Af f ordable and designed for students

The new iPad 9.7-inch has features that make learning fun and effective, writes Izwan Ismail

STUDENTS these days are so used to using devices that they are part of their lives. Just look at your children, especially the ones who are still in school: I bet they have at least a smartphone or tablet with them all the time.

This goes for my teenage kids. They are more engrossed in their Internet devices than their books.

Is this good? Or is it bad? For me, modern gadgets are tools that can be a very effective education tool, as long as there are enough content or apps to support the learning and teaching process, and the gadget has the ability to assist or enhance the learning experience.

In March this year when Apple launched the entry-level iPad 9.7-inch, it stressed on how the device is relevant to students.

The RM1,449 device, among the most affordable iPads so far, now supports the Apple Pencil, which means it opens up a new world of creativity options for users, especially students.

DESIGN

Before we move on to the education part, let’s take a brief look at its appearance.

Being an entry-level device doesn’t mean that the 9.7-inch iPad stinges on design.

Just like any other Apple product, the new iPad has a very smooth design with solid feel to it.

The new iPad 9.7 looks somewhat similar to last year’s iPad Pro but it is a tad smaller and thicker than the more expensive 10.5-inch Pro model.

It is powered by the A10 Fusion chip with 64-bit architecture, which is slightly lower than the A10X Fusion chip in the iPad Pro model.

Display-wise, this iPad has a 9.7-inch Retina display, with 2048 x 1536 resolutions, just slightly lower than the 2224 x 1668 pixels in the Pro model.

You may notice a very small gap between the screen and the surface of the glass because it doesn’t come with the full-laminated and anti-reflective display, which is the reason why this 9.7-inch iPad is slightly thicker.

The eight-megapixel rear camera comes with a f/2.4 aperture and 1080p video recording capability while the front camera offers a 1.2-megapixel resolution, which is not really important as not many people would use it for selfies.

This iPad runs on the current iOS 11, which means users can experience the latest apps on the device.

Besides that, the true tone feature was also taken out which doesn’t really matter to me. It’s just a nice thing to have as it adjusts the colour temperature of the screen with the surrounding lights to make it easier on the eyes.

This is interesting as students would surely be interested if their classroom activities or learning process involves gadgets.

The new 9.7-inch iPad and Apple Pencil give users the ability to be even more creative and productive, from sketching ideas and jotting down handwritten notes to marking up screenshots.

The Retina display, the A10 Fusion chip and advanced sensors help deliver immer-reality. sive augmented Besides unmatched portability and ease of use, it also boasts all-Froggi-day battery life.

I tried the pedia app on the iPad and, using the Apple Pencil, I was amazed at how interesting Biology could be. I remember back in my school days of having to dissect a real frog, which was a messy experience, but now I could do it like a “surgeon”. Using Apple’s augmented reality (AR) technology, I explored the unique life cycle and intricate anatomical details of a frog.

Just imagine: I could dissect the frog and learn its organs as I touched them with the Apple Pencil.

I could move its organ, take quizzes and view the frog from all angles using augmented reality. To me, this is a sterling example of how AR technology has moved leaps and bounds, especially in the education environment.

It’s a great learning experience, minus the gruesome experience of dissecting animals.

AUGMENTED REALITY

There are thousands of apps with AR features available on the App Store currently.

This technology can certainly change how students learn in the classroom. They can communicate and share their experience with other students not just from the same school but from other schools or even other countries via social media.

If you’re into human anatomy, the Human Anatomy Atlas 2018 Edition allows comprehensive male and female 3D anatomy models. There are micro anatomy of tissues and organs, cadaver slices and diagnostic images that are paired with 3D cross-sections, and interactive animations of muscles and bones.

You can also explore thousands of 3D anatomical structures in the male and female models, see structures from all body systems including nervous, skeletal, circulatory, muscular, digestive, urinary, lymphatic, endocrine and reproductive.

Imagine, being a medical or science student and able to this without having to do it on the real body. What a relief!

With the iPad, teachers can also manage their classrooms on a different level.

The Classroom app, for example, turns the iPad into a powerful teaching assistant, helping a teacher guide students through a lesson, see their progress and keep them on track.

With the app, teachers can easily launch the same app on every student device at the same time or launch a different app for each group of students. Classroom helps teachers focus on teaching so students can focus on learning.

Teachers can also lock devices into a single app to help students focus or lock screens.

Another app called Schoolwork lets teachers to assign anything from worksheets to activities in educational apps, follow students’ progress, and collaborate with them in real time.

Teachers can give handouts, make announcements or give assignments across all their classes to keep track of everything the students need to complete assignments.

THE PENCIL

The ability to use Apple Pencil on the entrylevel iPad is one thing that makes this a valuable device, especially for education.

I’ve tried the iPad Pro before and was very impressed with the smoothness of the pencil on the device. The feeling is the same with this one. Writing and scribbling on iPad 9.7 is just as smooth.

Apps like Notepad+ allows users to take or scribble notes easily, and even sketch ideas on the fly.

Gone are the days of wasting papers used for scribbling ideas.

CONCLUSION

At RM1,449, the iPad 9.7-inch is a affordable tool which opens up a lot of new possibilities for learning.

With Apple planning to move into the education market with this device, the potential is huge for new and exciting learning experiences.