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The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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Cut Apple from diet to tighten belt on budget

I recently realized that if my technologically advanced roommate were not one of my closest friends, I would positively despise him. Why? He fashioned himself a homemade iPad-top and uses it in lectures in the most irritating way. No, it is not some Thai cuisine fail; he merely syncs a wireless keyboard to an iPad. This is the type of technology-overkill stunt that perpetuates animosity toward classmates. Everyone has experienced this loathsome sentiment at one time or another, whether it be for the iPad noob (that twitchy kid in the hoodless sweatshirt), the curd with the backwards Packer hat and lanyard key-chain dangling from his cargo-short pocket, the meathead with oppressive elbow posture or the absolute worst, the kid who is too hip for his own damn good.

My frustration with classmates will apparently continue to increase. With the release of the iPad 2 a couple of days ago, and sales forecasted to reach 36 million tablets for 2011, the prevalence of technology in classroom settings will increase accordingly. Throughout the country the use of iPads as teaching devices is being piloted on guinea pigs, including myself, with increasing popularity. From high school classes to university lecture halls, kids are learning on Apple’s latest craze.

iPads are the metaphorical Big-Macs being fed to school systems that are desperate for budgetary belt-tightening. Does this reveal a monumental miscue in curricular diet planning? Here in Madison, it seems that we are not too big on the whole educational fund-cutting thing. But even the most ardent Walker critic would agree distributing extravagant iPads to students seems to be a far cry from frugality.

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Proponents of iPad distribution to students maintain it will reduce the financial burdens of education. For students, electronic versions of textbooks could be purchased at reduced prices. The cheaper prices would then lead to greater learning and textbook consumption as well as an unprecedented extension of the classroom into realms of student life that course materials have long dreamed of entering. While many students do, in fact, succeed swimmingly without buying a single book throughout a semester, their performance would perhaps be enhanced if textbooks were made affordable.

It is hard to imagine a typical UW student on Saturday morning, wallowing in his/her own filthy hangover on the couch, with an O-chem textbook spread out on his/her lap. An iPad is, however, a requirement for hangovers.

The idea is that concentrating course materials into a readily available instrument will create a “positive externality” to learning (essentially duping students into studying). The millennial generation seems to be addicted to electronics; therefore, this medium may be key in motivating students to read texts. It may also be a useful subterfuge for conspiring professors. It could just add a moral hangover factor to the previous night’s choice of debauchery instead of studying, but as any half-decent economics student knows, any “positive externality” is naturally inclined to inefficiency and underuse.

I, for one, can personally attest to this. Taking part in one of these experimental classes has been a blast. A free iPad, granted for one semester, is a wonderful side effect of strategic scheduling. After careful and honest consideration though, my allegiance lies with the critics. The iPad has been a useful tool and though I hate to call it a fad, its novelty has waned lately. I barely study on it, except for required readings. I have even bought hard copies of books I would not dare part with come semester’s end. I have, therefore, personally experienced the opposite of both expected iPad benefits. Nevertheless, the true benefits of iPad learning will not be known for some time.

Distribution of iPads deserves further experimentation, but not at the hands of school systems that are being increasingly pushed into financial margins. Professor Larry Cuban from Stanford maintains, “IPads are marvelous tools to engage kids, but then the novelty wears off and you get into hard-core issues of teaching and learning.” The money funneled into experimentation would better serve students if it were channeled into fundamental and proven teaching methods, like recruiting and retraining faculty.

Dennis O’Reilly ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in economics.

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