As many of you may know, I bought an iPad this fall. I had been saving up for no particular reason... well it was more for emergency cash in case of major car problems. Poor ol' Ruby is getting old and is starting to show. But sometimes life throws a couple curveballs at you. But for those who know me a little better, you are probably aware that I have always had a strong resentment towards Apple's iPad. Why would I spend $500.00 on a tablet when I already own a computer? It doesn't print on campus, can't stream to a TV here, and serves very little functionality in comparison to a laptop.
Well last year, my grades weren't as hot as they could be. I sat and pondered what had happened and realized that amongst the parties, trips to the beach, DisneyLand, and the obsession for LAN sessions, my grades were less than satisfactory due to my incredible ability to suck at organizing my time. I would come back from class and completely forget about entire assignments and I would be unprepared for tests that caught me off guard. There was a serious problem that needed addressing.
To solve my problem, I needed a way to organize every assignment for every class, take better and more efficient notes, instantly add assignments and pop quizes into my calendar, be portable, and preferably be digital because I'm stingy like that.
Lo and behold, this was the perfect storm for me to buy my most hated Apple product (besides the iPod Touch of course). So after much consideration, I purchased an 3rd Generation White iPad with 16GB of memory.
So now half of a semester into owning this educational investment, I can proudly say it has revolutionized the way I do school! I can't believe I have been doing all of this work that technology could have made so much easier! I'll break it down into two sections: note taking and organization.
First, the way I take notes has been flopped on its head. Originally, I would sit in class and carefully select what I could write down quickly. I would abbreviate and cut my notes short because I am a slow writer and I knew that I couldn't write everything down, nor did I want too. Now with my iPad (which has yet to be named, so please feel free to give suggestions), I download every single powerpoint and PDF through Sakai. I have every bit of material the professor uses. I simply follow along in class and highlight or footnote things that are deemed important. I save so much time with this. It also allows my wandering brain to fill its constant need for random facts. For example, in psychology a few weeks ago we brought up studies done on Pavlov's dogs. Instantly my mind wandered and I wanted to do a little more research just to get a little more background information. Without the iPad, I would often get caught up in my imagination and would space out as I think about some random tangent. But with the internet at my fingertips, I can feel free to quickly find answers and then return to the lecture without being too distracted. It really helps me focus for an entire class period.
Second and most helpful for my grades is how owning an iPad has taken my classes and created an organized system out of the chaos in which they originated. In the beginning of each semester, I take the calendars from all of my syllabi and consolidate them into my iPad calendar so that I always know what is due and when things are coming up. Also, it makes it super easy for me to add spontaneous assignments that may come up through the semester. My iPad reminds me the day before they are due and also links certain classes with emails and my Facebook with the events that I RSVP to. Even better, with the integration of iCloud, my calendars, assignments, and reminders are all instantly synced with my computer back home. Work never gets lost or unsaved.
Those are just two benefits I see with my iPad. It does other things too. Now I don't have to carry notebooks to class or ever have to sit and write my hand away. Other little perks come in handy too. Netflix, YouTube, and other services are all at my fingertips, and I can easily kill time in Heritage Court reading my Kindle and Google eBooks.
So there's my little bluster about my iPad. Honestly, I hated the product at first, and now I often brainstorm about small business solutions for paperless business. I really think this could change a lot things about the education system and small business IT. But keep in mind, the iPad is NOT the replacement for the PC. Maybe I'll rant about the Microsoft Surface and the direction they are taking technology. But that's for another day.
Peace.
