Ipad officially passes the higher education test

After extensive research using students at Reed College to demo the Ipad, it has been concluded that the Ipad contributes to higher education. Unlike the kindle which was too slow to keep up with the pace of a college classroom, the iPad was proven to actually improve students' classroom experience with easy highlighting and fast scrolling speed. The iPad has been trending in education use as New York schools recently ordered 2,000 iPads. Even top universities such as Stanford have required their students to use them. Although the iPads have some flaws especially in typing, with more frequent use they could be adjusted to effectively. I typed
this entire blog post on an iPad an this is the first time I have ever used one.

Voki Post on Trusting Students

Trusting students is essential to the successful use of Ipads in schools.  This article makes a good point that almost any resource can be abused, yet we do not ban them from schools.  Although the article used the extreme example of shoes as a resource that can not be banned, cell phones are already allowed here at BHS.  Students already have the ability to text and go on facebook through their cell phones, so why would they do it more just because they have another device?  Trust can extend into other areas as well.  Ipads are obviously expensive, so how can we trust students not to break them?  If people really think about it, almost every kid has an ipod, an expensive calculator, and a cell phone and these very rarely break.  If the fear of losing the Ipad is a concern, that is like saying why don't students lose their backpacks?  If a student lost a bag full of textbooks, the cost would almost certainly exceed that of the Ipad.  If the teachers trust the students to use their new resource for education purposes, then the students will better trust the teachers to provide effective and interesting lesson plans to be used with the Ipads.

No Cell Phones in Schools?

I am surprised this issue could even make it to the Massachusetts State House.  This is a rule that could never be seriously enforced, because it would be broken by the entire student body.  This is the type of rule that students might break intentionally just to prove the point that schools can not ban cell phones.  What would the school do if they had to confiscate hundreds of cell phones?  The situation would be out of control.  Although cell phones do present a slight distraction in class, they are necesarry to communicate transportation plans and things of that nature.  Schedules change all the time, and notifying parents for a ride without cell phones would be a nightmare.  If teachers are really that concerned with cell phone use in class, then they should try to find a way to incorporate them into their lesson. In a math class I took earlier this year, Ms. Boyle used a website that allowed students to text their answers to a number from the site, and the answers would then show up on her smartboard.  If teachers had more ideas like this, cell phones in class would not be such a big issue.

2011 Superbowl turns out to be a disappointment

With the Patriots eliminated from the playoffs, there had been a lot less attention than usual being pointed at the super bowl.  ESPN tried to build up a bunch of stories no one really cared about.  Aaron Rodgers living up to Brett Favre's legacy, Ben Roethlisberger winning his third super bowl, these were stories that did not have poeple talking.  The game itself wasn't anything special compared to the past few super bowls, and up until the last five minutes it was never really close.  To start it off Christina Aguilara bombed the National Anthem by forgetting some of the lyrics.  The half time show was too boring for me to keep watching, and most people who watched regretted doing so.  Even the commercials for this super bowl were a disappointment.  Only one or two commercials were actually funny.  For all the media attention and billions of dollars the Super Bowl generates, poeple deserve to see better.  In my opinion the only people who enjoyed the game were Green Bay fans.

Georgia schools considering going to Ipads

Based on a FOX news report, Schools in Georgia are also considering moving to Ipad's for every student.  This situation is very similar to what is happening in our school in trying to find an affordable way to incorporate them, as well as figuring out the problems they might bring with them.  This article touches on some of these issues, but also makes a few strong points about the positives the Ipads bring.  I think it is important that we pay attention to how the Ipads work in other school systems so we can fix our problems before they happen.  Since our schools are the first to try this new system, all eyes are going to be on our schools to see how it works out.  If our schools use the Ipads positively and the cost is not too high, then other schools would be very interested in going to the Ipads as well.  The more schools that used the Ipads, the more the cost would go down.  In some ways we are the test group for future education.