iPads as Educational Tools

Abstract

The deployment of nearly 45,000 iPads to university students over a 3-year period has occurred at the same time as an institution-wide transformation to blended learning approaches and experiences.

(UWS About iPads retrieved from http://www.uws.edu.au/learning_teaching/learning_and_teaching/ipad_initiative/about_ipads_at_uws. Accessed March 02, 2015.)

However, the iPad has been a symbol of innovation and commitment by the university to create digitally rich learning environments that excite and challenge students and educators. Their presence at this scale within the university has impacted every department beyond the classroom and involves teams of specialists from all corners of the physical and virtual campus. The iPad has given teaching staff a “license to thrill” and students more flexibility in how and when they learn. Staff capacity in designing interactive mobile-enabled learning activities and assessment tasks is key to the transformation of learning across the university and involves a hub-and-spokes approach that caters for a geographically disperse campus network and respects diversity in academic skills and nuances in discipline contexts. Seminars, mini-conferences, and summits provide a space for academics to experience using iPads and mobile technologies to share specific examples of iPad teaching and learning strategies with peers. Showcasing good practice involves academic, professional, and support staff sharing experiences and approaches to teaching innovation. Governance, timetabling of physical learning spaces, acquisition of new technologies, recognition of changes to academic workload in digital learning environments, authentic digital assessment, and catering for devices other than iPads are just some of the challenges ahead.