Learning with 'e's

We have just purchased 15 iPads for our undergradu...

2012-05-24T20:24:34.322+01:00

We have just purchased 15 iPads for our undergraduate ICT specialist teacher trainees. Everybody's doing it ;)

Thanks Chris. Yep, that would be the acid test.

2012-05-24T20:23:32.449+01:00

Thanks Chris. Yep, that would be the acid test.

Cool! Do we get a set of ipads to lead the study? ...

2012-05-24T18:55:56.213+01:00

Cool! Do we get a set of ipads to lead the study? I am game ;-)

I think you'd also need to take into account t...

2012-05-24T18:39:47.425+01:00

I think you'd also need to take into account the'Shiny Factor' (Ratcliffe, 2012). What happens in two or three years time when things aren't new anymore?
It would be fascinating to see if children who had an iPad since launch had as much improvement in the same time as those children who had never used one before.

Good post. I've struggled for coding for some....

2012-05-24T14:03:28.400+01:00

Good post. I've struggled for coding for some... years, until I found simple thing:
I have to forget "I can not do it". I have to rephrase it into: "I'm note very good it at this moment,
but time has showed to me I'm able to learn". Quite NLP.

Good point Remi, but I guess we have to speculate,...

2012-05-24T12:42:15.281+01:00

Good point Remi, but I guess we have to speculate, not haveing been in the classroom of that school. We know that the 'observer effect' does have an influence over participant behaviour, but we also know that over a prolonged period of observation, behaviour becomes more naturalistic.

The Pygmalion in the Classroom study (Rosenthal and Jacobson) in the 60s showed similar influences, but these were provoked by the researchers indicating to teachers that certain students (randomly chosen) were above average intelligence. The teachers subconsciously invested more time in those specific students, and learning gain was seen to improve dramatically.

I guess this is yet another really interesting research project for some post-grad student to make a PhD out of. Anyone interested? I'm a cool supervisor :)

I wonder if this type of intervention would be sub...

2012-05-24T12:32:59.218+01:00

I wonder if this type of intervention would be subject to a "Hawthorn effect", that is a teacher will invest more time and effort into a class that now has ipads because others are watching and expecting a change. The mere act of more closely observing what us going on in the classroom more closely may impact overall student attainment.

Make a comparison with in-flight entertainment. A ...

2012-05-24T07:09:37.026+01:00

Make a comparison with in-flight entertainment. A couple of years ago I flew to SF and I hadn't been on a longhaul flight in 15 years. I was amazed and surprised at the device on the back of the seat in front of me. Movies, TV shows, GPS tracking, multiplayer games, new headlines. And all personalised for me. And then on my flight home I was equally surprised as there was no magical device and a 17" CRT television descended from the ceiling to show the in-flight movie that was to cater for fifty people. That's the difference between interactive whiteboards and iPads. You can show the same content to everyone and pray for attention or you can allow engagement to happen by task-setting and letting the students figure out their own path.

The real "whut?" moment is that iPads are starting to replace the devices on the back of seats in airplanes.

Thanks Neil, a neat idea.

2012-05-23T22:43:09.628+01:00

Thanks Neil, a neat idea.

We've seen this need for 'control' in ...

2012-05-23T22:34:44.417+01:00

We've seen this need for 'control' in our research and interviews with teachers in Ireland. Our product ( http://www.slatestate.com ) supports teachers in classrooms using devices, including the iPad, by providing a realtime dashboard allowing them see at a glance whether students are on task, giving confidence during the initial phases of device adoption and recognising the fact that changes in approaches to learning will be an evolutionary process.

I would go a little further than Christian's l...

2012-05-23T16:27:24.534+01:00

I would go a little further than Christian's last post: it should be an integral part of lesson planning - so that when students graduate they understand that there are times (in their professional lives) when all the reading/viewing/prep needs to be done up front, i.e. meetings, etc. I think this idea (though the name 'flipping' needs to change SOON!)is increasingly relevant as more and more students are attuned to video (YouTube, et al), not to mention the ability to pick important info out of text (Google searches). During these 'flips', practice is done in class (the environment in which they will test) and their reading and notetaking is done elsewhere, where they can "properly" process it (SQRRR being an excellent technique). They will have the opportunity to gain leadership experience in student centered activities, collaborative learning in small groups (directly transferable job skill), and to troubleshoot their own understanding with the teacher in one-on-ones. All this said, I will resist to my last breath the watering down of education. And that does seem to be a real risk with out serious teacher self-discipline. And all THAT being said, I think lectures still have an essential place as an excellent way of preparing students for the 1 time presentation that their boss will give in a meeting - no DVRs or rewinds! Concentration and focus on listening and processing lectures transfers to relationships, to family, to so much of life that we should not slide into a take-as-long-as-you-need place either.

Thanks for your contribution Kevin - wise advice.

2012-05-23T15:45:04.065+01:00

Thanks for your contribution Kevin - wise advice.

It will become an iFad if its put into the hands o...

2012-05-23T15:35:47.454+01:00

It will become an iFad if its put into the hands of teachers who know nothing better than to use the device for research, copy and pasting together images and text and spending the rest of the time on games that tie into curriculum content.
Anyone who uses an iPad as a content creating device knows that it's a game changer in a way no netbook or laptop can ever come close too. I tell every teacher who gets an iPad to ensure they purchase GarageBand and iMovie. These two apps on their own can put any other netbook/laptop to shame due to their ease of use yet extremely powerful functions. The two apps work flawlessly together and provide learners with a resource that is not matched by any other product on the market. On its own the iPad is merely a glorified games machine with access to the internet. In the hands of a teacher with vision and learners with freedom to explore their creative side the device becomes as essential a tool as a pencil.

Thanks Oliver - you Olivers must stick together eh...

2012-05-23T13:29:39.087+01:00

Thanks Oliver - you Olivers must stick together eh? I think one of the most important things to highlight from your comment is that the iPad and other similar tools have the potential to blur the boundary between formal and informal learning, and that is significant.

This is a comment from Oliver Meyer, which for som...

2012-05-23T13:27:32.559+01:00

This is a comment from Oliver Meyer, which for some unexplained reason did not pass through the Blogger filter system:

I couldn't agree more with Oliver's comment. The question is not so much whether or not the gadget per se is a game changer. We need to make sure that using IPads in the classroom will enhance the learning process and make them net smart.
We are currently working on a conceptual framework for the digital CLIL textbook, and we use the term "learnscaping" to make it clear that tablets and other gadgets have the potential to be so much more than just digital versions of traditional textbooks. Embedded in such a framework tablets or phablets etc have tge potential to bridge the gap between formal and informal learning to build a connection between students private lives and whats going at school.
Example: an EFL student touches a word he doesnt know. Not only will he get a translatio, definition but he will also hear the pronunciation and a visual. If he chooses to do so, the word will be added to his personal lexis notebook. Whenever he wants to, he can ask his Avatar (a future veryion of Siri) to help him work on his vocab skills. Gamifification elements a highly customizable ui and reward and competition structure will boost his motivation and proficiency. SIRI will also inform tge teacher about the students progress.
I am convinced that tablets can boost language learning by
-offering authentic and multimodal input
- providing customized scaffolding and support
- use web 20 to create lifelike and challenging tasks
- provide opportunities for collaboration beyond the classroom
- make more time available for face to face interaction
- become a learnscape that can be accessed from anywhere, anytime on any gadget.

Oliver Meyer , CLIL aficionado, teacher trainer, material writer and researchet, Catholic University Eichstaett, Germany

Good comments Matt, and thanks for dropping by. I ...

2012-05-23T13:25:28.529+01:00

Good comments Matt, and thanks for dropping by. I wrote a blogpost about this very idea recently, entitled 'A Head Teacher writes', which is a satire of the stupidity of revering specific technologies. Thanks for joining in the discussion.

Just adding tablets to a classroom won't chang...

2012-05-23T13:21:33.134+01:00

Just adding tablets to a classroom won't change engagement. But integrating it into the process has proven, several times, to improve student engagement. No, an iPad is not a magic bullet but also it's hardly an iFad.

The interesting thing is that the devices themselves are still not defined in what they can or cannot do. iPad was derided as a consumption device until the market realised it loves consuming content and iPads are great for doing that. Then we've been subjected to a long line of products that show the iPad is not just for consumption: Garageband, Paper, Autodesk - at some point the pundits will have to admit that, as computers go, the special thing about the iPad is not that it can do everything but that it can do the important things and, more importantly, it does it in a personal fashion.

Much has been written on how it is not a good shared device.

We hold books, paper and pencils, though they represent a single instance of technology development, in such reverence. It is, quite frankly, daft.

Thanks for your comments Peter, and for sharing yo...

2012-05-23T13:07:58.608+01:00

Thanks for your comments Peter, and for sharing your link. I agree that there is a significant potential to harness, but the question is whether it will materialise - it's back to the question of changing pedagogies...

Hi Steve, Whilst I can definitely see the positi...

2012-05-23T12:58:41.628+01:00

Hi Steve,

Whilst I can definitely see the positives of the iPad (and other tablet/mobile devices), I'm interested in the potential of the 'Fad', as I fear more and more Programmes/Faculties/Universities/Schools see that with £9k fees, a free iPad for students can be a quick win to somehow mask the massive fees, and improve student satisfaction. I blogged about this briefly here - http://scieng-elearning.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/skeptic-week-on-ipads-in-edu.html
I think if we are going to introduce iPads, we need to have a solid plan as to what we want to do with them. We can't just hand them out as a means to take notes, but structure more multimedia learning materials and actually harness the possibilities.

Having said that, I am enthused by the potential these devices can bring. For examples, see how they can impact on fieldwork - http://www.enhancingfieldwork.org.uk/

Peter
@reedyreedles

The point I'm trying to make with Interactive ...

2012-05-23T12:53:42.195+01:00

The point I'm trying to make with Interactive Whiteboards is that they are potentially *interactive*, and that means they are touch surfaces that students can use just as well as teachers. I have seen some very innovative lessons in the UK and Ireland conducted where the teacher stepped aside and allowed the children to use the whiteboard, and that is the essence of the point I am making. IWBs should not be a teacher technology, anymore than iPads should be just a notepad for students. They both have the potential to be game changers if the practice of using them alters.

I agree with you that touch surface devices of all kinds are the way forward and that use will evolve as prices come down and people feel more at ease using them.

I certainly agree in essence with both of you. I d...

2012-05-23T12:35:59.942+01:00

I certainly agree in essence with both of you. I do however think that iPads/handheld devices differ from whiteboards in that they are pupil-centric not teacher-centric. I would certainly envision handheld devices, such as the iPad, becoming intrinsically involved in how humans manage their day-to-day lives over the next 10-15 years. I think this issue may just organically evolve, as already I would find 10-15% of pupils in my classes would have an iPad. If prices can continue to come down and wider societal use continues to grow, it will hopefully feel more like moving from pencil to pen than wheel to rocket ship.

Thanks for your comments NewEnglish, and I tend to...

2012-05-23T12:19:04.603+01:00

Thanks for your comments NewEnglish, and I tend to agree, a tool is a tool, and the key question is whether it is the correct tool for the job. My view is that touch screen tablets are here for a while, but we are also, as you allude to with your mention of the Kinect system, going to see widespread use of non-touch/voice activated interfaces soon. My comments above in response to Oliver are my own particular stance on this discussion - if the pedagogy adjusts to harness the full potential of any new tool, it becomes an asset and ceases to be a fad.

The worry that that the next iteration of handheld...

2012-05-23T12:13:59.701+01:00

The worry that that the next iteration of handheld devices will make the iPad an iFad, is a strange one for me. Don't books publish second, third...fourth editions?

If a pupil has a five year cycle in a school, will an iPad still be and effective handheld device in the fifth year? Perhaps it wouldn’t. But perhaps it would. The current xbox 360 was released originally in 2005 and is still the flagship console of this generation. It has been continually given software updates which means the interface in unrecognizable from 2005, but the hardware is still the same. Irrespectively, an iPad for a child starting in September 2012 will certainly, I maintain, find financial value in years one, two and three. If the handheld wheel has been reinvented after three years then the educational benefits of the first three years surely justifies the expense. Furthermore, the electronic logging and archiving of work, that the iPad would provide, would make the ‘redundant’ iPad an invaluable resource for teachers and pupils in years four and five.

New handheld devices could then be phased into the first year of a secondary school, much the same way as books are currently. iPads may be an iFad but handheld, intuitive and electronic learning is here to stay. We need solutions, not fear.

Thanks for your comments Oliver, and I agree compl...

2012-05-23T12:10:39.300+01:00

Thanks for your comments Oliver, and I agree completely. When Interactive Whiteboards were first made available for classrooms, we all hailed them as a game changer, and they had the potential to be (are in some cases). Unfortunately, most teachers used them in a similar way to conventional whiteboards, and there was no change in the essential pedagogy. I suspect that some schools will change their teaching practices as a result of iPad use, but it will be patchy - it will be the individual teachers rather than the entire staff of schools that will develop innovative practices.

"The touch screen enables users, teachers and...

2012-05-23T12:05:36.024+01:00

"The touch screen enables users, teachers and students, to get very quickly to the heart of learning by using natural gestures, without having to spend time discovering which key to press, how to navigate around, or start up a particular software tool."

I find it very hard to believe that in these days of well designed user interfaces, and the level of experience of young people who have grown up with the paradigms of desktop operating systems that this is an issue any more. Tablets may have some practical benefits such as instant on and long battery life, but so do many netbooks and laptops.

I would love to see some research similar to yours involving tablets, but I strongly suspect it would find similar results. Shiny new technology facilitates excited engaged students, but has little effect on educational outcomes for most. That is because so often technology is implemented without any concurrent change in pedagogy. The first questions many teachers ask about 1:1 laptop or tablet initiatives are often about control, how do they lock them down, stop the students using them instead of listening, or make them follow the same old syllabus they were working with before the technology came in.

To implement technology without a significant change in pedagogy and approaches to learning is to miss the point entirely. Unfortunately dropping thousands of pounds on tangible objects is much easier and seems more measurable than investing such sums in giving teachers time to reflect, re design, and develop the nature of their practice. Until that happens little will change.