made from iPad's audio jack to connect to a room system. Proprietary video (like movies bought from the iTunes store) will not play for more than a minute or so before a message informs me that showing such video is prohibited.

    The next step for Apple is to allow the iPad to project Safari and Pages documents. Oh, and documents posted in iTunes U courses do not display and cannot therefore be downloaded.

    But this is good start. And if Steve can show all the contents of his iPad on a big screen, we need the same function.

  • Great for consuming content, plus doing some light computing
  • Posted by Ed Garay at University of Illinois at Chicago on April 28, 2010 at 6:30am EDT

  • The Apple iPad is an outstanding device for reading and consuming content :: Web browsing, reading email, PDFs and other office documents, elecronic books and Apple-supported multimedia.

    The lightweight 9.7" color touch-screen, its full-feature Web browser, built-in Wi-Fi, (3G soon), and a growing library of native iPad apps gives the iPad all kinds of additional functionality and makes it even more useful and fun. Native iPad apps, like NPR, USA Today, BBC News, Bloomberg, Zinio, Epicurious, Evernote, Pages, Keynote, Bento and Blackboard Mobile Learn provide a much easier and less cluttered mobile experience customized to fit the iPad's screen size and multiple-touch interface.

    On the other hand, the iPad is not very well-suited for note taking, and cannot play Flash content -- there is a lot of valuable educational content today that uses Flash, including Flash movies, screencasts, tutorials, SlideShare presentations, Flash learning objects, animations, Flash Websites, presentations, lots and lots of Flash Video.

    While it is unlikely that students will replace their notebook computers with iPads, students will find increasing value to have iPads to surf the Web, read class materials, access their Blackboard sites, blogs, wikis, lecture captures, and so forth. Apple still needs to beef up its iBooks Store with college textbooks; when it does, we'll be pressed to find students not having enough justification to purchase an excellent reading device that can also do a myriad of things for school work and fun.

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