As my Action Research (AR) project is about using iPads or tablet technology to reorganize and streamline reading programs in elementary school I have firstly been looking at general information on these devices and how people are beginning to incorporate them in everyday tasks. Even though tablet technology has been around for many years the latest wave of products is already making its mark.
A very informative article came through on my RSS feed from the Apple site that details how a team of archeologists has been using iPads in a dig site in Pompeii. Even though it is not technically a scholarly piece of writing it has given me, through the examples of apps used by the team, some wonderful ideas of how those same apps could be used in a classroom setting. They use drawing, writing and database apps to replace paper forms, note taking and sketch pads which are then all downloadable to their main computers. It also talks about how the iPad is a more robust device for going out and getting dirty as it has few places where dirt and dust can accumulate. You can find this article at http://www.apple.com/ipad/pompeii/
It’s definitely worth a read.
The next article I found through Ebscohost is a more general article that gives some historical perspective to the iPad and goes on to talk about its possible strengths. It’s an article from the March edition of an English magazine, Engineering and Technology, entitled Is the iPad a Game Changer? (Furfie, 2010) This article looks at whether or not the iPad will be a long-term success, what market it’s aimed at and how it will impact print media in the coming years. This last part of the article is of great interest to me as electronic readers become more readily available and will impact the way schools and libraries deliver the written word.
The next Article is entitled The High School Bookclub—Now With Kindles! (Harland, Plante, Marker, Falter, Thompson, Guilmett, et al, 2010) and talks about a high school library that received a grant to purchase several Kindles. They decided to trial them by having an established book club at the school replace their paper books with the Kindles to see if it made any difference at all. Something I really liked was that they worked with the students in choosing what titles were loaded into the Kindles and it was great to hear how the students responded to the devices, and their opinions on how they felt the technology will be received. This gave me some great ideas for my AR project, especially with older elementary kids but still leaves me short on material that focuses on younger students.
My fourth article Ebooks and Beyond: The Challenge for Public Libraries (Duncan, 2010) and is based on a survey carried out in Queensland, Australia by a public department looking to assess what they needed to do to continue to have their public libraries maintain relevance when faced with the global boom in electronic reading technology. It also acknowledges that there are some publishers who are shifting their emphasis from print to electronic publishing and how this may impact the prevailing culture and what they will do in response. One thing I liked that this article and the on above have in common is their desire to make the users an active part of the process.
References
Apple Inc., (2010) Discovering ancient Pompeii with an iPad, Retrieved October 2, 2010 from
http://www.apple.com/ipad/pompeii/
Duncan, R. (2010). Ebooks and beyond: The challenge for public libraries. APLIS, 23(2), 44-55.
Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.
Furfie, B. (2010). Is the iPad a game changer? [Tablet computer from Apple]. Engineering &
Technology (17509637), 5(4), 34-35. doi:10.1049/et.2010.0406.
Harland, P., Plante, A., Marker, J., Falter, C., Thompson, K., Guilmett, K., et al. (2010). The High
School Book Club--Now With Kindles!. Teacher Librarian, 37(5), 57-59. Retrieved from
Academic Search Premier database.
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