After using my iPad for the last 6 weeks, thanks to @ron_mill, I thought I would share a few first impressions and some thinking about use in education. On the topic of first impressions, I note:

• how much I enjoy using the touch screen interface – very easy to use
• the context sensitivity of having the right options at the right time (such as a pop up keyboard) is amazing
• the pop up keyboard is sized to allow for ‘traditional’ typing (not the fingering poking method)
• battery life is amazing – I am getting 9 – 10 hours per charge.
• the selection of quality apps is good
• e-reader capabilities are strong
• overall, lots of potential
• the only drawback I have found to date, is that the wifi connection process seems a bit clunky as stored known networks do not always auto-connect

With all of these good qualities, I can’t help but think about the possibilities ….  iPads for classrooms, staff development, library learning commons, moving the e-books agenda forward all would link nicely to our key initiatives.

Currently, the following iPad plans are in place for the 2010/2011 school year:

• some will be available for staff to try at CATC Camp, our summer teacher PD session
• a number of units will be available for use by elementary classroom teachers
• iPads will be used in our secondary school Futures Forum project, developed as our PLP project
• units will be purchased for our central elementary teacher librarian group for September

Other plans under discussion include:

• iPads preloaded with staff development reading material that could be loaned out
• additional expansion of the iPad program as it relates to our Library Learning Commons project

I am looking forward to supporting these new initiatives!

~ Mark