The kinds of activities we provide to the kids are about learning goals. We would never say to a student “use that pencil effectively, make it do cool things”. We instruct them to write a letter or a narrative.
The iPad (although a lot cooler than a pencil) is doing its job when it steps into the background. The tool is not as important as the work that it is constructing. No one ever kept Michelangelo’s paintbrushes, we kept his paintings.
So it should be with the iPad project. The iPad gives us the opportunity to create works that we just can’t do without it.(Like any good quality paintbrush) But what about the quality of the work? Are we pushing students to make a masterpiece? Will this masterpiece build skills and confidence that they can use in the future?
These are questions that keep banging around in my head. I don’t have the best questions, the best activities, or the best answers. But that shouldn’t stop us from looking for them.
Leigh Cassell Consulting 