ADJUSTING
Initial iPad Poll
Continued from Page 1
With any significant change comes
positive and negative opinion. Mr.
Birney conducted a survey early in the
school year to determine the general
feeling among students toward the
iPads. The results, from 159 students
(24.7% of our student body) were
overwhelmingly positive regarding
the student orientation in August and
the initial reaction to the integration of
iPads in the classroom.
The Chieftain decided to explore
more deeply those opinions by polling students regarding their attitudes
towards the iPads after more than a
month in classes. Results from 499 students (77.4% of the student body) show
more mixed results.
As happens with any new process,
there have been slight bumps in the
road. The Chieftain poll reveals that
59.5% of students feel the iPads have
caused distractions to their learning.
Some faculty have reported similar
issues with distractions in their classes
this year.
“The distractions are a thousand
times worse than last year,” said a
teacher, who wished to remain anonymous. Mr. Riker added, “[Students]
already have enough distractions.”
Another teacher, who is supportive of the technology, said, “Everyone
learns differently, and [the decision
about using a device] should be prochoice. Students shouldn’t be told they
have to use one [particular] device.”
The distractions are just one end
of the spectrum, however. Three of the
four teachers interviewed admit that
iPads are very useful learning tools. Mr.
Birney has noticed that the iPads are
helping students “to be active learners
instead of passive learners, more independent learners in the sense that the
students will depend less on the teacher
for information and more as a guide
due to resources such as Google.”
Not everyone agrees, however.
“This system creates a problem in our
learning process,” according to Virginia
Rezmeirski, an Adjunct Professor in
the University of Michigan’s School of
Information. “Students will just look up
the answer, rather than using critical
B R OTHE R R IC E H IG H S C H O O L C H I E F TA I N
II
The Chieftain conducted a public-opinion poll among the student body. The poll, taken
in mid-October, about seven weeks into the school year, was designed to get students’
initial reaction to the new iPad program. The Chieftain intends to conduct another poll
in the second semester to measure the progress of the program.
A total of 499 students responded to this poll, or roughly 77% of the student body.
1. For writing, do you prefer the iPad
or conventional methods?
iPad
29.1%
Conventional
69.3%
N/A
1.6%
2. For reading, do you prefer eBooks/iBooks
or conventional books?
eBooks/iBooks
46.3%
Conventional
51.9%
N/A
1.8%
3. Do you think the iPads have caused
distrations to your learning?
Yes
No
59.5% 39.1%
N/A
1.4%
4. Overall, do you think the iPad program has had
a positive impact at Brother Rice?
Yes
No
57.7% 40.5%
thinking skills to find the answer. A
really good teacher leads you through
explorations, helps ask the questions,
and makes you search and think to find
the answer.”
Perhaps it depends on subject matter. For example, Mr. Walentowicz puts
the iPads to great use in his Speech class
by making them essential to his lessons
every day. “The students seem more
engaged in class than before,” he said.
This new technology has been designed to improve the learning quality
of the students and prepare us for the
future.
“When used correctly, it is a valuP AGE 3
N/A
1.8%
able learning device,” says Mr. Birney.
The Chieftain poll shows that the students are mostly open to the concept.
While split on usage – we clearly do not
like writing on the iPads, while we are
at least open to reading on them – it is
clear that most of the students think the
change has been a positive one.
“It is trial-and-error,” one teacher
said. “Everything isn’t going to be perfe