Blog Entry Week 1

The part III of the lecture touches me most. Gradually, the perpetuation of the stereotype into the education has affected the life of each and every individual student. The change in architecture is a sign of the influence of the corporate world to the schools. There are many other aspects where modern technology has “invaded” the old-schooled education systems. In this blog entry, I would like to discuss about the impact of the use of technology in general for education.I will touch heavily on iPad, as it is a symbolic product of modern technology. 

The shift in architecture reminds me of a piece of news in my high school regarding the adoption of iPad in the classroom environment. The school decided to use iPad instead of the textbook in the classroom.  We can see that some parents and the school administration held opposite opinions on the usefulness of modern technology.

Intuitively, people may think that the technology will make teaching and learning more efficient. 

Here is a video clip showing the various iPad apps which can help the students in schooling.

Every human can think of several benefits of using modern technology for education. However, I find a series of online video clips produced by Matthew Gudenius, an educational technologist illustrating why we should say no to iPad for education. 

The cost of using ipad to replace textbooks is $430,000.
http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/blogs/ipads-vs-textbooks-main.jpg

Although a few of his viewpoints may not be relevant to what I have been talking about, some others are unique and valid. He mentioned that iPad users do not have access to many websites, and iPads do not have USB or storage card slots. Thus, one of the most advanced technology-based products, iPad, has its limitations for education.

Since there is not strong prevalence in the use of iPad for education, we cannot really gain a clear conclusion about whether iPad is useful or not. In fact, the original idea of using modern technology for education is definitely to enhance teaching and learning. However, just like iPad, the application of science and technology may have its own limitations. Even for this class, we cannot really say if having an online course is better or worse than the real classroom setting. All in all, I feel that technology can be a double-sided sword which may create unnecessary obstacles for both teaching and learning. We have to be careful about the use of technology for education.



Work Sited:

uconlineprogram."TwoCultures pt3" Online video clip. Youtube, Apr 2, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.

"IPad 1:1 Programme." Web log post. River Valley High School Official Website. River Valley High School, n.d. Web.

Sim, Bryna. "News | Asiaone News." News | Asiaone News. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Feb. 2012. <http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20120201-325254.html>.

Nikki Egdamin. "iPad Apps for School: Planning, Reading, Notes, PDFs - School Tips" Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, Feb 12, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.

Matthew Gudenius."Just Say NO to iPad for Education: Introduction & Overview" Online video clip. Youtube, May 8, 2012. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.