Why We Give All Our Students iPads

In a connected world, technology is crucial in the classroom.

Cedar College
Aug 24, 2017 · 3 min read

Each student enrolled at Cedar receives their own iPad to use over the course of their studies. While this is still a relatively unique initiative locally, the use of personal devices in classrooms is quickly becoming a global standard. Research shows that nearly a third of U.S. high school students use devices issued by their schools. And in the U.K., almost 70% of primary and secondary schools use tablet devices, according to the BBC.

Implementing a system where every student is using the same device puts the entire classroom on the same playing field. The reason we don’t have a “Bring Your Own Device” policy is because we don’t want students whose parents can’t afford to buy them their own personal device to risk falling behind. There will always be a few students in each class who share a computer with the rest of their family at home and don’t have access to spaces like public libraries where they can access desktop computers and the internet. By equipping them with their own devices, we’re preventing them from struggling to complete homework assignments that may require research.

Moreover, we’ve designed a custom experience for our students (and we’re the only A level college in the country to have done so). The iPads they’re given have subject-specific apps, which include the relevant books, sample examination papers, marking schemes, and notes. Delivering content digitally is both more environmentally sustainable and cost-effective.

And, crucially, once the students are all using the same device, teachers have free reign to transform the way they teach.

“I knew there was room to go in a completely new direction when I started using WhatsApp to communicate more than just class times and deadlines to my students,” says Bilal Hameed, a director at Cedar and the dean of the college. “As a chemistry teacher, it was incredibly useful to take pictures of solved problems and send them to the entire class, or record instructional voice notes about how go about solving them.”

He now religiously uses ‘Explain Everything’, an interactive whiteboard app that allows him to create videos and interactive experiences. “I can record each class — with multimedia aids — and send it directly to each student’s iPad,” Hameed says, emphasizing that the app allows students to access content swiftly, without wasting time downloading heavy files.

When it comes to the humanities, research has actually found that English teachers are likelier to use mobile technology in the classroom than math teachers. Within the literature and language departments at Cedar, teachers can use devices to annotate the text their students are studying in real-time, in front of them. By doing this, they can be sure that students can “see” their thought process — it’s a great way to demonstrate how to read a text critically.

The influx of devices in classrooms across the globe, however, isn’t without a significant backlash. Both parents and teachers are concerned about the potential negative impact of devices in classrooms, particularly that students may get distracted by games, consume inappropriate content, and spend an increased amount of time on social media.

But our current dependence on technology is only the beginning of an increasingly “wired” future, where digital assistive devices and wearable tech will be even more common than they are now. It’s a school’s responsibility to teach students how to use these devices in ways that are constructive and empowering. It’s impossible to prepare our students for the digital future without introducing technology in our classrooms.Workplaces rely more than ever on digital platforms to facilitate problem solving, cross-team collaboration, and communication.

Training our students to use these platforms is a crucial part of equipping them for professional success in the future, but it’s also a crucial part of preparing them for academic success right now. Our connected environment gives our students the freedom to follow their curiosity and research new ideas independently, while our apps are designed to convey syllabi, lectures, and notes as efficiently and clearly as possible. Through these initiatives, we hope we’re building a more efficient culture, that delivers a stronger learning experience for all.

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Cedar College

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An A Level college in the heart of Karachi, led by a team of educational pioneers.

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