Why Should Tablets Make Education Better?

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Does Having Tablets Make Education Better? Last year Manteca Unified School District implemented students to use tablets instead of books and writing on paper. How exciting to have technology in the classroom for reading, learning and communicating. Every student from first grade to twelfth would be provided an iPad of their own. Teachers, parents and students would be required to attend a seminar on how to use them. Parents were required to pay a fee for insurance purpose, in case the iPad got broken or needed repair. But what the district did not anticipate were the disadvantages that would come along with using the tablet. There is no one resource that allows for students to create and submit work easily to their teachers so that they could organize, grade and return the work. Students and teachers need to perform multiple tasks that requires the use of different apps for this to happen which may create more work than just receiving a paper assignment, grading and returning it. I interviewed several students and how they felt about working on iPads. Majority stated that they would rather write on paper and read textbooks. They found it difficult to send their teachers their assignments because the app that was needed wasn’t working properly. Many found the tablets not working properly such as keyboard keys, chargers or at times it takes forever to sign in. Majority of students, especially in grammar school do not know how to type. Most iPads that are used in the classroom heavily depend on the quality of Wi-Fi at the school. Multiple use of iPads, phones, computers and laptops are fighting for the Wi-Fi. We all know what happens if the Wi-Fi is slow or you get disconnected: the server can ruin whatever you were working on and ... ... middle of paper ... ...ay from the other students. Eventually, this can be overwhelming not only to the students but the teachers as well. Then there are certain schools that may require parents to purchase their children’s iPads in order for them to attend causing hardships because the schools do not know how long the iPads will last before becoming outdated and purchases will be required again. When that happens, where will the funding come if there is any available? I don’t believe many school districts thought it out has to the numerous problems they would have to face; the initial expense of the tablets, future expenses of the tablets, the malfunctions, the distractions, Wi-Fi complications. Maybe had that been tested before giving every child a tablet, my opinion would be different. Yes technology is the future but for now it is not helping our children’s education get any better.

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