iPads, iPods, iPhones

Although I am a huge advocate of Apple products, I realize they are more expensive than other electronic devises out there. I absolutely love my iPhone and plan to one day soon purchase an iPad. The ease of use and variety of Apps available make it no contest in my mind. I have talked to other device users and many say their product is great, but does not have the screen quality, size, ease of use, or App availability. So let's talk about the cost...how can we go about implementing all these wonderful Apps if the school board cannot afford to buy class sets of these gadgets?

The main idea so far is to have students bring in their own devices if they have them. It is amazing how many students already have iPods, and I know this will increase with time. What about the argument, "if students are encouraged to bring their own devices and connect to our network,  how can we be sure they are staying on task?" Well, to be honest, if we think they are not on their phones and iPods all day right now, we are in the dark. Students are constantly on their phones, so if we can focus that use on interesting way to do school work and learn, we will be ahead. It is our job to teach our students appropriate use instead of ignoring the "tap-tap" texting going on under the desk. 


You may be asking about Apps. Who is going to pay for all those Apps needed to assist children in learning? Many Apps are free and other are relatively cheap (.99¢). The main Apps that would cost a lot, would still be cheaper that the past forms of Assistive Technology. For example, a scanner would cost around $650 and a teacher would have to make sure the article was scanned prior to class and entered into an electronic reader. The Prizmo App, on the other hand, cost only .99¢ and the student can scan the article themselves with the handheld device, to be automatically converted to speech. Not only is that a major cost saving, but a huge time saver fore teachers and teaches students Independence.