Saturday, July 24, 2010

The iPad as a disruptive technology in education

I thought with the recent craze on the iPad, it would be good for us to look at how such a device could be useful as a tool for teaching and learning. I sincerely think that such a tool can be a disruptive technology of sorts, much like how the iPhone changes our idea of what a smartphone is supposed to be. Just think of the possibilities, and 'impossibilities' that such a device could offer and overcome respectively. It's lightweight feature could redefine how a physical space for teaching and learning ought to look like, it's touch-screen ability bridges the gap of artists and handwriting purists, who thinks that the use of keyboards are slowly 'killing' the art of writing. Couple these with perhaps the immense possibilities that an app could muster, I would think that the idea of how teaching and learning is supposednto be done, and experienced, is just something that we could only imagine, or even have not imagined of!

And I'm happy to say that I hope I would be able to be part of this wave, this defining of what education for the future is all about. It's really about redefining of how a learning experience ought to be, leveraging on the use of a device. But before I forgot all about the primary objective, let us not forget too, it is still all about the child, first and foremost. Like what I always remind myself: Teach the child first, and then the subject.

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