iPads and e-reading devices in class? A distant dream or an approaching reality?

When I started teaching, simply getting the audio system in my class to work was technology enough for me. Looking back, I am amazed to see how much technology plays a vital role in teaching in the 21st century. It’s now become common place for me to download interesting articles and exercises from the Internet and use them for class the next day. From computer laboratories to laptops and smart phones in class to interactive boards, technology has now become an integral part of teaching. The next and most obvious move is towards e-reading devices, of which the most popular candidate seems to be the iPad. The question is, how feasible is using an iPad in class?

iPad in class : Pros and Cons

What’s the first thing people notice about the iPad? Its sleek design? Wrong. Its features? Wrong again! Its price! The iPad leaves a rather big hole in the pocket with its steep 400$ price tag. On the other hand more and more students are investing in laptops, of which a considerably large percentage of students want to buy a Mac. Given that scenario, an iPad would be a much more economical option for class, especially since most students already have a desktop at home. In the 6 odd months of its existence, nearly 1300 teaching applications have been developed and released, making it a rich and important classroom tool.

Apple’s untarnished reputation of being a relatively virus attack free system that resists phishing attacks makes it a safer option of file sharing crucial in a classroom situation. Its unique hardware-software combination is such that everything functions smoothly and the need for technical support rarely arises. The simplicity of ease is augmented by the tactical screen which jumps at the slightest command of your fingers tips. Imagine not having to remember all those scores of command codes!

Most classrooms haven’t been built to support computers, making it impossible to have desktops installed in every classroom. With changing teaching techniques more and more institutions and courses are making it obligatory to use laptops. Even if internet connectivity is assured using wi-fi technologies, another problem would still persist - that of a crazy jumble of wires snaking their way across class! The iPad has an extremely efficient battery that lasts for more than 10 hours, making it ideal for use in classroom situations where wi-fi internet is available.

To top it all, the iPad, weighing barely 0.7 kg with a breadth of barely 1.4 cm is not just a portable option but a much lighter and incredibly sleek option in comparison to the bags full of heavy notebooks and laptop that students lug around these days. Once universities and educational institutes integrate the ebooks into their system, the ease of access to research material and sharing files between professors and students will go up considerably. This in turn will lead to increased and more enriching exchanges of knowledge across various sections of academic circles.

All that remains to be developed to bring in a fresh wave of ideas and completely revolutionize teaching is the development of an application that enables uploading of documents on a platform from where they can be easily shared and discussed.

The Modern Reader

I have been following the entire iPad brouhaha very closely, reading up on pre-launch reviews and now the first reviews that are rolling in from different quarters, curious and keen to see how and more precisely if this would change reading habits.

Looking back at the history of technology, every time a new technology was announced, people dismissed it saying nobody would ever use it. Take for instance, the reaction in the beginning of the 19th century of teachers vis-à-vis the introduction of paper in classrooms where slates were used previously.

Students today depend on paper too much. They don’t know how to write on a slate without getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper?

Or the way teachers reacted to the use of calculators for mathematics:

We can’t let them use calculators in middle school. If we do, they’ll forget how to do long division or how to multiply three digit numbers by three digit numbers. What will they do when they don’t have access to a calculator?

With every new technology, there was resistance and as time went by the “new” technology was no longer new or avant-garde. Instead it moved on to become common and before its detractors knew it, it was a necessity. It happened with paper, it happened with calculators, it happened with the PC, Internet, Cellphones…will it happen with e-reading devices?

Can e-reading devices, be it Apple’s iPad, Amazon’s Kindle or any other similar device that will be launched in the coming year replace traditional reading material? Will books be passé by 2020? I can see them replacing laptops, especially in American Universities and B-schools where students are already accustomed to using digitalised course material. But will they penetrate the larger market? Will the generation Y be going to be bed with a e-reading device on which the latest novels and reviews have been downloaded instead of a honest-to-goodness book or magazine?

I am not so sure…

PS Follow the argument here

PPS Check out this hilarious review by Stephen Colbert review by Stephen Colbert