Mr. Koops experiments with his "dummy proof" touch screen iPad. Photo by: Courtney Edge
By Courtney Edge
Some of the science and math teachers are using the iPad as a tool in the classroom. These teachers use the iPad for attendance, teaching, recording grades, presenting class material as well as other tasks.
Mr. Philip Koops is a science teacher who uses the iPad in class for attendance so he can walk around the class and not have to carry his “bulky computer around.” He uses the iPad everyday because it is not hard to go from using the MacBook to the touch screen of the iPad. Mr. Koops likes this idea of the touch screens. He says they are “dummy proof.” Mr. Koops says he would rather use the MacBook for everyday use because it is easier to type on. He does like having the iPad as a tool in the classroom, but he says teaching is not easier with the iPad. Mr. Koops thinks that the iPad is convenient depending on what he is doing.
Mr. Dwight Beguin is a math teacher, and he uses his iPad to take attendance and has used it to take photos of class activity. He says that the iPad is lighter than the MacBook so it is easier to carry. Mr. Beguin uses the iPad everyday, but if the iPad could do all that the MacBook did, he would use it more often than the MacBook. He does like the touch screens, but he says the downside is that it could get smudges all over it. Mr. Beguin says “electronic devices don’t make teaching any easier, only motivated students do!”
Mr. Earl Boyer is a math teacher, and he uses his iPad everyday. Mr. Boyer uses the iPad as a “mobile presenter, to take attendance, check email, a grade book, and to record short explanations for students.” He uses the iPad more than any other device in his classroom. Mr. Boyer says that the iPad is “never more than arm’s length away.” He says that the iPad is more responsive than any other tablet he has seen. Mr. Boyer would use the iPad instead of MacBook because he can control the computers in his class with the iPad. Mr. Boyer could not be without his iPad in the classroom. He says that the iPad is absolutely more convenient than the MacBook. Mr. Boyer thinks that teaching is much easier with the iPad because while he is teaching, he can get up and walk around the classroom.
Mr. Paul Patrick is a science teacher who uses the iPad for grades and attendance. Mr. Patrick likes having the iPad for class, and he thinks it is not too hard to transfer from a Macbook to an iPad. He uses the iPad three to four times daily. The only thing Mr. Patrick has a problem with is that he receives a lot of emails. If he has to leave his classroom, he says he “would take the iPad because it is easier to carry around.”
PHS is keeping teachers and students up to date with new devices such as the iPad. This really keeps people in modern times.