Apple's slate-style computer has been released in the U.S. The iPad runs the iPhone Operating System and can run almost all apps from the App Store. Schools are interested in iPad because of those apps and the promise of interactive textbooks.
* Read Learning in Blog Blog posts tagged iPad.
* Download Apple's 154 page iPad manual.
* View Apple's iPad Guided Tour videos.
"Recently I was discussing and showing the educational use of the iPad to some retired educators. We looked at some Apps that have really used the features of the iPad to transform learning."
"Khan Academy, the wildly popular Youtube lecture series, is slated to launch its iPad app any minute now in Apple's store. The enhanced version of Khan Academy will include time-syncing between devices--no Internet connection required, an interactive transcript of the lectures for easy searching, and a handy scrubber for moving between parts of the lectures. Perhaps more importantly, now that more schools have begun adopting Khan's lectures for their own classrooms, the free iPad app could possibly replace or supplement textbooks, saving cash-strapped schools and students a lot of money."
Laptops, iPads, social networks and computer simulation games are making their way into area classrooms, giving teachers a blank slate for innovative approaches to learning.
Many US schools, including the one where I work, use iPads with students in the same way as this Swiss school. They're not doing anything different. The author should try visiting some American schools.
As we begin the new school year we have an opportunity to start with a clean slate. Writing is a skill that many students struggle with, from grammar, idiom and spelling to punctuation and footnotes.