Tablet sales in education soared over the last year, an increasing number of schools worldwide experimented with iPad implementation within classroom settings. The intuitive design, easy access to online resources and the proliferation of educational apps offer attractive solutions to teachers seeking to bridge the gap between a digitally savvy generation of students and traditional curriculums structured around printed learning materials.

Journalists, researchers and educators alike have praised the iPad for its potential benefits, such as personalization and active learning. At the same time, numerous reservations on iPad rollouts have been raised as well. These include difficulties such as the need for adaptability within school curriculums and the question of cost effectiveness.

The devices have only been around since  2010, so we still have a lot to learn about their effectiveness in the learning process. Here are four challenges and four rewards we do know about, however, that are associated with bringing iPads into classrooms:

CHALLENGES:

1. RE-THINKING CURRICULUM
A Naace report on the use of iPads at the Longfield Academy in the U.K. found that although the iPad made accessing online resources much more convenient, most of these resources were already frequently utilized by students within the existing curriculum. If iPads are to genuinely benefit student achievement, then pedagogy must adapt to the specifications of educational apps that employ non-traditional methods for a more engaged learning experience. At the Longfield Academy, only subjects with flexible curriculums such as English, Math and Science see regular iPad use among students. The achievement of the goals above will rely on innovative teaching methods (such as the one employed at the Zurich International School) to make full use of what the iPad has to offer in education.

2. TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY
The adoption of iPads in the classroom comes with another challenge: the necessity to maintain the programs and systems that allow the device’s full functionality. Researcher Dale Sheppard warns that schools must make sure an online infrastructure strong enough to connect all iPads in the classroom is in place before they are implemented. Indeed, the relief that the iPad brings in the form of convenience could be weighed down by technological stress. The paper for Asian Social Science cites the example of Canadian students worrying about their internet’s reliability while doing multiple choice problems on the iPad. With the implementation of iPads, technical fluency will need to be acquired by those who would normally consider it outside of their role.

3. 'FEEL GOOD' FACTOR
While the Naace study reports an overwhelmingly positive response by students after iPad implementation, it makes an important point that such positivity may be due to a “feel good” factor and is not a real indicator of student achievement. In an article on iPad use among toddlers, The Atlantic’s Hanna Rosin points out that educational iPad apps engage the user by merging play with learning. This blurring of work and play can be seen in the examples of active learning above and succeeds at making education more fun. But if using the iPad for education means bringing a toy to class, positive feedback on the tablet should not be mistaken for an advance in learning.

4. VALUE FOR MONEY
The need for pedagogical adaptation and technological maintenance imposes additional costs that brings the value for money of the iPad into question. Education consultant Lee Wilson calculated that after training, networks, devices and content are all accounted for, the total cost of using iPads ends up being 552% higher than print textbooks. Furthermore, the fact the surge in iPad shipments to schools is owed to a boom in education technology investments in recent years could result in a potential bubble if such enthusiasm declines. Education journalist Peg Tyre argues this point by looking at how over-hyped new technologies in education have historically been nothing more than passing fads that are wasted in the long term.

REWARDS:

1. ACTIVE LEARNING AND TEACHING
iPads have the potential to actively engage students within the learning process far more than print materials. In an article for Slate, education journalist Lisa Guernsey lauds the implementation of iPads at Zurich International School as a way that is conducive to learning actively, rather than taking in information passively. By using multimedia apps on iPads to record their presentations, elementary school students become aware of how they convey their own understanding of a particular question and can track how their learning progresses overtime. This utilization of what a paper in the November 2011 issue of Asian Social Science describes as “high level presentation tools” on the iPad is a necessary part of teaching actively as well. For example, power point lectures given through the iPad can be annotated in real time. This technique attracts greater attention from students and helps explain concepts that are less clear with the information displayed on slides alone.

2. LEARNING NETWORK
Classrooms equipped with iPads can significantly increase the degree of connectivity and communication between teachers, students and parents. The Department of Education and Early Child Development in Victoria, Australia carried out a study that argues for the use of iPads as a tool for building a more supportive network of learning. By having instant access to information on classwork and student progress, no one feels out of touch with the educational process and learning happens collaboratively. This benefit is also emphasized in the Asian Social Science paper in the form of efficient grading methods. Not only does the iPad allow for easy, instant access to grades, but more importantly it also serves as a tool for teachers to give quick feedback regardless of differing schedules.

3. A CONVENIENT KNOWLEDGE REFERENCE
The capability of the iPad to store documents and access the internet makes it a far more convenient educational tool than textbooks. The Naace report finds that the device is used in large part to access a wide range of online resources for both research and quick reference during lessons. A study conducted by the New Media Consoritum and the EDUCASE Learning Initiative demonstrates that this is also the case at the university level. For example, researchers at the University of California, Irvine use the iPad as a portable manual on drugs and diseases while working in cadaver laboratories.

4. PERSONALIZATION
The range of creative applications for the iPad and the convenience of using it on one’s own time allows for a highly personalized form of education to flourish. Commenting on Pennsylvania’s Oxford School District on its plan to roll out iPads for high schools in the fall, teacher Scott Woddell noted that the iPad was highly accommodating of different student with different needs. An example of this is seen in the case of external students in higher education, as observed in the Asian Social Science paper. With the video lectures and annotated presentations on hand, students studying from a distance have better access to an in-class learning experience.

Personalization further applies to students with disabilities. In a paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, teachers observed that iPad use among autistic students resulted in more compliant behavior, higher degrees of individualized learning and progression on educational objectives.

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