Schools and institutes switch to tablets to make learning fun for students.
Vishesh Dokania, grade 1 student of Universal High Malad, loves his Apple iPod. His reasons, “I can play lots of games. It even talks back to me.” His father affirms that his son has become more excited about going to school after it went digital. The Universal Education Group (UEG), an educational enterprise based in Mumbai, uses Apple devices in several of its institutes in Maharashtra. UEG schools use iPod Touch and the Apple iPad in primary and lower secondary classes. Approximately 3,000 students across 7 UEG institutions are currently using Apple devices, including iPads that were introduced in June 2010.
Across UEG institutes, every child is handed out an individual iPod or an iPad for a specified time interval in a scheduled manner. Though there is no specific plan to include a wider range of Apple devices, the management clarifies that as number of students grow, additional devices would be added.
For Pragnya Sanghvi, a grade 4 student of Universal School Tardeo, studying now has become a fun activity. “There are lots of interesting games, quizzes that I get to play on my iPad,” she says. Her mother quickly adds that she has not become addicted to the iPad. “For her it is just like another learning aid, but a very effective one,” says the mother.
Both parents claimed that they were happy to invest in a premium device like iPad that helped their children learn than an affordable solution like Aakash tablet which was introduced by government. Datawind, in collaboration with the students of IIT Rajasthan developed the Aakash tablet, keeping in mind the students’ needs. But most private schools are not ready to invest in a subsidised tablet that costs just Rs 1700 for students.
Students like Sanghvi and Dokania are happy to play and learn from wood-puzzle-style apps on their Apple devices that develop motor skills or ABC PocketPhonics that help them trace letters, and even Math Bingo app that helps them with basic maths.
Jesus Lall, chairman & CEO of UEG lists, “Our initiative may appear very 'high tech' but the key principle behind it is rather simple — learning outcomes are best achieved when learning is experiential and fun. The idea is to use technology to deliver a fun, engaging & interactive educational experience. If tomorrow some other company came up with a better "means" to reach our “end”, we would not hesitate to shift to that company — even if it has a lower perceived premium-ness.” Lall insists that UEG institutions have seen improvements in communication skills development and fine motor skills development since they began their digital drive.
Most private school opt for a tie up with Apple for educational discounts for other Apple products like the Macbook Pro laptops and iPads which students and parents can avail of.
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In Bangalore, 40 teachers of Canadian International School have begun receiving training in the use of instructional technology in the classroom to enhance learning. In this academic year, an iPad-based learning environment will be explored and by August 2012 all students will have iPads. Shweta Sastri, executive director of the school explains, “Apple products are very conducive to education per say. iTunes U is a powerful distribution system for everything from lectures to language lessons, films to labs, it is an innovative way to get educational content into the hands of students.” iTunes U stands for iTunes University which is a platform where some of the leading universities like Stanford, Yale, Oxford have their lectures available for anyone to access.
Even middle and high school education at Mumbai’s Podar International School are ready to move to iPads. In a recent circular dated December 9, the school management informed parents that it has decided to introduce iPad2 in classrooms from the next academic year. iPad2, which starts at about Rs 30,000, will be introduced to students between Standard VI and XII of Podar International School.
Delhi Public School, Surat, is yet another institution that stands by the Apple devices. Principal G R Sivakumar says, “I have personally used an Apple iPhone, iPad and can vouch for their usefulness. Nearly 100 teachers of the school use iPad 2 as a self-improvement device. There is a primary tech centre on our campus where 40 iPads are used by our students of primary and pre-primary classes. We also have iMacs for senior students at our Apple Creation Centre (school lab). We plan to add more devices by next year.”
While schools are using Apple devices to generate interest among their young students, smaller post graduate colleges too have realised the benefits of doling out premium tablet PCs to their students. At the Acharya Institute of Management Studies, while professors discuss management theories, students do not scribble notes. To revise the lessons learnt, students can just access recorded lectures on their iPads.
Debayan Chakraborty from the institutes’ MBA course says, “The iPad gives me a lot of advantages in my studies. The iBooks (Apple’s free online digital library) app allows us to group study with my friends through FaceTime (video chat facility on iPads). The smoothness and sophistication of the device is awesome.”
Priyanandan Reddy, Chief Operating Officer of Acharya Institute of Management Studies, says, “Apple products are expensive, but in the long term we tend to save costs with respect to electricity consumption, licences. Apple products are a part of our digital initiative, as we would be looking also be deploying a Learning Management System (LMS) soon.” The institute has given iPads to 1st year students of MBA, PGDM, and BBM on pilot basis, apart from investing in 20 Apple iMacs.
With inputs from Priyanka Joshi