Since its debut in 2010, the iPad has quickly been
introduced into classrooms across the world. No longer just a device for entertainment,
the tablet has also become a tool for education. Due to its versatility and mobility, the iPad
provides students with countless learning aids with the touch of a finger. However,
while the potential learning benefits are numerous, does that necessarily
translate into increased productivity in the classroom? I believe that the use
of iPads in educational environments would not supplement students’ learning
and could even have a negative effect. I
do not think that students have enough digital self-regulation to use the iPad
primarily for academic purposes. They
would instead use it for entertainment and web-surfing, which could distract
them from learning. This opinion is
supported by a study conducted by several doctoral students at Southern Illinois University.
The study examined what undergraduate students used their
iPad for and the impacts the use of iPads had on their learning. The
participants of the study were 32 undergraduate students, specifically freshman
business majors, and they were given iPads nearly one semester in advance of
the study. The data was ultimately collected
through three methods which consisted of interviews with the students, logs of
participants’ iPad use in their dorms, and logs of their iPad use in classrooms.
The interviews were analyzed to look for key words and common trends. They found that the three main reasons that
the students enjoyed using the iPads were convenience, immediacy and
expediency. The term “convenient” was
mentioned with the highest frequency in participants’ responses, as most echoed
that it was extremely convenient to be able to check email or watch a movie
whenever and wherever they wanted.
Immediacy and expediency were mentioned less frequently, but several of
the participants mentioned that they felt as though “the iPad made them act and
respond more quickly” due to its portability.
The numerical data came from the logs of their iPad use,
which were broken down into four categories: 1) entertainment, such as
listening to music or playing games, 2) internet surfing, such as checking
social media or popular websites, 3) academic purposes, such as reading
assignments or checking email, and 4) other activities. When the study was completed, the data indicated
that among the four categories, entertainment and Internet surfing were the two
purposes the participants used their iPad for the most. When in their dorm, participants used their
iPad primarily for entertainment (65%).
But when in the classroom, they used it mainly for surfing the Internet
(68%). Most importantly, combining data
from the logs in the dorm and classroom revealed that participants used their
iPad for academic purposes the least among the four categories. Only 5% of iPad
use in the dorm was for academic purposes, and this statistic only rose slightly
to 8% when in the classroom. Furthermore,
entertainment and Internet surfing not only accounted for the high frequency of
iPad use, but also took significantly more time than academic purposes. On
average, participants spent 30 minutes per day using their iPad for either entertainment
or Internet surfing, while they only spent five minutes per day for academic
purposes.
These findings are not surprising and support my opinion
that the use of iPads would not bolster learning since most students do not
have the digital self-regulation needed to use it primarily for schoolwork.
Overall, while the iPad offers convenience and portability, the students did
not take advantage of these benefits in their studies. One of the reasons the study believes this
occurred is because instructors did not encourage the use of iPad for
schoolwork nor did they incorporate it into their lessons. Therefore, in order for the iPad to be a successful
educational tool, the study suggests that schools need to offer an environment and
infrastructure for students to use their iPad for academic purposes.
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