The “i” Is for Imagination

by Randy Clemens

At an Apple event a few weeks ago, Steve Jobs unveiled a new mobile device. On the day before the event, I blogged about the iPad’s potential. Since then, I have talked with numerous people about the tablet. Some never get past the name. Others believe the iPad is just a bigger iPod Touch. Many online columnists have been equally dismissive. I remember similar critiques when Apple announced the iPhone. Yet, when the App Store opened, everything changed. Let me explain now why the iPad is significant to education.

The iPad is simple, elegant. The 10 inch touchscreen is the interface, an interface that can instantly adapt to the user’s needs. While the touchscreen is unassuming, the operating system is deceptively simple. The OS is a closed system, which has garnered positive and negative reviews, pared of all unnecessary frills. Simplicity becomes essential in a classroom setting where students like to explore, download, and inevitably destroy.

During his address, Jobs frequently talked about being able to hold the internet in your hands. If the tablet functions only as an internet browsing device, that is enough. But the potential for the iPad in schools excites me.

With the introduction of the iPad, textbooks become obsolete. And still, the iPad is more than a replacement for textbooks. Content becomes instantly upgradeable. Pictures become movies. Imagine a chapter about civil rights where a student can watch a speech from Martin Luther King Jr. or a chapter about Shakespeare where a student can watch a soliloquy from Hamlet. The potential extends to all subjects.

Students are no longer passive observers, however. In physics class, a group can design a model of their bridge before they construct it. In an after school fashion club, students can design their showcase. In band class, a student can not only read sheet music but also tune his guitar, see the fingerings for any chord, and record his performance.

These are only a few applications of the new device, and I believe as it evolves so too will the possibilities.