Let me start by saying that I am a huge proponent of using technology to enhance our own lives as well as the fact that I use technology to create technology that others may want and/or need. I write iPhone/iPad apps, and I don’t want that to hinder your view of my objectivity on the subject of “paperless education”.
Many school districts and colleges have been eyeing the iPad as a way to engage students as well as provide a more level playing field across the economic spectrum of students. This is particularly true in K-12. A few years back, a group tried the “technology for all” with the “one laptop” per child and it proved to only have limited success. This is because the laptop was only provided as the tool. How would it be used and what was the purpose was more important? Great you have a laptop. Now what? The iPad presents a whole new approach since it is inherently more engaging to the student due to its’ touch interface, moreover it opens up other possibilities like reduction of paper and inclusion of educational software and even learning games. With its’ price coming in under what a laptop costs, (I am using all the included licenses and software needed to run the laptop) it makes sense that districts and colleges are seeking to use the device.
What can I do with the iPad that I can’t with my laptop? Well, read books for one. Students at some colleges are being handed iPads as freshmen with their entire courses digitized for the iPad, and this is starting to happen at the K-12 level as well. This is a huge step since it will eliminate the need to carry or print all those books. Need to find your class? Use the app that is included that shows the whole campus layout and the directory of each teacher and administrator with contact information and bios. Teachers are also free to use the device to seek out apps that they feel may help their students in a particular subject.
Take it with you when you leave. Since the textbooks have been digitized and now your homework is expected to be, the students are allowed to take the devices home and use them. New York City and Chicago public schools and Virginia Department of Education are invested now in replacing textbooks with iPads. Six middle schools in California are now teaching the first iPad-only algebra course, developed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. With more than a thousand free educational apps in the store, and more coming, the potential for classrooms is huge.
Henrico County Public Schools in Virginia has just announced that they are taking their digital initiative to the next level. This progressive school district started providing a laptop to each middle and high school student 10 years ago. The district has now opted to move to tablets over the next two years. They have made a commitment to start replacing printed textbooks with digital versions of the text, as they transition to tablets.
I for one feel this move to the use of more current technology that can deliver more current information to the hands of learners is a step in the right direction. I remember reading textbooks in high school that were outdated to the point that to write a report on the subject required, I used other material, but I was quizzed on what the book said. With the iPad having access to more updated digital textbooks, internet content, apps and digital newspapers, our students of today will greatly benefit from a “paperless education”.
Matt Chapman of Avalon Park is an iPhone/iPad developer and owner of Origin Technologies www.origintech.net. E-mail him at matt@origintech.net