Student Critique of iPad in the College Classroom

Like  &  Dislikes

http://www.apple.com/ipad/

Last week my colleague asked a student to critique the iPad for us.  The student was already familiar with the Kindle DX.  It was very kind of Vaughn to take the time to evaluate how this helps or hinders his work while taking a class here at Palm Beach State.  Below find a summary of his remarks.

What he likes:
Ability to integrate professor's online notes and textbook material while in the classroom

Ability to take notes and relate these to the lesson plans

Using online materials for instant references when using textbooks and listening to professor's lectures. This is a great feature for visual learners.

What he dislikes:
Using the Kindle app on iPad gives the look and feel of using a Kindle

As a business major, I'm not able to use some business apps such as spreadsheets.

Not able to load learning websites such as myspanishlab.com which is used for Spanish 1 & 2

Vaughn's Overall Comments:
I think the iPad is a great investment for the college that offers a wonderful and unique learning tool for students.  I would certainly suggest that the college get more of these units.

When Vaughn returned the iPad and Kindle DX, he also made these verbal comments. This is my summary of our conversation that day.

He said it was wonderful to be able to zip back and forth when studying from his textbook on the iPad and getting references and the ability to verify his resourses from the our library online to complement his work.  He really enjoyed using the iPad in class to use notes from the teacher's website.  Vaugh said the glare wasn't bad during the day, but was noticeable at night. 

Thank You!

 Thanks again Vaughn for sharing your review of the iPad and letting

us post your comments on our blog:]

E-Textbooks expected to grow by 11% by 2013

E-textbooks:
11% growth by 2013
4% by this end of this year

See link below for new info about e-texbooks and the projection for growth in the near future.
Article from Reuters, US Edition
Sept. 15th, 2010


http://alturl.com/yehuq

Samsung Galaxy Tab-Sneek Preview

http://alturl.com/pcpte

Entering the European markets September and October

[According to the site above, none of these stats are confirmed]

1.0GHz ARM S5PC110 processor 

 Android 2.2 Froyo doing OS duty

 7 inch screen 800 x 480 pixel

  3.2 mega pixel rear camera and tiny front-facing shooter

 Swype keyboard, Flash along with WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS

http://alturl.com/efot6

Both picture-taking and video chat with front and back mounted cameras

 Weight 380 grams (0.8 pounds) is considerably less than the iPad

iPad weighs 680 grams (1.5 pounds) without 3G and 730g (1.6 pounds) with it.

Samsung says the Galaxy Tab will run Adobe Systems' Flash Player 10.1,

[more games available over the Web]

High-definition video for at least 7 hours on a single charge and

 perform less strenuous tasks for much more than 10 hours

 Android 2.2, called Froyo, but will be upgradable to 3.0, called Gingerbread

http://alturl.com/ocgsa

No launch date- No pricing-No network announced yet

 7-inch capacitive touch screen with a 1,024x600 Wide Super VGA (WSVGA) resolution

 Android 2.2 (Froyo), the complete Google apps Market, Flash 10.1, 16GB or 32GB of memory, GPS

Plus integrated sensors, such as a gyroscope, accelerometer, light sensor, and geomagnetic sensor

Promises, Promises!

We'll have to wait to see how this compares to iPad.

It looks like we might see this item in the US near the end of the year. It's going to be crazy for new buyers to make a decision during the holidays for gift giving. If you are interested in e-readers for your library, you might want to browse our older posts.

Review iPad's 1st Interactive Book

Not Impressed" was my colleague's 1st comment after browsing this new multimedia item, Pillars of the Earth. I have to agree with her on this assessment.  The first 47 pages I read, had one short video, and no pictures or audio clips. I guess we were expecting fireworks. We planned on watching the 1st episode of the mini-series Friday at home, [July 23rd] but the pay-per view put a halt to that at $14.99 for each Friday showing. Although, Starz  reports ‘The Pillars of the Earth Draws 690,000 For Premiere Between Starz & Encore." http://alturl.com/wj95h The final episode is this Friday, Aug. 27.  Apple.com "Costumer Ratings" and "Reviews" rates this iPad app for Pillars of the Earth at 2 stars. http://alturl.com/mw3hu

This is quite a marketing tool actually, matching the iPad app [$12.99] and the pay-per-view mini-series for 8 weeks. The interactive book came out 4 days before the mini-series. We'll see more of this in the months and years ahead for sure. What we really want to see is how this "model" moves towards an excellent production of "interactive textbooks" for students in the near future.  Also 1.6GB is a large program to load and this app is supposed to be updated each week at another 1.6GB.   We have not updated our app because of the space this program requires. [Our iPads are the 16GB models.]

This 1st version of an interactive book reminds me one of the 1st "LaserDisc technology" programs using Pioneer CLD-V2400 LaserDisc players.  These units interacted with the PC software for social studies middle school classrooms in the 90's and replaced hard copy textbooks, some of you might remember. It looks slick, but got boring real quick. Even the teachers were perplexed and wanted to return to their old textbooks. I do understand the science and math programs at the time were much more appealing. We hope the 1st generation of student textbooks has a little more "pop" for the money.

In 1995 the LaserDisc technology was projected positively by Palm Beach County School District in Florida, to "enhance classroom instruction with full-motion audio, true-to-life images, easy operation and adaptability to any curriculum and increase technology-based education capabilities at every grade level".  http://alturl.com/yu9kx

We can only hope that the long awaited interactive textbooks for iPad are keeping up with the technology of the 21st century in education.

The Amplified Edition on iPad July 20th!

Ken Follett's novel, "The Pillars of the Earth" was released yesterday on iPad as an Amplified Edition. What does this mean? Full text with a truly integrated multimedia experience!

Combines text, film clips and music
*Contextual video clips at corresponding points in the book

*Interviews with the author

*Video diary from Mr. Follett

*Audio clips

Also included:

*Sketches of the set where the miniseries was filmed

*Selections from the soundtrack

*Family tree with background of different characters

*Video clips of actors discussing their roles

This is a Penguin-Starz project with Apple, giving readers extensive excerpts from the TV production from the miniseries that begins this Friday, July 23. Readers will get a chance to see the imagery, architecture, music and clothing from this time period.

Each week of the miniseries, you can download new content to your iPad, iPhone or iPod, as the TV mini-series continues. Downloads are $12.99 from iTunes. Reese Marino from the San Jose Book Examiner says it's like an "e-book on steroids".

This 1st Amplified Edition will give us a sneak preview of what multimedia/interactive textbooks will be like for our students. This is an exciting time to be in education on both sides of the desk:]

What's next? Textbooks on steroids?

Prices "slashed" on e-readers!

Not a surprise!

Kindle2's are now $189, originally $259.

The original Kindle1's were $359 in their beautiful marketing box.

Barnes & Noble's NOOK dropped their price to $199, originally $259.

They also introduced a new Wi-Fi version, minus the 3G for $149.

Pros and Cons Digital e-Readers May 2010

iPad pros
-Ease of use, color & graphics are exceptional,
back lit for night time reading
-Internet on iPad; no comparison to Kindle’s drab web browser
-Vibrant and cool looking icons/apps, very “alive”, giving user many choices

-Purchase a book with our password only
-Low end iPad with 16GB memory at $499 with Wi-Fi,
compared to Kindle DX/K2 with 4GB memory for $489

iPad cons
-Monthly fee $14.99 250MB data/ $29.99 unlimited data service 3G wireless
-Glare on the glass, eye strain
-battery power 10 hrs
-Wi-Fi card is not as strong as our laptops, connection can be difficult inside library
-Patrons can set a password lock on unit, IT has to reset upon return of unit- solution: put a 4 digit number for password before 1st check out, patron needs our password to change

Kindle DX/K2 pros
-Downloads wirelessly, free Whispersync, via Sprint, under 60 second purchase
-Wireless download "click to purchase", receiving 1 to 6 copies of each book
-Battery power 7 days with the wireless on
-Very easy on the eyes, no glare, no complaints about eye strain
-Text-to-Speech

Kindle DX/K2 cons
-No expandable memory [except original K1]
-No color
-No back lit feature
-No replaceable battery -[except original K1]
-Easy for patrons to order items without approval

Sony pros
-Finding and opening a book is easy, stylus is very handy
-Staff downloads ALL e-books via the PC using a USB cable
-Compatible with Mac and PC
-Compatible with multiple eBook stores
-Purchase via password account

Sony cons
-Turning the pages by 'whisking' the index finger does not work efficiently
-"Touch" & "tap" feature is not always productive
-Eyestrain from glare on glass, ink is very light gray with any font size
-Use USB cable connected to PC for all downloads, no wireless feature
-Awkward for patrons to download free e-books via USB cable

Nook pros
-Free wireless downloads, 3G & Wi-Fi via AT&T
-Color touch screen for navigation
-Digital lending for 2 weeks
-Purchase via password account
-Memory expansion, 16GB card up to 17,500 eBooks
-Replaceable battery

Nook cons
-Color feature on touch screen only for navigating, small narrow screen
-Books are in black/gray, not color
-Hard to use the small “touch” keypad, very sensitive
-Digital lending for 2 weeks, not approved by all publishers
-Awkward power on/off button