Course:ETEC522/sept2011/Ipads

Ipads

Our Wiki for our presentation: iPad

In this wiki, we have added the key points for the various sub-headings from our page on the iPad in education. Please note this a summary and there is much more that could be said about iPads. Please feel free to add any information you feel is relevant and will contribute to this page

Ipads and Their Applications in Education - A Market Analysis

The contributions, benefits and discussion of iPad apps as educational tools cannot be considered without including an analysis of the iPad itself. Because applications are dependent on various aspects of the iPad as an educational tool and its ownership, the discussions that follow will factor these into the analysis. What follows then is a discussion of the iPad, it’s potentiality within education and the applications that are applicable in various educational setting

History of the ipad

Although Steve Jobs and his team at Apple have been credited for creating ipads, the ideas, concepts and some of the functionality has been in the works for sometime.

The Apple ipad has a number of predecessors including the MessagePad, the PowerBook Duo and various webpads.web pads.

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, chairman of the Board of Directors, and former CEO (recently resigned this position in August 2011) founded Apple in 1976. He later resigned in 1985 from this position due to differing opinions (Wikipedia, 2011) . He went on to create NeXT computer company and bought Pixar (which was later sold to Disney). Jobs returned to Apple in 1996 when the company bought out NeXT computers and served as its CEO till 2011 (Wikipedia, 2011). “What makes Steve Jobs so successful, according to Gladwell, is his talent to 'watch, learn and perfect – swiftly and effectively.' The author said that the Apple co-founder, has matured the art of 'perfecting someone else's innovation'."(Gruener, 2010). Despite the controversy surrounding his management and leadership style, including his ‘larger than life persona', no one can debate his innovation and success (Wikipedia, 2011). Unfortunately Steve Jobs passed away on October 5, 2011.

Ipad 1 was released in April 2010, and is considered one of Time’s 50 Best Inventions of 2010.

Ipad 2 was released in March 2011 and has already reached record sales.

The Market

Type of Market

The market for the iPad and applications spans across the spectrum reaching into all levels of public education and into the private sector as it as used in the corporate world for presentations and informations sharing. With regards to the K-12 public education market, purchasing iPads for individual student use would be extremely costly at a district level, and even to an individual school and it is more realistic to that a school purchase a few which can be used by teachers or shared by groups of students. Higher education may see universities purchasing iPads and lending them out to professors or students while the students of post-secondary or higher education programs respresent the individual buyers within the higher education market. Some post-secondary institutions are now running pilot projects with iPads on loan to educators to be evaluated after a certain amount of time (see Oberlin College Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching's project site) Companies and private organizations may choose to purchase these devices for presentations or delivering training programs. Still the biggest market is for the purpose of entertainment, still larger than the educational market.

Type of Offering

Please see the Usability, Stability and Interoperability of the ipad page, as well as the Toolkit.

Some of the most popular apps are social networking and entertainment apps. “To celebrate its 10 billionth app download, Apple has released lists of its most popular free and paid mobile software” (Telegraph, October 12, 2011).

Top 10 free apps

Facebook - The dominant social network
Pandora Radio - Personalised internet radio. Not available in the UK due to licensing issues
Google Mobile App - Web search, including voice recognition
Shazam - Music discovery service
Movies by Flixter - US DVD rentals
The Weather Channel - Worldwide forecasts
Google Earth - The most popular mapping service
Bump - Easy data sharing between two iPhones
Skype - Free VoIP calling
Paper Toss - Addictive time-wasting video game

Top 10 paid apps

Doodle Jump - Simplistic platformer
Tap Tap revenge 3 - Guitar Hero-style rhythm game
Pocket God - You play God over primitive islanders
Angry Birds - Inescapable catapulting fun
Tap Tap Revenge 2.6 - More rhythmic tapping action
Bejewled 2 + Blitz - Puzzler based on matching gemstones
Traffic Rush - Solve puzzles based on traffic jams
Tap Tap Revenge Classice - Yet more tapping in time
AppBox Pro-Alarm Clock - Fully featured utilities suite
Flight Control - Air traffic control simulator

Who is the Buyer?

According to DiscountCoder.com (2011), the majority of ipad users are between the ages of 35-54 with the male to female ratio sitting at 2:1; the average user spends 5 – 20+ hours a week using their iPad.

56% used their ipad for entertainment purposes, while 40% saw its convenience and 42% bought it for the cool factor (DiscountCoder, 2011).

Global Target

iPads are targeted to the following audience:

Users in ages between 25-54.
eReaders.
Users mainly interested on Internet and Multimedia either for entertainment, learning or professional activities.
Travelers who need to be interconnected at any time.

Market Status

According to the data from Strategy Analytics the Apple's dominant position as the leader among tablet PCs during the calendar year 2010. The report shows that the iPad company has captured 95% of the global market share for tablets. While the other remaining 5% is captured by -Windows, Linux, Android, etc combined.

The report further shows that the global ipad tablet sales grew from 3.5 million in the second quarter to 4.4 million in third quarter of 2010.

Competition - Please see the Report Card page

APPs for Education

IPad applications for mathematics and sciences range flash cards to graphing software. These applications can be separated into two forms, there are reference works which help students to learn concepts through algorithms and games which help students to understand concepts as they play. One such technology that can greatly promote the understanding of concepts especially in mathematics and science are iPad’s applications.

Here are a list of useful iPad applications for mathematics and science teachers as well as students:

Math

IPad applications are the perfect tools to improve students math skills. These applications will assist in students learning the basics of math, and get practice.

If students want to improve their math skills, these iPad apps are perfect tool do so. Also these apps are excellent teaching tools to assist teachers to impart mathematical concepts in more meaningful ways.

Mathematical Formulas:
RPN Calculus:
fxIntegrator:
115-in-1 Math Solver:

Science

The Elements: A Visual Exploration:
Chemistry Formulas:
Physics Formulas:
HD Human Anatomy Digital Study

Other useful Educational IPad Apps

PopMath Basic Math
Word Magic
Learn Sight Words
Spanish Tutor:

For more educational applications, you can visit:

Potentials in informal and non-formal learning

Transportable devices such as the iPad have transformed learning spaces and redefined our notion of the “classroom” and traditional learning spaces. People are now able to access information almost anywhere which has spawned the term “m-learning”. Products such as Blackboard aid in changing the landscapes and spaces of formal learning spaces and many applications on Apple’s iPad create virtual spaces that foster all three types of learning: formal, non-formal and informal. With the release of the iPad 2 Apple has spent a considerable amount of time attempting to tap into the learning market, shifting from a device used for entertainment consupmtion to a valuable learning and educating tool:

iPad 2 commercial from Apple

(Source: Apple, 2011)

Informal and non-formal m-learning with the iPad then becomes dependent on individual ownership of the device and less of a discussion of the iPad as a classroom tool.

iBooks:

E-books and magazines are becoming increasingly available as publishers shift with technology and the growing demand for e-reading. iBooks look other e-readers gives readers a new way to engage and interact with reading material. It also organizes PDF files particularly useful for organizing research and articles or any other materials in PDF format.

Digital Magazines:

Hundreds of magazines have gone digital offering e-readers and device owners a digital version. Magazines like Popular Science have been completely modified for e-consumption allowing access to additional information and resources. Zinio has developed an application that devliers content as well as allowing the user to organize magazines, audio, video and live links.

Educational Apps:

The ipad boasts several educational applications for young learners in the areas of science, language arts and mathematics. There are however some useful applications for post-seconday students with apps for organizing and storing formulas, as well as an abundance of medical apps that give users an up-close look at the human body, muscle and skeleta and other biological systems especially useful for students in medicine. Other educational apps include foreign language learning applications such as the Human Japanese app as well as applications for EFL learners.Universities and colleges have begun offering their own apps that provide students with campus maps, schedulers, organizers and connecting students and staff. An example of this is the SFU Beedie school of business offers an application (see Beedie app) that delivers news and research highlights through social networks such as twitter.

The iPad and Social Media in Higher Education:

The ipad offers to function as a tool for connecting educators and learners through various social networking applications such as Twitter and Facebook. Students are spending a growing amount of time on social networking sites, which are basically content management systems and these sites offer great potential for blended and elearning (Caudill, 2011). Educators are now able to reach and engage learners outside the classroom. Caudill suggests that polling technology, sometimes called Audience or student response systems, utilize social networking concepts such as Twitter and other social networks to capture results which are later displayed in the classroom and thus successfully integrating social networking into LMS for educational purposes. What the ipad offers is the convergence of several educational technologies into a light-weight, portable device (Horizon, 2011).

Toolkit

IPads Toolkit is for all those individuals who are looking for new ideas and best practices so as to function more effective and efficient in this technological driven society.

Usability, Stability and Interoperability

iPad2 is an attractive device. It allows users to navigate through the Web, read text, watch videos and images, play games, communicate with others and hear music. The most common uses of iPads are related to playing games, checking email and social networking sites, watching videos, and reading news (Nielsen, 2001). One of the major problems regarding to usability of iPad apps is related to navigation: users touched something and they could not find a way back to their start point.

iPad2 usually does not have much problems with stability and connectivity. One of the major disadvantages of this device is that Apple has not yet developed a flash reader for iPad. Some apps developers (e.g. Prezi, Evernote) have been working to overcome the lack of reading flash. Regarding to iPad physical stability, Apple has developed a smart cover that allow users to stand the iPad in different ways.

iPad2 operating system (iOS 4) is compatible with other Apple mobile devices (iPhone 4 and iPod Touch). However, it is not compatible with other mobile operating systems (e.g. Android, RIM). The more friendly iOS 4 with apps from other operating systems for mobile devices is, the larger the market to cover. Today the strongest competition to the operating system of iPads is Android, the operating system for tablet PC (e.g. Samsung Galaxy and HTC Flyer).

True Cost of Ownership

Introduction

The true cost of ownership is often hidden to the purchaser and only realized post purchase. Therefore, total cost of ownership is an important aspect of any technology learning endeavor within education institutions, as budgets are generally predetermined.

There are organizations like the Consortium for School Networking (CoSn) in the United States, which assists in providing schools with education and tools in supporting schools in analyzing the total cost of information technology in the classroom.

Total cost of ownership includes the purchase cost, operational cost, education & training and end user support costs.

Purchase Cost

The individual purchase price of the ipad is: Ipad2: $519 – $849 and taxes Extended warranty- $79.00 Ipad smart cover $ 79.00 or zipbook $69.96 Personal Wifi or wireless plan $35+ / month depending on 3G networks Apps start at $0 - $16.00+ Projector for in classroom use (optional – can also be used with a Whiteboard): $2200 +

Leveraging costs across a district or region would considerably lower the upfront costs of applications, licensing fees and appliances. This would normally be done at the Administration level of a particular district.

Operational expenses

Operational costs are incurred in the continuing expenses to support the implementation of the technology. The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) suggests that the following factors be included in the assessment of ongoing operational costs:

IT Asset Management
Help Desk and Centralized Support Tools
Direct and Indirect Labor (Human Resources)
Computer, Server and Network Consolidation
Number of Supported Operating Systems and Applications
Printing
Electrical Power Usage
Service Contracts

Licensing alone can be an onerous task. For example, the Apple Education Licensing Program (AELP) lists the licenses for the first year of the MAC software collection per institution run computers, for over 2000 students, is > $50,000. Any licensing agreements for applications used on the ipad would need to be considered on a yearly basis and planned into the budget.

Repair, maintenance and replacement costs are part of the scope of the implementation and planning strategy. Downtime of networks also cost in resources and time and are far less tangible items that can be calculated, but must be considered.

Student usage of ipads would be dependent on personal cost and ownership; however, a reliable Wi-Fi network would be required for educators and learners to use ipads in the classroom setting.

Education and Training

Not surprising, Apple has designed a Professional Development Catalog for educators, and has constructed two day workshops for education purposes (price undetermined).

Apple has also designed online tutorials for educators to manage classroom workflow, planning and organizing, lesson preparation and teaching, supporting classroom learning, etc.

Professional Development at a local level would need to be considered, whether it is online learning, through an LMS, or inservicing educators on the use and deployment of ipads within the institution, requiring paid instructional time. An assessment of time requirements and a training plan is essential for successful adaptation and uptake from staff and again must be considered as part of the budget strategy.

Individual use: Of course, the Apple store provides many educational apps for individual use, not requiring the resources of a formal educational institution. Informal and formal education opportunities exists on and off the Internet with individual ownership of the ipad, and the educational opportunities knows no limits when it comes to exploring and discovering new areas of interest with this device.

End User Support

Ongoing end user support is a challenging task. While some institutions have peer lead support, where there is no extra monetary supplement, other institutions have technicians available on or off site to provide the necessary technical support. McKenzie (2003) suggests one technician for every 50 – 75 end users, thus allowing for acceptable turnaround times. Institutions would need to decide if technical support would be restricted to educators or to include students as well. Online support and individual application help are also things to consider, along with leveraging collaborative and collective knowledge of educators that are located within the same local.

Overall

Overall, the cost of implementing learning technologies has a high monetary price tag, despite individual personal ownership of the technology. A thorough cost: benefit analysis is required to determine if the end use of the technology implemented would not only meet the intended purpose but provide added value to the education experience and retention of the student population. The personal use of ipads in the classroom can be supported via a reliable Wi-Fi network without the implementation of educational wide planning and learning initiatives, however, this would be restricted to individual use and operation.

Future potentials

Education of the twenty-first century is benefiting from non-traditional teaching environments. Online and mobile learning is taking increasing strength in Education. Mobile devices have the capacity to redefine what constitutes a learning environment towards a definition based on connecting people and information through virtual collaborative spaces.

Future potentials of Mobile devices for education (Melhuish & Falloon, 2010)

It is portable.
It is situated (just in time).
It is interactive.
It offers individualized experiences.
It offers ubiquitous access.

These benefits can promote learning processes through non-traditional spaces. Mobile penetration is quickly penetrating in developed countries (GSMA, 2010). There is an increasing enthusiasm about mLearning services and products, which places an increasing interest and research initiatives about the field.

Report Card: Positives and Drawbacks

Like any other tool the implementation alone will not make improvements if those involved do not know how to use the tool. Both students and educators need the skills and knowledge to use this technology effectively to maximize potential whether this is in the delivery of material during a class or taking advantage of the multiple of social medias accessible through educational technology tools as a student or the incorporation of them into a class as an educator. Caudill (2011) notes that amongst the challenges of educational technology are the introduction of this technology into sound pedagogy. In discussion around social networking he added that "while most of the popular social networking sites resources are free to use, educators may need more resources than just those provided on the networking sites" (p. 187).

Apple is a long-existing company with an outstanding reputation as developing technology for entertainment and information consumption, but educational technology requires more than just consuming information. As Caudilll noted technology must be used with sound pedagogy for it to be effective at all. Some reviews simply argue that regarding education the iPad is a great information consuming product, but not a great information-creating product.

Some institutions have began their own evaluation programs of the iPad as an educational tool. Oberlin College Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching has started a pilot program allowing faculty to sign out ipads for the semester, use, then evaluate it and the various applications and their usefulness. Faculty can than post to a discussion that evaluates applications that they did or did not find useful and a space for commentary (see Oberlin's iPad pilot program)

Postives

Mobility

The ipad as a mobile learning device that converges multiple educational technologies into a light-weight device with a long-lasting battery (up to 10-hours) is impressive. It enables educators to connect with each other and their students and is furthering the potential of mobile learning and the mobile classroom as well as blended and online learning.

Interface

The user-friendly layout and interface makes it quick to learn even for those who have not previously owned other Apple products. Those who are already used to Apple devices such as the iPhone or Macs will find the intutiveness of the interface a positive allowing those already adapted to Apple devices to begin use with ease and only a short learning and adjustment phase for those that are not.

Projection

Connecting the iPad to a projector is simple and allows educators to share their screen with the class making it easy to blow up an article in discussion and highlight key points, display various types of images and media to the class or host guest speakers or lecturers through the iPad's facetime application.

Drawbacks

Price

Since the iPad starts at $519 (Apple Inc, 2011) it can be an expensive investment for both learners and educators. As shown in breakdown of costs in the section on True Cost of Ownership this price does not include the cost of applications or other technologies such as a projector needed to maximize use of the ipad in the classroom.

USB port, camera and CD/DVD player

The iPad 1 lacked both a camera and a USB port both which have been added to the iPad 2. Neither version is equiped with a CD/DVD drive.

Incompatibility with Silverlight and Flash media

The iPad is unable to play Silverlight content. Another key gap in the abilities of the iPad are that it lacks the ability to play Flash interactive media and video. While there are some applications that attempt to make up for this gap Flash videos will not play on the iPad or iPad 2 and likely never will on future Apple devices as CEO Steve Jobs made this comment regarding Flash in 2010:

"Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short" (Jobs, 2010).

Not a primary system

Although the iPad is equipped with touch-screen keyboard it's purpose was not to replace one's primary computer and students who used the iPad would still need to have a laptop or desktop to use for writing papers, and longer assignments.

Competition

In PCWorld's review and comparison of the top 5 tablets the iPad 2 was rated number one. However both Samsung Galaxy 10.1 and Toshiba Thrive also received a 4 out of 5 star rating.

Many suggest the closest competitor to the iPad is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 which reveals a closeness to the iPad 2 in terms of usability, design and price. PCWorld claims that the Galaxy is the closest tablet that gives the iPad 2 a run for its money. Both tablets have front and rear-facing cameras, and dual-core chip processorsand both have no ports other than for docking. Those that argue for the Galaxy over the iPad use its abilities to use both Flash media and Silverlight to rate it above the iPad 2. Neither the iPad 2 or the Galaxy Tab 10.1 offer any ports (SD or USB). What will be the deciding factor for many is whether they are current Apple product consumers usability may be easier for those that have some familiarity with Apple OS or other apple devices such as Macs or iPhones .

Further Reviews

The below offer some further reviews of the iPad in education:

Can Apple's iPad Revolutionize Technology in the Classroom?

How the iPad will Revolutionize education

iPad Pilot Project at Oberlin College

Making sense of the iPad for Online learning

References

Apple. (2011). Apple in Education. Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/ca/education/licensingprogram/

Apple. (2011). App Store: SFU Beedie School of Business. Retrieved October 3, 2011 from http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/sfu-beedie-school-of-business/id434700597?mt=8

Apple. (2011). iPad: Facetime. Retrieved October 21, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/ipad/built-in-apps/facetime.html

Apple. (2011). iBooks app. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/ipad/built-in-apps/ibooks.html

Barlow, G. (2010). 10 Common iPad Problem Solved. TechRadar. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/10-common-ipad-problems-solved-684416

Bertolucci, J (2011). Android Tablets Grab 20 Percent of Market Share. PC World. Retrieved 30 September 2011 from http://www.pcworld.com/article/238007/android_tablets_grab_20_percent_of_market_share.html

Blackboard Inc. (2011). Retrieved September 29, 2011 from http://www.blackboard.com/

Bosker, B (2009) iPad Problems: Users' BIGGEST Complaints So Far. Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 September 2011 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/06/ipad-problems-complaints_n_526738.html#s78909&title=Weak_WiFi

Budiu, R. Nielsen, J (2011). Usability of iPad Apps and Websites. California: Nielsen Norman Group. Retrieved September 23, 2011, from http://www.nngroup.com/reports/mobile/ipad

Caudill, J. (2011). Media-rich Social Networks: Open Source Solutions to Media Creation. In M. Koehler & P. Mishra (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference 2011 (pp. 187-194). Chesapeake, VA: AACE. Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/36256

Chavani, B (2010). Common iPad Wi-Fi problems and fixes. MakeUseOf. Retrieved September 30 2011 from http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/common-ipad-wifi-problems-fixes/

Consortium for School Networking Initiative. (2001). Taking TCO to the Classroom. Retrieved from 1

DiscountCoder.com. (2011). A brief history of the ipad - Infographic. Retrieved from http://www.discountcoder.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-the-ipad-infographic/

Gruener, W. (2010). The iPad and its Creator: A matter of watch, learn, perfect. Retrieved from http://www.tgdaily.com/electronic/48235-the-ipad-and-its-creator-a-matter-of-watch-learn-perfect

GSMA (2010). mLearning: A Platform for Educational Opportunities at the Base of the Pyramid. Retrieved September 20, 2011 from http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/mLearning_Report_Final_Dec2010.pdf

Hiner, J (2011). Google Android vs. Apple iOS: Handicapping the 2011 death match. Tech Republic. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/hiner/google-android-vs-apple-ios-handicapping-the-2011-death-match/7411

Horizon. (2011). 2011 Horizon Report: the web version: One Year or Less: mobiles. Retrieved from http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2011/sections/mobiles/

McKenzie, J. (March, 2003). The True Cost of Ownership. From Now On: The Educational Technology Journal, 12,7. Retrieved from http://fno.org/mar03/truecost.html

Melhuish, K. Fallon, G (2010). Looking to the future. M-learningn with the iPad. Computers in New Zeland Schools, Learning, Leading, Technology. 22(3) 1-16. Retrieved September 20, 2011, from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/10289/5050/1/Looking%20to%20the%20future.pdf

Microsoft Silverlight. (2011). Retrieved October 12, 2011 from http://www.silverlight.net/

Oberlin Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching. (2011). Retrieved October 3, 2011 from http://octet1.csr.oberlin.edu/wp/OCTET/

Perez, S.( 2010). Tablet Market: 95% iPad, 5% Everyone Else. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tablet_market_95_ipad_5_everyone_else.php

PCWorld Communications. (2011). Top 5 Tablets. (Perenson, M. Ed). Retrieved October 3, 2011 from http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/collection/8786/top_5_tablets.html

Popular Science. (2011). Retrieved October 3, 2011 from http://www.popsci.com/announcements/article/2010-04/popular-science-ipad-here

Saxena, R. (2010). The Ten Most Frequent Apple iPad Concerns Now Resolved! Trends Updates. Retrieved 23 September 2011 http://trendsupdates.com/the-ten-most-frequent-apple-ipad-concerns-now-resolved/

SFU. (2011). Retrieved October 10, 2011 from http://beedie.sfu.ca/

Samsung. (2011). Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. Retrieved October 7, 2011 from http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxytab/10.1/index.html

The Telegraph. (October 12, 2011). Apple:The 10 most popular free and paid apps. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/8278380/Apple-The-10-most-popular-free-and-paid-apps.html

Toshiba. (2011). Thrive. Retrieved October 7, 2011 from http://us.toshiba.com/tablets/thrive/10-inch/

Wikipedia. (2011). Docking station. Retrieved October 24, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Docking_station

Wikipedia (2011). M-Learning. Retrieved September 29, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLearning

Wikipedia (2011). Steve Jobs. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs

Wikipedia (2011). ipad. Retrieved form http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad

Resources

http://www.cellfanatic.com/2010/01/27/understanding-the-target-audience-for-the-apple-ipad/

http://forums.macrumors.com

www.ipadforums.net

http://www.silverlight.net/

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/index.asp

https://kindle.amazon.com/

Toshiba Thrive