Growing up with technoogy

Yesterday I was reading a Mashable report about tablets and textbooks entitled Do Tablets Really Improve Learning?  It's something our R&D Task Force is looking into as we design our prototype for a second BYOD in 3 different areas of the school:  upper elementary, middle school and high school.  The Mashable article explains that the format of the book is more important than the content: students who accessed the content on a iPad tested higher than those who accessed the same content in a traditional book.

Publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt tested an interactive, digital version of an algebra textbook for Apple’s iPad ... Students who used the iPad version scored 20 percent higher on standardized tests versus students who learned with traditional textbooks. The program, which replaced worn textbooks with interactive, digital versions with video, graphics and built-in quizzes that invited students to participate and give instant feedback, spurred positive comments that students using the iPad version were “more motivated, attentive, and engaged” than those with the paper algebra books.

 I was also interested to look at the infographic called Graduating with Technology (below) part of which also compares textbooks with eBooks.  On the other hand, other articles I've read recently point to iPads peaking in terms of being used as a learning tool, because of the limitations with printing and storage and with connecting them to Windows based networks.  There have also been well publicized cases of schools who gave up laptops for iPads and who are now wanting to switch back.   Our school is in no way thinking of giving up laptops.  Tablets, smartphones and the like will be secondary devices.   Our prototype will be to investigate the value that second devices bring to learning and the changes in teaching and learning that will be required to support two devices.

Photo by Adolfo Miranda, 2010