21st Century Learning and Teaching

Focusing on iPad-versus.-laptop comparisons stifles the ability to see how the iPad facilitates student-centered learning. iPads are devices meant to compliment computers, not replace them.

So, people who seek equivalent functionality become frustrated, and fail to realize the intrinsic benefits and features of the iPad’s native design.

Instead, schools should focus their energies on what iPads do best to engender active learning. iPads enable students to kinesthetically connect with their work (especially important for young learners). These tactile elements – using fingers to zoom, rotate in, pinch close, or swipe across – as well as increasingly interactive and immersive apps, facilitate hands-on learning.

Gust MEES: DON'T forget ALSO about that the working force needs people who are FIT in Windows Computers as THE main OS is STILL WINDOWS!!!

It’s becoming difficult to read the news in Los Angeles these days without running across yet another article about the problems faced by the sputtering  iPad initiative. Finally, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy announced this week that they were suspending the contracts with Apple and Pearson amid increasing scrutiny and investigation of the bidding process. According to Deasy, “it will also give us time to take into account concerns raised surrounding the project”.

Sadly, just as many thought the LAUSD initiative was all about iPads, many will now view the fiasco as a reflection on the overall merits of technology use in education. The calls for a “back to basics” movement have been loud and may now become amplified. Ironically however, the LAUSD iPad project has always been handicapped by that very “basics” mentality that frames its approach to technology use. The shortcomings of the LAUSD initiative only highlight an ever more pressing need for serious educational reform.