The usage of tablets to replace textbooks in secondary schools is a battling issue as of late, with many parents decrying the cost of such ‘smart’ gadgets.
Some newspapers report that families are forking out more than €500 for iPads and their required extras as demanded by their schools, when cheaper alternatives are available for less than half that price.
But putting the cost aside, are such gadgets really any benefit to pupils in the classroom? In many cases, young people themselves say yes.
Carrying around a heavy bag is one concern many secondary pupils can relate to. Eighteen-year-old Lauren Doyle from Scoil Mhuire Clane thinks that it’s “easier to use smart gadgets because you won’t have to carry heavy books around”.
Leletu Busakwe, 16, of Larkin Community College agrees, pointing out that if you have one tablet for every textbook, “that way you won’t be carrying heavy books, you won’t loose any of them or be forgetting them at home.”
Apart from being very portable, pupils agree that gadgets like iPads and Android tablets are easy to use and very reliable, especially during group work.
“[Tablets] have great use when it comes to study,” says Busakwe. “With internet access, everything you need to research will be there.”
One concern in using such technology in the classroom is when it’s taken advantage of for extra-curricular purposes – such as playing Angry Birds instead of following the lesson.
“It is a worry that some students might be tempted to use it for non-educational purposes and would lose track in their education,” says Doyle.
American exchange student Regina Fields agrees that there are risks in using them inside the classroom.
“There must be barriers to make them focus on their schoolwork,” she says.
It’s considered true that most people today rely on the internet to give them information rather than looking for the answers in books. “Students might rely too deeply on technology, even when learning the little things,” says Fields.
But Doyle and Busakwe believe in more modern methods, and say using books and technology together is the best way of enhancing ones learning skills. “They compliment each other,” says Doyle.
