iPAD- "Coming to a school near you?"

iPads are coming...to school, well, colleges right now.

A few signs that iPads are coming to school officially began last week in my first online class with California educators on the topic of "How to use the iPad in Education".  The enthusiasm and high interest of fellow educators whose comments were well founded in creditable, applicable uses of a new tool made for a good reason to embrace this new tool. I thank them for sharing new apps and ideas.

Other signs on the college front, are the lucky students will be getting free iPads at the some colleges and universities including the  Illinois Institute of Technology .  They are providing their undergraduates iPads in order to introduce them to new technologies. Seton hall is also giving all entering students an iPad for connectivity. There are some glitches (no surprise for new tech)  in the networking connectivity in a few colleges- Princeton and George Washington University - but Apple is working on the security issues.

My thoughts always go back to the basics, Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic in which the iPad has made some great progress.  An advantage the iPad has is in Reading.

READING BOOKS

My preference for 'reading books on the iPad' includes  the visual swish of the page turning, ability to lighten the screen with no need for a night reading light, definitions of words readily available WITH additional info, and books are cheaper! One can also have the text read aloud to them by changing the settings for voice aloud- very helpful for dsylexic and  visually impaired challenges are overcome as one can have books read aloud.

 One book or app can be shared on one computer with many iPads ( at least for now) which means we save on purchasing many books or apps. In our fiscal crisis now, that is a big plus!

It still seems more likely that the iPad is prompting the digital textbook era indicated by the new Kindle app for the iPad and the app for Direct purchasing of textbooks.

As for reading, Palm Beach State College has a e-digital library with iPads that patrons can check out and download a book to read. It is a service beyond it's time and sounds wonderful.

My prediction is: let it get into more people's hands and used more often. The real test is in it's use.