What an iSlate Can Do for Education
December 29, 2009 Development, Featured, Technology
As anyone who knows me will attest, I have avoided using Apple products since the Apple II was released so many years ago. Was it because of the interface? Was it because of the fanbois? Was it because of the arrogant advertising suggesting that a product containing last year’s technology is worth twice the price of a better equipped device from a competitor? Yes and no. But all that aside, if the excessive rumors about an upcoming tablet computer are even remotely true, then I’ll be the first in line for such a device.
I’ve been using PDAs for over ten years and, with each device update, there was more functionality and reliability brought to the plate. Initially the small computer was bought as a customer data tracking device. When I worked in customer service, I’d have people calling all of the time asking for information. I had initially used a book to track all of the customers, but this proved troublesome if a co-worker took the book somewhere. Once I went digital, not only could I collect information a dozen times faster, but I could easily transmit a copy of the data to co-workers.
Shortly thereafter, I started writing software for the little machines. They were simple applications that made work that much easier and increased the value of the PDA tenfold. But that wasn’t enough to make them truly useful to my employers, who saw the expensive little computers as being unnecessary … right up until the first BlackBerry was released. That said, they still didn’t see PDAs as anything but a distraction from doing real work.
But now this will change.
PDAs have had one major flaw in their design: their diminutive size. White a 4″ screen is plenty for people with sharp eyesight and agile fingers, they are just too small to be useful to people past a certain age. On top of that, the user interfaces for most PDAs have left a lot to be desired. Apple’s UI, however, seems to require no more than 90 seconds to get accustomed to.
Digital Textbooks & Reporting
Thanks to the larger, finger-friendly screen and super-intuitive interfaces, educational institutions can begin to use these tablets in class. Maybe not for the students, but the teachers would find them incredibly useful. No longer would they need to carry stacks of books from place to place. No longer would they need to carry a dozen or so CDs and DVDs for various classes. No longer would they need to carry paper copies of student records. This can now all be stored, and encrypted, on a tablet computer.
While I can’t speak for every organization that educates people, the ability to have teachers with almost every educational resource in the company’s roster at their fingertips would be quite indispensable. In addition to this, the ability to fill out reports with a few finger-swipes would save loads of time and, by extension, money. Computers will be able to know what materials an instructor is using in a class, what students they’re working with, and what resources they’ll need. Everything could be supplied hours, days, or weeks in advance of any class.
A tablet would also be particularly useful for instructors that travel to companies to perform training.
This is an idea that I had pitched to the head offices of my employer some time ago. Using 5″, 7″, or 9″ Archos tablets, language instructors would have a wealth of resources available, including a limited subset of customer information at their fingertips. Never again would they have to worry about having the wrong book, the wrong CD, the wrong anything. If a student was bored with a particular lesson, a better plan or game could be called up with just a few taps of the finger.
Not only would this benefit the organization’s employees and, by extension customers. But it would benefit me by (hopefully) allowing me to return to a full-time programming position. The software proposal I had written was quite detailed and included database structures, interface designs, and a means of interfacing with the existing corporate software.
Suffice to say, the idea was shot down before the first page of the proposal was even turned.
So why would an iSlate be any different?
The Apple Effect
Whenever Apple does something, people say it’s revolutionary and flock to the idea. Within a month of the iPhone coming to Japan, HQ was busy discussing what kind of app they could have written for the device. This is despite the fact that Windows Mobile phones had been available in the country for more than five years. From what I’ve heard online, other companies reacted much the same way.
With the release of an Apple tablet, companies may be more willing to invest time and money into developing the efficient software tools that will not only save money, but hopefully reduce errors and relieve some of the frustrations that go on every day in the office.
Well … that’s my goal for 2010, anyway.
What do you think of this supposed device? Could your company use them and replace some existing paper-based systems? Do you want one? I’d love to hear your thoughts.