Jury #2

Welcome to my blog designed to meet the requirements for completion of a Master's Degree in Educational Technology at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.

According to the Association of Educational Communications and Technology (2001), "instructional technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning." By studying to earn a Master's Degree in Education, I have learned and applied many aspects of technology, educational psychology, and educational research. Due to learning and applying the required curriculum, I am becoming a better learner, instructor, and advancing the technology practices in my classroom and school.

Journal 2

E Is for Explosion
Summary: The journal discusses the emerging E-readers, E-textbooks, E-content, E-learning, and as described by the journal E-everything. The explosion of all of the new emerging technology is discussed, pros and cons. The article mentions that the impact of technology mentioned for the past 25 years is beginning to happen in 2010. This has to do with the availability of the many e-readers and the iPad. The article further lists and describes the innovative companies that are part of the new etextbook, econtent, and digital learning in cyberspace. Some mentioned are:
Discovery Education
Shmoop
CourseSmart
Zinio
CengageBrain
Taylor & Francis
eCampus
Wikibooks
OverDrive
Copia
Complete Curriculum
Lastly, the article compared the advantages and disadvantages of Ebooks vs. printed books.

Reflection: I think the new eReaders and iPad can have a great impact in education if used for reading purposes. I see students carrying around backpacks that weigh half their body mass. The eReader or iPad would take care of that problem, and be easier on students backs. Also, it means less money spent by money strapped schools. The upfront costs would be more but the money saved on paper books will add up to a savings overtime. Also, many of the classic books are available for free for all to read. When educational companies begin publishing their educational books in digital form they also tend to add videos, notes, and other educational benefits to students. Also, many of the newly emerging webpages available on the iPad or the app for the company available on the iPad have interactivity learning available for students. Students who need that hands-on learning have more options available with the new webpages provided by educational companies. Some of the other benefits that I see of using an eReader or iPad are its portability. It is much smaller than a book and students will be more willing to carry it around an have all of their books and information available in a few clicks, making them more likely to read if they have time available. One area that will be influenced in a positive direction are students with reading or other disabilities. These students can have the book read to them while they follow along or if their is a vision issue the readers are backlit better for seeing or the book can be read aloud to the reader (with the iPad). ESL readers who are learning English or students learning a new language may benefit from the ability of the eReader and iPad to translate languages. One of the downsides is that since the technology is changing so fast, the technology may expire or not work with the latest release. Of course, not all books are available on the current technologies and one downfall of the iPad is that most of the apps available now are not available on the iPad, yet. Lets face it some people like the smell and feel of a book. Those people will always want the printed copy of the book.

Journal 1

Enter the iPad (or Not?)
Summary: The journals describes how the new ipad and other netbook/tablet computers can be used in education. The journal states that the new devices should be used to coincide with other devices rather than replace them. The iPad is in a class almost by itself due to all of the different and unique apps available to the iPad that came about due to the iPhone and iTouch. Although the iPad has many downloadable apps available for the iPad, many believe that it will never replace similar devices. The iPad is a lower costing alternative to other devices that can be used to deliver digital content, interactive software, and access to websites.
Part of the choice to use an iPad or netbook all depends on what platform the school is already using, Windows or Mac. Other choices come down to size of screen and keyboard, available Wi-Fi, battery life and cost. Some people feel that netbooks and iPads are good for research and basic applications, but to create media rich content one must use a desktop or laptop. The jury is still out on the final decision.
Reflection: I do happen to agree with much of what this journal has stated. I believe we have a long way to go to see how an iPad may fit in at a school setting. Of course the actual setting is different. I think I could definitely see iPads being utilized in colleges way before other schools. College aged students want to be intouch with everything and have that access. Also, most colleges have Wi-Fi readily available to all students. Most college students are comfortable working on projects from a computer at home or else where, and sharing their work with their classmates via the web.
Elementary schools would have to think about how the iPad could be utilized in the classroom. I could see it reading books to young readers or play an educational game or interactive educational app. I do think that schools would have to think about how sturdy the iPad would be in little hands. Can it be dropped, wet, thrown, etc.? Would it be cost effective?
For middle and high school students, I think the iPad could withstand normal wear and tear form the students. Many of them already use an iPod touch and are familiar with the apps. Of course, I am not sure how many would use an app for educational purposes.
The apps available for the iPad are a great addition that needs to be looked at closer. I believe that they offer students so many learning opportunities. I have seen notecards that students can use to study vocabulary, books, translations for other languages or learning other language apps, dictionaries, math functions, graphs, interactive apps that allow students to learn a process while being an active participant, such as a mitosis app that I recently used and shared with my students, and many more. Although, I have discussed these apps with my students to used for their own purposes, I have not had one comment back about a student actually using one. I believe that students only see the apps for fun, games, and socialization, not for learning. To make a big impact in the classroom, teachers will need to design a unit to include the iPad so that students are forced to use it for educational purposes. Teachers will need to make themselves familiar with the iPad and all that it has to offer before they can make an effective and engaging lesson or unit.
I believe the jury is still out on how effective the iPad can be used for educational purposes. I know for now it cannot do all of the functions that a desktop or laptop can do. But will it one day? Who knows. I guess we will have to wait and see.