I am not an "early adopter" of technology...I like to wait and see how it goes with new tech before I put out the money. When the iPad was released I laughed at all the hype and excitement as people waited in lines to buy an iPad. I knew I may get one, but it would be after lots of research on wether it would be an appropriate tool for for organization, collaboration, creation, and effective for use for a teacher and students in 4th grade math classroom.
Last summer, June 2010, I went to the Apple store to get an iPhone4 and left with an iPhone3GS and an iPad. I told my husband if he had been with me he would have gotten one too! How can someone walk into an Apple store and not leave with an iPad...it was so much fun playing with it in the store!
Since then, my iPad has become my main device for reading, communications, creating lessons, research, collaboration, you name it. It took a while to get to this point, but now, I could not imagine working without one. Until a few months ago I toted a laptop back and forth between school and home everyday...now, only when I have a large amount of typing or I am making flipcharts for class, which is once or twice a week and I bring it home on weekends.
The purpose of this blog is to share my experiences for all teachers considering purchasing an iPad, already using an iPad, or for old pros looking for new ideas! By the way, the iPad2 goes on sale tomorrow! You just might see me in one of those long lines...I can't wait to get my hands on one!
Glad to see you are blogging about your use of the iPad in the classroom. I am about to get an iPad 2. I teach computer courses in a middle school. We are hoping to get 4 to get them in the hands of a few teachers to pilot. Initially, I plan to really explore the possibilities. I teach game design, and if nothing else, I know that the game development environment we are using is beginning to port games to the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. I think it would be very rewarding for my students to see their games on the iPad. I'm not sure of the process yet, but that's one of my goals. I am also very intrigued by the idea of moving to e-text books, but that might take a little while. Anyway, I plan to visit your blog for ideas and hope you find it to be worthwhile!
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