Currently I am writing the curriculum for technology course for 6th and 7th graders. As I evaluate Web 2.0 applications to use I must walk a thin line between achieving educational objectives using Web 2.0 tools and ensuring student safety. This is a dilemma anyone involved in educational technology must deal with constantly. The questions asked not only include what applications to use but should students be allowed to use personal computers on school networks? What access should students have? How do we keep students from accessing inappropriate websites? Should students be allowed to have email accounts? The list is endless.

Why do we have to fight this battle? Leo Leporte summed it up nicely on his netcast TWIT when he compared computers connected to the Internet like going into a big city. You can find almost anything you want but you can also easily end up in places you should not be too. Leporte went on to claim devices like the iPad is like the suburbs. You don’t have as much choice but it is safer. Apple’s Steve Jobs echoed this sentiment recently claimed that PC’s are like trucks, which obviously have multiple roles, and tablets are like cars, serving a more specific purpose. Should schools move to the more suburban-like tablets because they are safer and easier to operate?

Tablets based on the iPhone OS, Android, or WebOS will only do certain functions. They are considered information consumption devices with a limited creation capabilities. Only apps approved are allowed on the devices (except maybe Android). I know from experience only certain apps will work if the network allows the app to work. Students could jail-break their devices or run off of wireless carriers but apps may not work as well as they could on a Wi-Fi network. Bingo, extra security. Apps for things like Measure of Academic Progress assessments or other testing can be made into apps and allowed to work on tablets. To me this seems like a better solution, especially for K-8 students, than allowing them into the Internet guarded with poor grade chicken wire. Should schools move to the technology version of the suburbs? What are your thoughts?

Okay, I guess I have become an Apple Fan Boy, drinking the Kool-Aid Steve Jobs sold at yesterday's iPad announcement. My wife is almost ready to divorce me because I told her we are getting one of these and there will be no discussion about it. My teenage son will have something new to hate me for because his days of having the coolest and latest technology are numbered. Sometime in March I will be standing in line on what is sure to be a near freezing raining days waiting in line to get an iPad. After that I will be headed for the unemployment line because I missed too much work. Yet, I do feel compelled to get an iPad. This is the type of device that will eventually change face of education as we know it.

Funny but I do feel a bit of irony that we are actually headed backwards in time. Students used slates such as the one pictured for various class assignments in the 18th, 19th and early 20th Centuries. Colonial students carried a tablet called

a Hornbook. The name of these books comes from the animal horns used to make the learning device. These are the probably the first educational materials to have "apps". The apps might include the alphabet, numbers, vowel and consonant sounds, and the Lord's Prayer. Later tablets became truly interactive because students could write on them using chalk. Students used these devices to learn to read and write for many years until Big Chief notebooks and actual real books became the staple of all classrooms.

So what does the iPad have that could revolutionize education? First off the device is realitively inexpensive. With the $499 starting point it is in the reach of many families. As time goes on this price is sure to come down. Look at what has happened with iPods over the last few years. Other companies, such as Google will also manufacture similar devices which should lower the price. Next it has a book reader with titles you can purchase from the iTunes Store. During his demonstration, Steve Jobs said textbooks would be coming.

Apple says the device weighs 1.5 pounds. Expect lots of studies to come out for the first time again about how textbook laden backpacks are harming the backs of young people. The iPad can surf the web which means students can access more information than what is in the textbook. Expect an explosion of apps for education to go along with the over 140,000 apps already in the iTunes App Store. Video and audio can be shared to create a true multimedia experience.

While the iPad is not a perfect device, this is a huge step in the right direction. There are some things that should be on future models. For examples, a webcam would be nice for adding to presentations or distance learning. An ability to show the screen on another display such as an interactive whiteboard would be nice too. There are some other tools that could and probably will be thought of as time goes on.

Get ready teachers, students will want to bring them to class. Administrators, teachers will want class sets. Network Administrators, start figuring out how to tie this devices into your networks. Everyone, start thinking of ways for students to use them productively. The educational device of our ancstors is making a comeback.