Friday, February 25, 2011

iPads... They suck... Well, Maybe They're OK... Well; How Much For One?...


    
     Well, this is a video for anyone who thinks an iPad would be tough to learn how to use.  This video is of my son Cory, who's just shy of 2 years old.  He saw his Auntie Janie playing with her iPhone, and then saw his Daddy looking at pictures on his iTouch.  That was enough, he became an expert.  As a huge Toy Story fan, I had no choice to find some kind of app for him to play with.  I think he saw it twice before he decided he knew where it was and how to get at it.  This is one of the first few times he tried to find it on his own. 
    
     Now, backtracking a little bit, I shall give a quick blab about what I thought of the iPad. 

I didn't like it.  How's that?  Plain and simple enough?  I have a calendar that has important dates written on it.  Any assignments or information (phone numbers, email addresses, etc.) are stored on my laptop, desktop, and cell phone.  Most homework I do requires a word processor, so a keyboard is essential and I know how to type pretty well, so if I don't have the "bumpy" f and j keys I'll never know where my fingers are.  With my life being setup on other devices already, the iPad was nothing more that a large gaming device.

     Fast forward to my views today....

I've got a 2 year old (as of Feb 26, 2011) who can open it and find an interactive book with no troubles.  He read through (and by reads through, I  mean listens to) it and does the activities such as; colouring, singing, and games.  That's a great start!!   But, to make it even better for me, I have a 9 year old who came home from school with a load of math homework he didn't want to do (he's just learning the multiplication table now) and a test score he was not overly happy with.  2 minutes later, I had a math ninja app on the go... if he wants to kill those evil robotic animals, he has to power up with multiplication questions first!  We'll see how this goes over this coming week.

     Yes, i guess its safe to say that I'm starting to come around.  I'm starting to see the merits of having a nice device like this around the house.  It's just too bad that I won't have the opportunity to take it student teaching with me and see what kind of applications it'll have in the classroom... (insert sad, guilt the ICT prof, kinda face here).  I wouldn't mind seeing what kind of online textbooks are available for it (if anybody is aware of a good free online text book, let me know).  I may not be rushing out to the store to buy one, but it's safe to say, I'm a lot more keen on watching what the future holds for the iPad...  It would look good in my briefcase though.......

5 comments:

  1. It is pretty amazing just how quickly kids can pick up on something and learn how to do it! I'm not sure I could say that I agreed with you that I didn't like the ipad, but I certainly did not feel that I needed one or could benefit from having one in any way. However my views are rapidly changing since receiving the ipad for the two weeks! I am beginning to see just how useful they can be as I take time to explore around and have done some reading on their educational uses in the classroom. I also am really appreciating how accessible the ipad is and how much nicer I find it to read on that from a computer screen. Definitely going to keep watching and see what the future holds as well for the ipad.

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  2. That video would sell me! Great! So ... you want to use it during student teaching?? Come talk to me and we will see?

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  3. THanks Tim, a great video! Yes, tablet computers can be useful for some things, I am starting to find evidence through articles and such that especially for early years and middle years they are just excellent!

    Your video helps show that! Keep Talkin' Tim Talkin' ;)

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  4. It's embarrassing to see your 2 yr old has a better handle on the iPad than I do, but that video was great! That comment you had about your 9 yr old using the app Math Ninjas to improve his multiplication tables really emphasized the point that these iPads and apps can make learning so much more fun and motivating for our students. I shared your feelings about the iPad as far as my personal use of it went, but also like you I've come very much around to the idea of it as a great learning tool for students.

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  5. Good video Tim! It is good to see at a young age that little kids can work these things, soon they could take over the world. I wonder how these tablets could be useful in the early years setting. Also did you have to bribe your boy with candy or money to get him in this video???

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