STL Link, the St Leonard’s College online learning environment, contains vital learning information for our students. So students need immediate access to the Internet to ensure they experience the very best learning opportunities.

We are very eager to ensure that the device that our students use enables a very broad range of learning activities to enhance the development of their creativity. Importantly we also want students to use a computer that fits perfectly as a companion device with existing learning strategies and does not place limits on what teachers and students can do in the classroom.

To prepare our students for their future we also need to teach them the ‘grammar’ of technology. Students need to be exposed to a wide array of ICT concepts in their formative years such as word processing, timelines in movie editing, file management, etc. in an easy to understand interface. iPads fit this bill perfectly …

Some of the reasons that iPads are advantageous over more traditional laptops and desktops include:

  • They fit perfectly as a companion device with existing learning strategies.
  • They make is very easy to digitise analogue (written) work and capture a wide variety of lived learning moments.
  • The ease of use makes them perfectly targeted enablers of creation for students.
  • There is no barrier between teacher and student as there can be with laptops.
  • Enable instant access to a world of new learning opportunities.
  • Relatively cheap.
  • Extreme portability and low weight.
  • There is no login time, they are instant on devices.
  • Store multiple electronic textbooks reducing the weight of school bags and saving money on textbook purchases.
  • 10 hour battery life means that a single charge will last the whole school day.
  • No moving parts means that they are very durable devices.
  • It just works! No viruses, no crashes and the software is very intuitive.
  • As most apps are free or at most a few dollars, it provides a great agility to try new things to enhance the learning environment.

We have chosen iPads as our required device for all students in years Prep-9 because:

  • iPad OS superbly helps to teach students the ‘grammar’ of technology. Students are able to more quickly grasp a wider array of ICT concepts such as timelines in movie editing, word processing, file management, etc. in an easy to understand interface.
  • The iPad operating system (iPad OS) is the most mature of competing mobile operating systems.
  • iPads are the current clear tablet market leader in education.
  • There are more apps (in particular educational apps) available for iOS than any other mobile operating system enabling greater agility.
  • iPads have already proven to be very successful in school settings.

 

Finally, as we have all experienced, technology is becoming increasingly personal and mobile. The world’s largest technology companies (Apple, Google, Microsoft) are predicting that this trend will continue. Mobile computing is also largely touch based.

The following is Corning’s view of the future, but it is one that is shared by most, if not all, technology companies. Touch based mobile computing has expanded enormously in the past decade and who knows what is to come …