Taking a Bite of an Apple: Overview

I’ve been at this now for almost two weeks. I’ve lugged the iPad from meeting to meeting and up and down the state. I’ve had several moments of exciting discovery and a few moments of maddening frustration. I’m sure that I (and the ipad firmware) will continue to improve, but I decided to create a list of ten observations, five things I like and five challenges. If nothing else, this list should provide a good starting point for new users, and I can use it as a comparison with my own experience down the road.

I’ll start with the challenges, so that I can end this on an up note.

  • Probably the most fundamental challenge I’ve encountered has been the night and day difference when the machine has a wifi connection and when it does not. This is not to say that I can’t do anything “unplugged,” I can edit local documents, read books on my Nook, and use about half of the apps that I have downloaded (ones that don’t connect to the web). Probably if I would invest the $30 in purchasing the Mac suite, I would have a more robust offline experience. However, the way I relate to the machine depends on the connection, and I am still surprised when I grab the machine in my car and can’t look something up.
  • With my focus on Ed tech, I am concerned about the limited use of some programs that have become favorites of mine and many others in recent times. The inability to make or edit Prezi presentations has necessitated that I work on my desktop, and the Prezi viewing application on the iPad is so sluggish, that I still have to take my netbook with me whenever I am giving a presentation. Likewise, Glogster also depends on flash for creation and viewing. I’m certain there will be a list of favorites that we have to (at least temporarily) remove from the teacher and student toolbox.
  • Hard to classify this one, but I have found that tasks requiring a lot of editing or moving files from place to place are much easier on the desktop. Any time I’ve had to get something done in a hurry, I’ve always moved to the comfort of the full computer. I call this hard to classify because I’ll have to see if time increases speed and comfort with the iPad. There are, however, some fundamental differences, particularly with the file structure (or lack of one). This is one reason why I have used cloud applications and storage whenever possible, but this means I don’t have access without a network connection.
  • I mentioned earlier that the on-board keyboard is much more comfortable than I expected. It is a little challenging to see such a small portion of the screen, but I have not found this a major hurdle. I do continue to have trouble typing in letters (usually n or m) instead of spaces. I also miss directional keys and the ability to place and select with the cursor easily. Most dramatically, I have a love/hate relationship with the auto complete. I have become very dependent on capitalization and contraction assistance (to the extent where I often make mistakes on a traditional keyboard). However, I have fallen prey to having my typing improperly completed or corrected (I wrote earlier about my particular frustration with it’s). I wish that this were a “teachable” application, one that I could put in my own specific needs. Within an educational environment, this is going to call for a new level of proofreading, especially if documents are not printed out.
  • Finally, and this is more a quibble than a complaint, I am often annoyed by how quickly the screen fills up with fingerprints. I don’t know if this is a usability concern or one of hygiene, but I look at my screen at the right angle and it’s a mess! I’ve seen this on my iPhone before, but somehow it has never bothered me as much.

These challenges range from petty annoyances to major concerns. Some of these will be resolved with more practice and familiarity with the device and the OS, and others will be solved with updates to the hardware and software. However, to an educator approaching the iPad for individual use or use with students, I would make three general suggestions.

  • The iPad is a fundamentally different type of machine from a desktop or portable computer. Though many previous skills will help you, the iPad thinks, acts, and responds in a way that is closer to an iPhone than a computer. So there will be a period of disorientation and relearning.
  • The iPad operates more as a cloud terminal than as a standalone device. Many applications work independently of the Internet, but the bulk of the important work you will do is from sites and on data that are not housed within the memory of the machine.
  • The iPad runs most websites, but not all. Planning projects and lessons will require pretesting of all applications and tools and projects that have worked in the past will require new directions.

All this being said, I have enjoyed using the iPad both as a tool and as a platform. Here are five if my more pleasant discoveries.

  • Though it takes some thought and coordination, I like the cloud orientation of the machine. As long as I have an Internet connection, I have access to most of my documents and files at whatever computer I am using. Likewise, if the iPad should crash or be damaged, I would not lose much of my data.
  • The device is very comfortable to carry around and to use on the go. It is the perfect Starbuck’s device (in fact, if I have the phone and an iPad, there is nothing I can do in my office that I can’t do in a Starbuck’s, hmmm).
  • The iPad is a GREAT reading device. I have used a Nook in the past, but using the Nook application, I have access to my Nook library, and navigation within a book is much easier and more instinctive than with the original Nook. The bigger screen is also easier to read (though it can be glary with a lamp behind or in the sun) and I haven’t noticed the back-lit screen causing any eye strain. I’m sure the experience of the the new Nook color is somewhat similar to this, but as a single-use device, it would be one more thing to carry. In terms of education, I think that textbooks are the immediate killer application for this device. I’m sure that distribution questions will eventually be resolved to compact immense textbook libraries into a two pound iPad.
  • There is a huge convenience factor of having the machine on all the time. I have found the iPad to have a charge that easily lasts a full day of heavy use (or several days of lighter use), so there is never a need to power down. I have often not used a desktop or laptop because I didn’t want to wait for a full or partial boot up.
  • Finally, I am enjoying the problem-solving aspect of using the iPad. I like finding new workarounds or abilities that I had not expected. This has helped me to look with fresh eyes at my tasks, and I’m sure it will have a similar disruptive effect in the lives and classrooms of our teachers and students.

As always, I invite your comments.