Cost is usually a deciding factor in educational decisions. Recently I read an exchange of tweets between Alec @courosa , Dean @shareski and another educator. They were debating in 140 characters the merits of netbooks verses iPads. This isn’t an uncommon debate. I hear and read about it frequently. Netbooks are much more inexpensive to buy and with the amount of online creation tools it would appear this would be a good choice. However, it’s not that simple. One cannot make the choice without thinking about the users, the purpose and the setting of the use of the device. I would like to provide my perspective which is one of a primary teacher who works with 7 and 8 years olds within a networked class. I also sit on our Blueprints school team and provide input on future purchases for our school.
I am very fortunate that I teach in a classroom with many different types of learning tools. My students have access to desktop PCs, one iMac, a SMARTboard, a SMART document camera, iPods and iPads. I stand strong in my belief that our learners need to learn about different types of tools and select which tool best suits the job at hand. No one I know relies only on one piece of technology in their daily lives. So I don’t necessarily believe one device is better than another. However when making purchases we need to weigh the options and think about our current users and our school setting.
Our school is part of a large district and our desktops and netbooks are all imaged and connected to a network. The reality of that is it takes 8 to 10 minutes for our students to log in and access the network. These are 8 to 10 minutes that are valuable classroom time. An iPad is simply a click and the student is ready for learning. Our network also blocks many downloads and some of the wonderful software for comic creation or animation is not accessible for our students on a netbook or desktop. Since our computers are networked our students do have access to many different types of software that have been selected for use. The image is usually updated yearly so if something interesting or time saving appears our students might not have access to it until the following year. In contrast on an iPad new apps are being developed every minute and can be downloaded instantly for use in the classroom. I’m not an expert on our board network and I won’t pretend to understand how it works but as a classroom teacher I do see the limitations. I do like how I can share files and photos with students in a protected network and students can create and save without our school network without going to an outside source. At times we select the desktops over the iPads for certain tasks. Our learners need to know when to select which tool and for which purpose.
One of the items raised in the Twitter debate was students can use Google Docs and manage their work. This is where the user needs to be considered. A simple debate over iPads verses Netbooks can’t simply be about cost. A young learner does not have an active email account that can be used in a school setting. They can’t simply manage Google Docs nor do I as a teacher want to oversee this for our students. Many online software that is available requires a log in which usually leads back to needing a personal email address. This is not ideal for young learners. An iPad has apps that don’t usually require logging in. The iPad is ideal for young learners because they can use carefully selected apps instead of going online and entering in web addresses and trying to locate the site which can sometimes lead to the wrong address and sometimes an inappropriate site. Apps ensure a quick and safe access to content for young learners.
I mentioned classroom instructional time. Many apps on the iPad save preparation time and creation time. In regards to word study, the students open an app and all manipulatives are on the screen organized and ready to use. Creation apps require little training. Young learners touch and create in minutes or days. In the past I would work with students on a desktop and use programs such as Garageband. It would take weeks to train the young students to be independent on creating audio files/podcasts. The iPad app Garageband has a simple interface and young learners quickly pick up how to navigate the app and create content. I see this time and time again with the apps that I use in my classroom.
The management of the iPads takes a great deal of my time outside of the instructional day. I spend a lot of time selecting apps, syncing, charging and saving work. However, that is done outside of the teaching day and my students’ time is protected and valued. I see the use of iPads in the primary classroom as an essential piece for creation. The students used the app Phoster to create a simple poster to advertise for Frightlite sales in our school. They took a photo of themselves holding a Frightlite, inserted into the app and wrote the slogan and information. They were done in 15 minutes. In the past I would have had to take photos and then upload them all to the network and then deployed them to their files. The students would have had to use a more complicated software such as Publisher and inserted the photos and then worked on the slogan and text boxes. Yes, they end result would have been the same, but the precious time in class was used more effectively. I often hear, yes but you can do that on a PC and I reply maybe but the time it took students was dramatically decreased which leaves more time for other learning or for refining their work. I also use many apps that our network cannot yet support. Apps such as Puppet Pals HD and Toontastic are fantastic storytelling apps with movement and voice. The files are exported as quicktime files and view and shared. Currently we don’t have any software on our network that compares with these apps. I’ve worked with groups and used SMART Notebook to create movie files with the recorder. It works but it’s not as polished and takes almost twice the time. Time that could be spent learning something else. The iPad enables students to create instantly, practice or gain information in an instant. We know the weather by a quick click on the app. We practice our words of the week in minutes using apps such as Skywrite. We create stories and movies using Animation HD, Puppet Pals HD and Toontastic. In the primary networked classroom, an iPad provides opportunity for instant learning.
Older learners who have email accounts and can navigate Google Docs are suited for netbooks. A school needs to consider the purpose of the tool. In our building our older students need access to the Moodle to access class content and create blog entries. The netbooks are used as word processors, guided reading texts, and presentation creators. At this point, netbooks which are cheaper are a good investment for this current group of learners. I would argue that there are many apps that would be beneficial for older students but at this point the netbooks are a step in the right direction. In a few years when the netbooks crash or die, which they will because the aren’t built to last. My primary students will be in the older grades ready to get their hands on the latest and greatest tech tools available and they will be ready to show their teachers how to use them.
The debate of iPads verses Netbooks is not a cut and dry argument. One must consider the cost, the user, the purpose and the setting of the use of the tool. I also believe the educator who is designing the purpose of the tasks also influences the type of tools that need to be available. All of these factors influence which tool is best for each situation.
My two cents,
Angie