iPad Evaluation

The iPads were overall very useful to have in the classroom. Note taking has never been a strong suit of mine, as I am quite slow at writing by hand, but that was never a problem with the iPad. It was quick and easy to take notes, and to save them somewhere where they are easily accessable from home or other days in class. Organization becomes much easier with the iPad, and you never have to worry about losing loose sheets of paper that may be very important to your grade. The easy access to the Internet makes research easier, and provides a quick way to gain information that the teacher can't help with immediately. That includes definitions to unfamiliar words, meanings behind quotations that I may not understand, and access to further, related readings. The iPads were a great way for each student in the class to connect to each other with their writing. Also, class presentations could be much more interesting, since there was a possibility for each student to connect directly to the presenters through the use of the iPad. The iPads also provided more individuality in class, as any other skills you had could be incorporated where they normally couldn't. This includes any artistic skills that a student may have. Overall, the iPads were a great addition to the classroom.  The iPad keyboard is so much different than desktop or laptop keyboard, which makes it somewhat difficult to type. This isnt a major problem though, as it doesn't limit major iPad uses, and still allows for notes to be taken more quickly than on paper, but it does take a while to get used to. Since there is no undo button, any misspellings or accidental deletions of work can be really hard. Also, the fact that we are limited to iPad use in class only makes it much more difficult to manage our work. True, we can save it on sites that are accessable from home, but it isn't as good as being able to take iPads home. Also, sharing iPads in class had quite a few struggles. You always had to make sure you weren't logged in to anything before puttin the iPad back in the cart. Also, anything you were working on had to be saved online, and doing that in combination with logging out meant that you wouldn't be able to work to the end of the class period.  I think that the school should move to a 1:1 environment where all high school students would have access to an iPad. This is the better option, because it would be easier for students to take notes directly on the notes app without having to worry about connecting to the Internet or sending themselves an email. In addition I would have really liked to have had the chance to use the iPad in multiple classes, since its use as a multi-class notebook would be very beneficial. Taking huge, heavy binders and textbooks home would no longer be a problem as well. By having your own iPad, you would no longer have to worry about making sure to log out of everything so other students can't access your accounts. There would also not be any fear of others deleting your pictures or notes from the iPad itself.  So there wouldnt be a problem if you didn't have time to save them somewhere accessible from home. Also, though expensive, the iPads would cut down on school expenses along the way. The school could try to go paperless, and there would no longer be a need for buying expensive textbooks for students. Moving to a 1:1 iPad environment would be very beneficial to the school.