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Comment by akadruid | Hacker News Reader

It's an ostentatiousness toy; I'm geniunely interested how it could function in any educational environment?

Can't you say that about virtually any computer?

First thing to note in the school context is that the iPad is small and light, meaning it's easy for pupils to carry, and the battery lasts 10-15 hours, meaning they can carry it about all day. It's also a far superior reading device to anything else on the market... I mean do you genuinely not think it would be useful in education?

You consider the iPad to be a "far superior reading device" to, say, a Kindle or Nook? I do think the iPad (or any quality tablet with educational software available) could be very useful in schools, but I think it's a far cry from the "far superior reading device to anything else on the market" you claim it is.

I don't think it's far superior for the purpose of simply reading text, I was alluding to all the other capabilities it adds to the bargain. Colour, video, pinch-to-zoom etc.

I've found that an e-book whether in the form of an ipad or Kindle like device is great for reading for pleasure. Novels and News articles fly by for me.

However, when I try to read any technical book on my Sony reader, I feel frustrated. I love jotting notes down when I'm learning, and I constantly flip back and forth between pages. Nothing beats a real book imo, and as much as people want to push technology in classrooms, I still don't think it's conducive to learning.

Critics have had the same contention about laptops. In fact, they're even more of a distraction for teachers because you have to flip it open, obscuring the students' face from the lecture, like erecting a wall of inattention (or at least obfuscation). At least, with the iPad, it will likely lay flat like a notebook or binder.

And the critics were right. For the most part, computers in schools have been an expensive distraction, wasting money that could have been better spent on things proven to improve student performance like textbooks, better teacher/student ratio's, facility upgrades (hard to learn without good heating/AC), etc.

IMHO, the root of the problem is that just having computers (or ipads, or whatever) in the classroom doesn't magically educate students through osmosis. You need an actual valid plan for how you're gonna use the computer. Where does it fit into the lesson plan, what activity is time with the computer replacing, etc. And unfortunately that usually seems to be lacking.

The rush to buy computers and iPad's for classrooms never seems to be based on a solid educational plan, it's all about administrators and schoolboard members wanting to show of the "exciting accomplishment" of equipping all the classrooms with something shiny and impressive looking.

Just off the top of my head:

    * access to reference materials
    * virtual manipulatives for math education
    * testing & spot quizzes
    * educational games
    * visual programming environments like Logo or Scratch
        (maybe not allowed by App Store rules, though)

I bet someone said the same thing about electronic calculators back in the day.

"An electronic calculator?! An ostentations toy! Kids should be using slide rules!"

I have learned the most in math classes that did not allow calculators. It is about learning the concept, not learning how to use the tool.

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