Limitations of iPads in University Classrooms March 22, 2011
Posted by elearningtyro in : Guest posts , add a commentThis is a guest post by Mariana Ashley, a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to mariana.ashley031@gmail.com.
The Apple iPad has proven to be wildly popular immediately following its release. It has been hailed as the next substantively different tech gadget, positioning itself as a happy medium between the stodgily semi-portable laptop and the mostly text-call-and-surf smart phone. It weds simplicity and performance, a computer that you can easily fit in a purse. Even before its release, and especially in the months after, educators have been speculating about the iPad’s use in the classroom. Surely, in our increasingly online educational worlds, the iPad would be a boon for students and professors, right? According to a recent Chronicle of Higher article, many educators say doubt it. Here are a few limitations of the higher ed classroom uses of the iPad.
1. You can’t type quickly with your finger.
Although many educators envision that the iPad or a similar tablet gadget will eventually replace heavy textbooks and unwieldy notebooks, combining everything into one neat package, the fact still stands that you can’t take notes on the iPad. The finger-pecking of the iPad works with texting on smart phones, but not so much if you want to write comprehensive notes quickly during class.
2. Annotation is either not possible or difficult.
In addition to taking notes, both college students and professors find that marking class texts is an important part of the studying and learning process. Even those books and texts that are available on the iPad do not have the mechanisms in place to annotate. On laptops and physical texts, underlining and jotting down marginalia is relatively simple.
3. Textbook and other educational material companies have been slow to adapt its offerings to the iPad platform and vice versa.
While many textbook companies have explored the possibilities to expand their offerings on platforms like the iPad, they have been slow to adapt. This is so both because of Apple’s closed system, making it a risk for some publishers to meet Apple’s demands, and because textbook companies are watching and waiting for a potential competitor in the tablet industry that will catch on more quickly at schools and universities.
4. It presents yet another tempting distraction for students sitting in the classroom.
As noted in the Chronicle of Higher Education article (note especially the comments section), professors are especially not completely on board with implementing iPad on a wholesale basis in the classroom. A common complaint is that it becomes yet another gadget that enables students to surf the Internet during class to browse information unrelated to the course. At the same time, however, some professors noted that it was more difficult to hide unrelated browsing on an iPad than on a laptop, which can fold and conceal the screen from others’ view.
Although the iPad has yet to catch a mainstream student audience because of these factors and various others, including the sometimes prohibitive cost, tablets will inevitably become more common classroom fare in the future. As the article notes, if learners can produce ample demand, then the professors will be forced to adjust.
Using Wikipedia and Other Sources for Online Research March 7, 2011
Posted by elearningtyro in : Guest posts , add a commentThis is a guest post by Lauren Bailey, who regularly writes for online colleges. She is a graduate in English literature and currently pursuing her masters in Online Journalism. She can be reached via email at: blauren99@gmail.com
Most college professors have mixed feelings about Wikipedia, and they tend to fall on the negative site of the fence. This, of course, is understandable, as most faculty conducted their own university research back when card catalogues were still being used to find books in libraries. At the same time, however, Wikipedia can be a good tool, if used wisely, when you must research ideas and topics for papers, essays, projects, or presentations. Here are a few tips for using Wikipedia and other online platforms for conducting research:
1. Never use Wikipedia as a source.
Although some professors may be old-fashioned, they are completely justified in not allowing the citation of Wikipedia as a primary source. This is because Wikipedia, although using an inherent system of checks and balances, is created by pretty much anyone and everyone, and articles are all short summaries of information. Wikipedia, does however, provide a great platform for other sources that you can use. Check out the books and articles that are cited at the bottom of Wikipedia articles, which are usually respectable and fair game.
2. Go to a public or university library while conducting online research to have access to academic journals and other online scholarly sources.
A lot of the good, scholarly information available on the web is locked down by databases that require payment. Although more and more solid information is becoming “open”, sites like JSTOR still block access. Instead of paying for articles yourself however, use the Internet at a library or other institution that subscribes to scholarly databases.
3. Avoid using or citing material from non-experts.
This may be a no-brainer for some of you, but it’s best to avoid citing information from the Web that is informal and purveyed by non-experts. These sites include personal blogs, press releases as opposed to actual newspaper articles, and material from content farms like eHow and Demand Media.
4. Never, ever plagiarize information. Cite all sources meticulously, even if you aren’t directly quoting.
I’m sure at some point in your academic career, you were given the lecture about plagiarizing. While you certainly know that copying and pasting word for word is wrong, what many people do is plagiarize without even being aware of it. Putting information into your own words is fine, but you still have to cite your original source. It’s very rare that you’ll come up with completely original insights, so be sure to pay tribute to those who helped you out in your research. You know you’d want the same credit if someone used your work for their research paper.
5. Google the smart way.
One of the most important skills of the 21st century, whether or not you are student, is learning how to differentiate good information from bad information on the Web, since there’s a lot of bad info out there. Although Google recently tweaked its algorithm to get rid of crap stuff on content farms, you will still have to use your own discretion. Change up your keyword searches to get different results, and use Google Scholar and Google News to get more high quality info.
