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I think iPads could be great for K12 education, but only if they are used effectively. You can't just take the current curriculum and stuff it with technology h

I think iPads could be great for K12 education, but only if they are used effectively. You can't just take the current curriculum and stuff it with technology hoping to make it better. You have to pair the content and methodology with the technology. It seems like they are just buying iPads/Chromebooks/Whatever, shoving them in classrooms, and hoping they make a difference. It might be more effective to start with iPads outside the classroom, not inside. Inside the classroom they have access to a teacher. No current or near-future technology is going to be able to replace the benefits of a teacher. But at home, many kids are stuck with boring paper homework assignments and static, old (sometimes 10+ yr) textbooks. If we replaced paper homework with interactive questions, and textbooks with engaging iBooks (or other iBooks like) textbook[1], that could make a real difference. Apple had created great interactive textbook creation software, and it seems great paired with iTunes U. However, there don't seem to be great books coming from it. Apple probably should have made many demos (instead of just 1) to give educators and the public an idea of the potential interactive homework and textbooks could have on student engagement.

noazark 12y ago
My high school was either the first or one of the first public schools with PDAs (Palm Pilots) over a decade ago and it ran into the same problem. Not only was their not curriculum for them, but my guess is that half of the teachers simply didn't use them in classes at all. I agree that the technology needs to trickle into the schools by way of the teachers (I think that's along the lines of what you were getting at) before anything new really gets adopted.
kalleboo 12y ago
> However, there don't seem to be great books coming from it. Apple probably should have made many demos (instead of just 1) to give educators and the public an idea of the potential interactive homework and textbooks could have on student engagement. They should have started a textbook publisher, incubated it for a year or two, and then spun it off (even letting it be purchased by an existing publisher if that made sense).
greggman 12y ago
K12? Maybe K-3. You're not allowed to program or share programs on iPads by Apple's rules so once any of your kids show an interest in programming or if you want to teach programming you'll have to get them something else.
- smackfu 12y ago
  How much of a K-12 curriculum is programming? 1%?
- kennethfriedman 12y ago
  actually this is an old myth. You can program on an iPad (there are even programming apps) though you can't run executables and it's far from good enough. There are alternative solutions, like Scratch at the MIT Media Lab, which is now available on the iPad to teach programming. However the vast majority of K12 education is not programming.

noazark 12y ago

My high school was either the first or one of the first public schools with PDAs (Palm Pilots) over a decade ago and it ran into the same problem. Not only was their not curriculum for them, but my guess is that half of the teachers simply didn't use them in classes at all. I agree that the technology needs to trickle into the schools by way of the teachers (I think that's along the lines of what you were getting at) before anything new really gets adopted.

kalleboo 12y ago

> However, there don't seem to be great books coming from it. Apple probably should have made many demos (instead of just 1) to give educators and the public an idea of the potential interactive homework and textbooks could have on student engagement. They should have started a textbook publisher, incubated it for a year or two, and then spun it off (even letting it be purchased by an existing publisher if that made sense).

greggman 12y ago

K12? Maybe K-3. You're not allowed to program or share programs on iPads by Apple's rules so once any of your kids show an interest in programming or if you want to teach programming you'll have to get them something else.

smackfu 12y ago
How much of a K-12 curriculum is programming? 1%?
kennethfriedman 12y ago
actually this is an old myth. You can program on an iPad (there are even programming apps) though you can't run executables and it's far from good enough. There are alternative solutions, like Scratch at the MIT Media Lab, which is now available on the iPad to teach programming. However the vast majority of K12 education is not programming.