What have you found most interesting and/or useful in your use of the
tablet thus far?
I am a mac person surrounded by iphones, laptops, ipods, and
a lab filled with imacs and I was a little unclear about what exactly the ipad
had to offer that I couldn’t already access. By using it as much as possible
over the semester I am more excited about it as a teaching tool than anything
else. If I had ipads for my lab I know I could use them to fill in the gaps we
experience in the photography classes as some students try to learn using
point-and-shoot cameras and others have access to full range DSLR’s. Everyone is expected to learn the same
concepts and gain the same skills but some students have the right cameras to
actually work through the ideas and gain the skills – others just have to work
around their cameras limitations and then just learn the concepts in theory. Although
I didn’t teach the video production course this semester I can also see the
same need in that course. I did appreciate the demonstration on how to project
from the laptop so you can share an app with the class.
What challenges have you experienced or do you foresee?
The biggest challenge for me was that I couldn’t find the
aps I wanted. And then I was frustrated that if I couldn’t find them I also
couldn’t develop them as a student project if I wanted the ipad format – which
I do. I once came close to finding what I wanted only to notice at the last
minute a warning that the content may be “for mature audiences only”. A
simulated camera app for mature audiences only? Part of the problem of the
field of photography – often lessons using the female body as subject. Sometimes I’d find an app that came close but
was artistically so lame I’d be embarrassed to show it as an example to my
students. I did discover some beautiful sophisticated apps (Back in Time) but
could not seem to find the combination of creativity and technical lessons I
want. I’d say an exciting time for me was when I realized that maybe what I really
want is mini etextbook? I love the idea
of replacing our textbook with lesson formats that show what I’m talking about
rather than just talk about them. I also love the idea of creating the content
so it is always up-to-date and relevant. Our textbooks seem out-of-date even
after researching them in January and using them in September.
Another big challenge was that we have 3G internet access at
our house in the country so I only searched when I was near wi-fi – while at
Parkland I always had something else pressing to do it seemed so often my time
was in little bits.
In hindsight I would have approached this semester
differently. I came in with a clear idea of what I needed and wanted and spent
all my time pursuing it. I wish I had come in with more “play” in mind – I
might have stumbled on an idea. I will still keep working on this but now I’ll
do it through my phone or laptop I guess? Now like most people- I wish I had more time...
