These days you’d struggle to find a school that still uses books. Most modern schools and universities have adopted new technologies. In particular, they have adopted to iPads and other tablets like the Samsung Note, Microsoft Surface or others. So just how have these devices gone from not being used at all, to being a key fixture in the classroom? Well, stay tuned because we’re about to answer that very question for you.
Most children find education boring, or at least they’d never admit to liking learning. Research has actually found that students are more likely to learn if they’re using an iPad. This could be, because iPads perceive as fun devices. Just because you’re using them to learn, doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun. It’s a bit like how when you’re writing a report, and your mind will shift to the internet. Or, it will shift to a game on your computer. This distraction, although some would argue otherwise, can actually be a good thing. It gives you a mental rest so that you can more easily focus on what you need to learn later on. That means you’re more likely to take in what you’re learning rather than it “going in one ear and out the other.”
Now imagine for a moment, that you’re in a classroom and you’ve been given an assignment and need to answer some questions. You may struggle to remember the answers, but if you’re using an iPad, and you have access then you can look up the answer with great ease. This ability will make you more enthusiastic about learning because you’ll have a greater chance of getting the answers correct. Research has proven that rote learning from memory doesn’t actually help people learn more effectively. It just means that they can remember things. When they’re recalling the information from the internet they will feel more confident because they’ll know they’re on the right track. In the long term this will have a great influence on their education.
Before iPads people would need to learn from books. Often schools would choose one or two books to use for a course. That would mean that students were only getting the opinions of one or two authors. They were not consulting a wide range of sources. That was partially due to access of information and partially because of the shear amount of time that would need to be spent in the library searching for a relevant article. It may take several hours and it may not be as relevant as first thought. Nowadays students can search for relevant topics on the internet using their iPads and they will get millions of answers. This will broaden their minds and mean they are consulting a wide range of sources, which makes for better educated and more open minds.
That has to be a good thing.
iPads have changed the way people learn. They no longer need to learn between set hours. If a student is most productive at midnight then they can log onto their iPad and do some research. Previously they would have been limited due to library opening hours. That could have limited their education and learning ability because they couldn’t perform as much research as they wanted to. Being able to work on something for as long as you want will have major benefits for students because it means they can thoroughly learn a topic, rather than just touching the surface.
What are your thoughts? Has technology changes how your child learns?
