Honestly, I really like this thing a lot. Having had an iPad mini for a few months I wasn’t sure how it was going to work having an unattached keyboard and a smaller screen, but it is actually really great!
The flipped classroom idea is wonderful. I have yet to have a class where I’ve learned this much this quickly. I feel almost like I’m an actual journalist, and that’s not even what I want to be!
The iPad works really well for note taking and writing, Pages is a great tool and it’s simpler to use than Word on a laptop because it’s not trying to be fifteen different programs at once.
I used Notability for the first time during one of my interviews and was able to type up quotes and record at the same time, which was invaluable when going back and checking for accuracy.
The only qualm I had with the iPad is iMovie for making videos. I find that using a touch screen for that sort of thing is very difficult and I ended up shooting the video on the iPad, but then syncing it with my laptop to create the video.
As for iTunes U, I love it! I find that having a calendar feature where all of the assignments for the day are available and can be checked off is very useful. I truly wish that was available for all of my classes and that we could simply do away with Carmen.
The iPad has been a great tool and I very much hope that OSU will consider utilizing it, iTunes U and the flipped classroom model for future university courses.
By Diane Gress – Student in Nicole Kraft’s COMM 2221 Course