iPad: The New Generation of Homework

Remember freshman year, when you used a spiral-bound notebook to scribble down everything your Intro to Whatever professor rattled off? Remember high school, when you only had a flimsy little planner? Remember middle school, when looking up a word meant finding your parents’ giant tome of a dictionary? No more: The iPad says those days are as ancient as those civilizations you’re studying.

As the awe over its introduction wore off, the iPad found its niche among businesspeople using it for everything from quick Internet access to paper-free newspapers. It has now expanded to colleges, with new apps designed to aid homework and studying.

These new apps seem like an educator’s dream – trying to keep students organized, facilitate easier note-taking, and make learning more interactive and interesting.

For organization, iHomework ($1.99) tracks homework, grades, and schedules and allows for note-taking, memos, and reminders, while inClass (free) features notifications for personal and academic affairs, keeps lists of courses and assignments, and can link notes to classes. Audiotorium Notes ($4.99) includes note-taking and audio recording, while dropbox storage backs up information in a cloud for easy access.

Other apps cater to those looking for easier research methods. WolframAlpha ($1.99) uses probability and contexts to generate instant answers to direct questions, while Dictionary.com (free) offers a dictionary and thesaurus, without needing Internet access. The Elements ($13.99) gives each element on the periodic table a page with a three-dimensional look at the “live” element, along with statistics and a page linking to notable facts.

Not every student is convinced about the iPad’s usefulness in the classroom, however.

“The iPad has not really helped me in school so far - I prefer to bring my computer to class because I can type on a keyboard more quickly than a touch screen,” Victory Marvin, a New York University sophomore, said. “When working for school, I prefer to make use of the applications and programs on my computer.”

Ryan Adams, a Fordham University senior working as an independent consultant in information technology, adds that, while the iPad has potential for more focused students, it can be a distraction.

“I think the iPad is great for certain kinds of students: students on-the-go, students involved in multiple projects with little paper work involved, students with good self control,” he said. “If it, however, is bought and used incorrectly it may just be a source of clutter for a student, as it has many of the same features as laptops and smart phones.”

Dr. Lance Strate, a communications professor at Fordham University studying digital technology, offers the opinion that new media are much more distracting and disruptive of a concentration than old media.

“The new media bring with them a very different kind of bias, so to counter that bias some new apps are created that try to reinforce concentration and organization,” he said. Some help by taking over functions that used to be performed manually, while others try to take advantage of the new facility for multitasking that emerges in this new media environment.”

With the recent March 11 release of the new iPad 2.0, the big question is whether the technology is here to stay. Though Apple representatives are instructed to not speak to the press, consumers seem to say, yes.

“I definitely see iPads proliferating in the future and being used increasingly in both classroom and nonacademic settings,” Marvin said. “Their compactness makes them convenient and their easy Internet access makes it useful for all the reasons a computer is useful, but their design makes them comparatively easier to transport.”

Adams notes that education technology is already beginning to change, but these new advances might not be beneficial to every area of academia.

“Lectures in the sciences, information technology, and business fields will become much more interactive and collaborative as students are able to freely share work in the classroom,” he said. “I do not see the humanities, text-based fields, changing due to the iPad, because they do not facilitate better class discussions or interactive projects.”

Strate also sees a shift in that the very notion of reference materials is changing.

“While there are always costs that accompany benefits, it is important to keep in mind that dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, and other reference materials took the form they did because of the limitations of typography,” he said “They were not the ideal method for preserving and accessing information and knowledge.”

In the end, is the iPad worth it for academic purposes? The answers are mixed. Marvin received the iPad as a gift, but said she probably would not have purchased it on her own.

Strate is more positive about the iPad’s usefulness, but still wary.

“I think they can be helpful, but they're not a panacea,” he said. “The most important help a student could get would be direct one-to-one contact with another human being who could provide assistance, feedback, and model the needed behaviors.”

Adams, however, simply advises consumer research before making a purchase.

“Figure out what your smart phone does, what your laptop does, and what your iPad will do and make sure they all work together doing separate things or function in different parts of your life,” he said.

Even if it is just a stepping-stone to the next big innovation, the iPad is certainly beginning to leave its mark on the world of education. Whether it will join the established ranks of smart classrooms and smart phones is still questionable, but, at least for now, you can finally ditch all those three-subject notebooks.