iPads in Schools and as Readers

"New Jersey District Plans iPad-only Algebra Course" was the first article I read on the uses of I-pads in schools. It talks about the school district of Edison Township and how they are implementing the ipads for all of their Algebra I classes. They believe that by using this technology correctly they will have drastic gains with their program just like the pilot program in California did. I also read the article "Electronic Tablets Break Down Educational Barriers in R.I. Schools." This article talks a lot about those students who needed modified learning. It specifically mentions students who are supporting their families full time, raising families of their own, or not students who excel in a school where the population is near 2,000 people. It mentions how the ipad has increased excitement within learning and graduation in students who would have given up long ago. The final article I read tonight was "iPad May Replace Textbooks in the Classroom." This article was about a school legislators in Georgia discussing the value of I-pads in their classrooms instead of using the very costly textbooks the state now buys.

I have been one of those people who said, "I'm good with just turning the pages in my book. I like have the hard copy to highlight in, to take notes and to study from." I almost feel extremely silly now. While "playing" around in the ebook "iPad 2: Starter Guide," I found out how easy it really is to highlight sections, take notes, or even find the topics I was looking for. Highlighting the sentence or word I needed was extremely neat and it was still there where I left it when I skimmed back through the pages. I also really like the ability to find the definition of a word just by clicking on dictionary. So many times I have found myself not really understanding or even knowing a word that I have just read, and out of pure laziness I just move on instead of getting my dictionary out and figuring out what it means. Another time saver I really liked was the "search" button. I magnified the word tablet and pushed search. Within seconds, 7 matches or findings of the word were directly in front of me. The bookmark option was also very neat! No more folding down the corners of pages.