I’ve talked about it here and here. And after a discussion with an English teacher in the area who has had the opportunity to use iPads in the classroom, I’m thinking we definitely have a great resource at our fingertips!
His school system actually received a grant to put iPads in the hands of the kids in the schools, so they have multiple opportunities to use them across various disciplines. However, I was wondering if the reading process for kids was as “active” in class as I had found myself personally, and apparently, his kids seemed to think the same.
He found that kids were annotating and looking up more words on their own simply because it was all right there with them. Some kids even found a class novel as a free ebook, so they decided they would read solely on the iPad while a few others chose hardcopy texts. Another neat thing is that kids were able to look various topics up right then and there versus wondering/waiting to get into the computer lab to look up the information. So, in a sense, it seemed that the iPad provided an opportunity for more immediate, student-directed, inquiry based activities in the classroom.
However they may be used, I am just still so intrigued and inspired by all of the neat ways I’m hearing innovative teachers using the iPads in smart, smart ways! If you’ve had the opportunity to use them with your students, I’d love to hear about your all’s experiences!