Integrating iPad Technology in Learning Experiences

Abstract

The introduction of user-friendly modern technology is significantly changing the traditional conduct of everyday life in all its manifestations, from health care and business to sport and all forms of entertainment, including social media. The education sector has been slow since the introduction of Internet communication and Web 2.0 technology to integrate new delivery platforms into how its courses are taught and learned. However, the introduction of tablet computers, specifically the game-changing iPad, has led to education institutions and the local governments that fund them being prepared to move from traditional teaching methods anchored in age-old practices to embrace the possibilities of major paradigmatic change enabled by technology. This chapter examines the introduction of iPad-based learning in 2012 in a private middle school in the Chinese city of Shanghai. The case study adds to the emergent literature in the field and shares the strengths, limitations and subsequent recommendations that arise from the project. Project outcomes reveal a benefit to be gained from a flexible, teacher- and student-driven integration of iPad technology as a tool in learning environments. The challenges and limitations incurred from such an approach are not insurmountable and are arguably worth the nuanced, context-appropriate integration of the technology that would arise.