Tag Archives: ipad

Designing an iPad app for our school

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 Recently I met with an app developer (who himself has only just set out but at least has a couple under his belt) about designing and creating our own school app.  It was a very productive and creative meeting giving me a lot of ideas to work with.

The process so far will be:

·         Design mock-ups using iMockups on iPad or Balsamiq on Desktop

·         Download Titanium developer

·         Learn Javascript

All three will need to happen side by side and there is a lot of work to be done but hopefully it will lead to



Why I don’t think the iPad2 is better than the iPad1 for schools (for now …) #ipadedu

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So the new iPad has arrived.  This time around I thought I would be a lot more open than I was last time about it which is obviously easier having now seen how powerful the iPad is not just within itself but as a device within a community.  However after reading through all the hoopla I've come to the conclusion that I am not especially that impressed with the new iPad when it comes to its potential within schools compared to the iPad1.

What got me thinking about this was reading a blogpost by Doug Belshaw entitled 'Less shiny' in which he rather brilliantly talks about the "difference between recognising the appropriate use of technology and being the equivalent of a dog chasing shiny cars".  I think this applies quite appropriately to Apple's yearly update cycle and how much many of us have become trapped into thinking that just because a new iPad or iPhone has been released that the old one no longer has any value whatsoever.

In looking at the specs and overall look of the new iPad2 I think that definitely applies here when comparing it the old iPad and in doing a comparison one can see that the old iPad remains a very capable and powerful machine still for schools.

So to start off I have taken the following table from an Engadget post comparing the two devices found here.  I will then go through each spec – look at some performance data from another blog and then finish off with a conclusion.  Remember that my comparison is aimed at school usage – not home usage.


iPad
 iPad 2
Display 9.7-inch 
LED-backlit IPS LCD		 9.7-inch 
LED-backlit IPS LCD
Resolution 1024 x 768 1024 x 768
Processor 1GHz Apple A4 1GHz dual-core Apple A5
Graphics PowerVR SGX 535 ?
Memory 256MB RAM ?
Storage 16GB / 32GB / 64GB 16GB / 32GB / 64GB
Front camera none VGA
Rear camera none 720p
Cellular radio EDGE plus triband HSPA EDGE plus quadband HSPA or
CDMA / EV-DO Rev. A
WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n 802.11a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR 2.1 + EDR
Accelerometer 3-axis 3-axis
Gyroscope No 3-axis
Thickness 13.4mm 8.8mm
Weight 680g (WiFi), 
730g (WiFi + 3G)		 601g (WiFi),
607g (Verizon), 
613g (AT&T)

Display and Resolution:

There were many rumours about Apple putting in the retina display – fuelled by the discovery of much larger graphical elements in some Apple code.  It became fairly clear eventually that the retina display would have been too expensive and Apple stuck with the old model display.

So ask yourself – as the biggest part of the iPad (the one which you will be interacting with) hasn't changed is there any compelling reason here to upgrade?

WINNER for school and home: iPad original

Processor, Graphics and Memory

By going to a dual core processor the new iPad is clearly quite impressive but as you will see in one blog's speed tests the old Ipad running iOS 4.3 beta is quite close to the new iPad.  As the new processor has been put in to clearly handle heavier video and CG heavy apps I've got to wonder whether the majority of educational apps are going to require that amount of raw power.  The majority of apps which are going to access that sort of power are probably still to be written so by the time they become heavily mainstream we will probably be looking at the iPad3.

With no specs yet on graphics and memory it's hard to judge however they will almost certainly have been bumped.  Same argument applies though as to whether it's actually worth it for educational usage.

WINNER for school: iPad original
WINNER for home: iPad2

Storage:

No change there – besides for a school system do you really need 32gb?

Easy one

WINNER for school and home: iPad original

Camera:

OK this is a big difference between the two however my evaluation of this comes down to two points

  1. Do you need facetime at school? For now no … (can you imagine what it would do to your bandwidth?)
  2. For evidence gathering pupils have camera's both normal and on mobile phones
WINNER for school: iPad original
WINNER for home: iPad2

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Accelerometer:

No change …

WINNER for school and home: iPad original

Gyroscope:

So it's meant to aid apps in detecting which way the phone is pointing.  So for those teachers who have iPhones – how many educational apps have you bought which rely on the gyroscope?  I would hazard a guess as to say not very many.  It seems clear to me that the majority of usage of the gyroscope will take place within high end games.  Even if it starts to be used for augmented reality applications the lack of the gyroscope is certainly not going to hold you back.

WINNER for school and home: iPad original

Thickness and Weight:

I have used the original iPad a couple of times and I did not find the thickness or weight to be an issue at all.  One adapts to it very quickly without any problems.  Besides the extra weight of the original iPad can only help pupils get just a little bit more exercise.

WINNER for school and home: iPad original

Processor speed tests:

The following graph and table comes from http://www.iphonehacks.com article on speed comparisons between the iPads, iPhone 4 (all running either iOS 4.2 or 4.3 beta) and other similar devices.  The original article can be found here.

ipad-2-javascript-graph.jpg
ipad-2-javascript-numbers-centre1.jpg

If one discounts the original iPad running iOS 4.2 to the right one can see that the old iPad not only is a shade off the new iPad (running the same version of the OS!) but also faster than the iPhone 4.  Clearly lack of memory of graphics processing power and RAM in comparison will mean there may be some bottlenecks on the iPad but again are the apps we use at school going to hit those bottlenecks?

Cost:

iPad original £329 for 16gb wi-fi only
iPad2 for same device almost certainly £429 when released

WINNER for school and home: iPad original

Conclusion:

I am not advocating schools go out and just purchase any iPad 1's they can get their hands on but if you are in the position in your educational establishment to still get the original iPad especially if you have done the evaluations and are ready to then I would say get them.  It's a massive saving if buying many of them and frankly to me whilst the iPad1 remains available it makes sense to get it.

Sure there are apps and functionality such as Projector mirroring which the iPad1 misses but by the time you have embedded the iPad1 I am sure we will all be looking at what new shiny thing comes our way from Apple.

"Car!"

My response to @WiredUK post on iPad being the death of creation in schools #ipadedu

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Recently the Geekdad writer on Wired (who I follow regularly) posted an interesting article on whether the iPad is the death of creation.

The article can be found here:

I agree with his concerns and I think he has raised a valid point.  I think it's quite possible to come to the conclusion that Apple users have now become sheep who avidly consume all content which appears the App store.  I myself am a case in point as I spend a fair bit of time working on Angry Birds levels.  The new Motorola Xoom tablet ad shown during the Super Bowl in the states alluded to this as well showing automatons blinkered from the world quite literally through their hoods but also their headphones.  For anyone who missed the  Apple allusion the main character was reading 1984 on his tablet.

As a teacher working on the problem of iPads in education the issue of consumption versus creation is a thorny one.  I would certainly not want to suggest the use of tablets if they were only consumption devices (eg the Kindle which is a pseudo-tablet) but rather if they were used regularly as creation devices.  The Geekdad writer acknowledges that there is some content creation aspect to the iPad but it merely abstracts the nuts and bolts of the technology.  I'm not sure what he is getting at but perhaps the following outline of how to approach the iPand and creation versus consumption may help.

I would propose that in assessing the iPad for school one would need to look at three aspects:
  1. Consumption of Content
  2. Content Creation
  3. Assistance with Content Creation
1.  Consumption of content

This has to happen regardless of how you view the iPad.  One aspect of education itself is being able to make sense of the reams of information available to one and if your device can help you make sense of that then fantastic.  The ability to use the iPad to access information in the form of ebooks, websites, RSS readers etc would be a great way for a pupil to harness what they have available to them.  Doing it using a form factor which is engaging and simple (no keyboard getting in the way) to use is a plus point.

2. Content Creation

Admittedly this is an area which could grow a bit more as the freedom of full desktop applications such as programming or graphic design applications may not be as readily available for the iPad but as the device grows in power and capability this may change.  Certainly there are  applications like Brushes which allow for full scale drawing on the iPad and this is a start.

Where I feel the iPad wins is its ability to allow pupils to easily add straight forward written content on social networks and blogs.  Does this turn it into a glorified typewriter? Possibly but when you consider that these contributions to social networks and blogs open up the avenue towards collaboration with other pupils in not just their own school but other schools as well the iPad becomes a lot more powerful.

3.  Assistance with Content Creation

This aspect I am still thrashing out as I only came up with it in response to the article!  I have seen pictures of iPads being used in various lessons like Art and Drama or being used as a storyboard utility for pupil film editing.  This I feel is a prime example of how the iPad could be used to assist pupils in creating content and work outside of the iPad which has been enhanced or made easier through the use of the iPad.

In conclusion I would say the iPad does have a way to go before it becomes a must use utility in schools.  I am wary of schools which have simply rolled them out and hoped the educational usage will come to them after that – I think that is an irresponsible way of doing it and could probably put off staff and pupils if managed badly.  School's need bullet proof plans for rolling them out especially if one looks at the cost not just of the devices (I can't even afford one yet) but also of the support systems such as Wi-Fi.

Effective and critical questioning from parents such as the sentiments expressed in this article are valid and necessary in being able to see a way forward for iPads.  I hope we get there at some point as I think they are brilliant devices.

is investing in #ipad’s for schools ultimately doomed to failure? #etextbooks #ebooks

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I’ve been writing (for a while now) a post on how to bring the ipad into my school as a justified and relevant tool for use in the classroom.  It’s an appealing device with a lot of impressive functionality and certainly some schools may have got some good use out of it already.  However in reading an article I picked up on twitter the other day (link posted by @ict_works) on the 10 worst practices in ICT I came across the following point:

6. Make a big bet on an unproven technology (especially one based on a closed/proprietary standard) or single vendor, don’t plan for how to avoid ‘lock-in

Let’s acknowledge that the speed of technological changes almost always outpaces the ability of educational planners to keep up. In response, some policymakers seek to get ‘ahead of the curve’ by placing large bets on new, largely unproven technologies in an effort to ‘leapfrog’ what is happening in other education systems. In other cases, education systems effectively outsource most of the capacity to manage activities in this area to a vendor or other third party. There are potentially valid reasons to pursue such courses of action in some cases, but they are inherently very risky, especially if clear plans are not made on how to ‘exit’ such decisions and relationships.

I also read through an article by Tony Vincent on Apple’s app volume purchasing agreement (which is a necessary step for supporting large amounts of ipads in a school).  The ultimate conclusion he made wasnt very positive about the process saying it was ‘confusing and frustrating’.

I have never been a fan of the rush to flood a school with Interactive White Boards and applying that same cynicism to ipads I still think they could be potentially good devices, but in light of the point above on making big bets on unproven technologies from single vendors and difficulties with Apple’s volume purchasing agreement I think not rushing for ipad’s is a good idea!  Other schools may trumpet their flashy new tablets but I think a school which waits a bit is a wise school.

So what should they wait for?

1. Other tablet competitors

This one worries me – taking the ipod and iphone as an example other competitors still have not been able to come up with something to compete.  Android and the HTC platforms are a possible competitor to the iphone but they are too fragmented still.

2.  Apple to improve their app volume purchasing system

Again this worries me – Apple’s intransigence when it comes to certain developer rules and regulations indicates to me that their app volume purchasing system probably wont be improved in response to school input.

3. Publishers to come on board in a big way with etextbooks

This will be good and I think it will happen.  It will also open up the possibility for schools to source tablets from other competitors or even allow students to use different tablets in the same class.

I think I will still complete my other iPad post – however I think it was good to write this blog as it means I will continue to appraise ipad’s with a healthy dose of cynicism and a good dose of realism.