Elliott 1 Stacey Elliott Mrs.

Elliott English 111 5 November 2013 How iPads affect Learning Over the last few years, Apple has developed a program: iPads for Learning, which is designed to help teachers and administrators integrate the use of iPads effectively in the learning environment. This program would make it easier for teachers to integrate technology into their lessons. Many schools throughout the United States are implementing a one-to-one ratio of iPads to students. This sounds like a great idea at the surface, but as one digs deeper they will soon find out the devastating and lasting effects that iPads can have on student learners. Elkton Pigeon Bay Port Lakers is just one of the many schools that have opted to take advantage of Apples program: iPads for Learning. As a student at Elkton Pigeon Bay Port Lakers, I have had the opportunity to use an iPad in the classroom and see firsthand how they can be used in the learning environment. I have noticed that many educational applications demonstrate drill and practice. It is more difficult for me to remember what I am reading when I read off the iPad. Studies show that technology needs to be incorporated into the classroom in order for students to obtain the skills that they need to survive in the 21st Century, but are iPads for learning taking this step too far? Studies show that Apples program can be used effectively in the learning environment, but it does not support the learning styles of the 21st Century. One of the biggest questions on iPads for Learning is whether or not iPads allow students to accomplish anything that they could not accomplish without the device. According to Orrin T.

Elliott 2 Murray and Nicole R. Olcese, applications for the iPad do not allow students to do any more than they could do before without the iPad from a teaching and learning perspective (46). Murray and Olcese state the design of the applications that were developed for the iPad are less beneficial than the capabilities of the hardware and operating system of the device itself (46). Murray and Olcese found that there are more applications outside the educational category, and not one application teaches to the modern understanding of how people learn (48). Many educational applications lack the use of collaboration, which is a major key to success in the 21st century (Murray and Olcese 48). Also, there are an extremely large number of educational applications that are drill and practice (Murray and Olcese 48). Many applications for the iPad are not up to date with modern theories of learning and the skills that students need to survive in the competitive 21st Century. Murray and Olcese point out that the use of drill and practice does not demonstrate our ability or teach us how to create and re-use knowledge that we have already obtained (48). Using iPads in the learning environment has proven to have many different perspectives. Using iPads as a tool to research many topics effectively and efficiently is one of the greatest benefits of the iPad. According to John Kuzmich, one of the biggest advantages of iPads is that they can find information instantly (44). With an iPad, students can search an entire online library in a matter of minutes (Kuzmich 44). For example, many online documents can be searched with a few keywords. Searching by keywords is something that cannot be done in a paper book. According to the article Weighing Paper against Pixel, the benefits in comprehension and retention that students receive when they spend time finding and reading through paper books at the library are outweighed by using an iPad to research many sources quickly especially if researching under a deadline ( 53). Also, when reading off of an iPad

Elliott 3 students are able to adjust the font size and the brightness of the screen, which can make it easier to read (Weighing 53). The fact that iPads can be connected to the Internet almost 100 percent of the time has its own advantages and disadvantages. This can make it easier to research, but students are more likely to spend more time using the Internet for entertainment purposes with its easy access. Nicholas Carr found spending too much time on the Internet can make it extremely difficult to stay focused on long pieces of writing on the Internet or in print (371). Also, it is super easy to overuse and rely on search engines, such as Google, when students have access to the Internet in the palm of their hand. According to Page, Google is an artificial brain that is building an artificial intelligence (Carr 375). Carr states, overusing search engines can cause "our intelligence to flatten into an artificial brain" (377). To save money, many schools that have implemented the use of iPads in the classroom have decided to put their textbooks on the iPad. Schools are forced to use the same textbooks year after year even after they are out of date because they cannot afford to buy new textbooks every year (Kuzmich 44). Kuzmich points out the fact that when schools use iPads, they can purchase brand new versions of the textbook year after year for a fraction of the cost of paper textbooks (44). Also applications allow students to engage in the content of these textbooks interactively. For example, there are over 500,000 free lectures, videos, books, and other resources on thousands of different subjects (Kuzmich 44). Consequently, students are forced to read from a screen. Reading from a screen has many negative effects. One of the biggest disadvantages is that people do not read books and articles online the same way that they read printed books. Many people skim through online sources only reading a couple of paragraphs from each source and never returning to a source they had previously read (Carr 372). Carr found that reading textbooks off of an iPad can make it difficult

Elliott 4 to interpret the text and form mental images that naturally occur when we read paper books (372). Interactive textbooks can actually distract students from the reading. For example, interactive textbooks allow students to click on pictures and highlighted words to view animations or brief video clips about the section (Weighing 53). Animations and brief video clips make students focus on the iPad itself instead of what they are reading. Also, students do not remember the text as thoroughly as they do when they read the text from a printed book, and they learn study material more quickly when they are reading it from paper (Weighing 53). In general, the article Weighing Paper against Pixel points out reading off of screens takes more mental resources than reading off of paper (53). With a tablet or iPad, one can increase the size of the text to a size wear it is comfortable for them to read. However, when one increases the size of the text, they have to scroll from side to side and up and down to read the text. This forces the reader to focus on how they are moving the text and what they are reading. Moving the text around on the screen causes the reader to devote more attention to moving the text, so he or she has less attention available for understanding the text (Weighing 52). Generally, people put less mental effort into reading on screens. They take shortcuts such as browsing through the text, hunting for keywords instead of reading the whole text, and reading the text only once. Also, people are less likely to reread difficult sections and check their understanding when reading on screens. People do not get a sense of how much they have read and how much they have left to read when they read off of tablets or iPads. Tablets and iPads do not allow people to easily scan ahead or flip back to previous chapters earlier in the reading that may have been unclear (Weighing 52). According to Jennifer Rowsell, Mary Gene Saudelli, Ruth McQuirter Scott, and Andrea Bishop, many benefits can result from using iPads in the learning environment. Group learning

Elliott 5 and activities are encouraged when iPads are used in the learning environment (Rowsell, Saudelli, Scott, and Bishop 358). Rowsell, Saudelli, Scott, and Bishop point out that using iPads in the classroom increases cooperation among students and their willingness to help each other solve problems (355). Also, iPads help teachers become learners alongside their students (Rowsell, Saudelli, Scott, and Bishop 356). Rowsell, Saudelli, Scott, and Bishop found that the media has a tendency to make iPads seem like they are the perfect solution to the challenges brought forth by the literacy education in the 21st Century (351). According to Rowsell, Saudelli, Scott, and Bishop, iPads allow students to explore and experiment in different ways that they never felt possible with printed textbooks (354). According to Sheila Riley, using iPads in the classroom encourages the students ability to develop student-directed learning and their ability to learn how to learn (1). For example, students can learn at their own pace and study subjects that their teachers do not necessarily know (Riley 1). Maurizio Manuguerra and Peter Petocz found that many students who have used iPads in higher education do not believe they improve their learning ability (61). Students in higher education who had to take their exams on iPads reported extra stress from worrying about the potential for unreliable Internet connections and that their responses might not be correctly recorded and submitted (Manuguerra and Petocz 61). According to Manuguerra and Petocz, "iPads have made the learning experience simpler and yet deeper" (62). Del Siegle pointed out the fact that certain applications allow the iPad to be turned into a recordable white board (147). With these applications, teachers can create student lessons and presentations that can be viewed later by the students (Siegle 147). Also, iPads allow students to write and view electronic books (Siegle 148).

Elliott 6 According to Kuzmich, the iPad itself has the ability to take learning to a whole new level with its collaborative operating system including iCloud, iTunes, Apple Television, and the application store (44). According to Kuzmich, one of the biggest benefits is that iCloud allows student data to be backed up online instead of storing files locally (44). Files can be accessed anywhere as long as there is an available Internet connection. AirPlay allows teachers to walk around the classroom when they are lecturing instead of sitting at a computer (Kuzmich 45). With AirPlay teachers can use the Apple Television to display what is on their device (Kuzmich 45). All materials and assignments that students need to complete their college course can be put on their iPad using the application iTunes (Kuzmich 45). New levels of interaction, communication, and discovery learning are opened up when iPads are used in the learning environment (Kuzmich 45). Teachers are able to see how their students are progressing with iPads, so they can help them in their weaker areas (Kuzmich 45). Many different perspectives have developed from using iPads in the learning environment. Schools can save money with iPads by placing the textbooks on them, but student retention and comprehension is decreased when students read on their iPads. Apple's operating system has the potential to eventually develop applications that support learning styles that need to be addressed in the 21st Century learning environment.

Elliott 7 Works Cited Carr, Nicholas. Is Technology Making Us Stupid? Exploring Relationships: Globalization and Learning in the 21st Century. Ed. Mid Michigan Community College English Department. Massachusetts: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. 370-377. Print Kuzmich, John. Using the iPad in Music Education. School Band and Orchestra. Symphony Publishing Company, March 2012. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Murray, Orrin T. and Nicole R. Olcese. Teaching and Learning with iPads, Ready or Not? TechTrends 55.6 (2011): 42-48. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Petocz, Peter and Maurizio Manuguerra. Promoting Student Engagement by integrating New Technology into Tertiary Education: The Role of the iPad. Asian Social Science 7.11 (2011): 61-65. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Riley, Sheila. Steve Jobs Schools Sprouting As iPads Take Hold Tablets Gain in Education Students in one district in the Netherlands use them for up to half their learning. Investors Business Daily. Investors Business Daily, Inc. 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Rowsell, Jennifer, Mary Gene Saudelli, Ruth Mcquirter Scott, and Andrea Bishop. iPads as Placed Resources: Forging Community in Online and Offline Spaces. Language Arts 90.5 (2013): 351-360. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Siegle, Del, PhD. iPads: Intuitive Technology for 21st-Century Students. Gifted Child Today. 36.2 (2013): 146-150. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Weighing Paper against Pixel. Scientific American. Nov. 2013: 52-53. Print.