A Melbourne high school teacher debates the role of iPads in class

My classes all start the same way: “iPads away, please.” Screens darken with the flick of the lock-button. But gone are the days when a black screen meant a device was off. “No, flip ’em over, face down please.”

A mere fingertip summons students straight back into the hilarious Snapchat, the mesmerising puzzle of jewels or fruit or whatever digital candy they’re guzzling with far more interest than punctuation can possibly provide.

Australia has one of the highest rates of computer presence in schools in the world. And while I wait for the kids to put down the screens, we are all collectively waiting to see the impact of tech in the classroom.

Emily Hehir has taught at a high-performing regional private school with no technology, let alone iPads; an inner-city state school, where they were mandatory; and a suburban independent school in transition. Her verdict? “Most of the time it’s not being done well,” she says. “In education there is a lot of idealism, but when you’re actually in it, you have to compromise all the time.

“Kids have got to first of all bring it, then charge it, log in, connect to the WiFi, have sufficient bandwidth, find the right links, not smash the screen, not have distracting games … it becomes the tail wagging the dog. The learning only comes after the iPad.”

A recent OECD report, Innovating Education and Educating for Innovation: The Power of Digital Technologies and Skills, confirms Hehir’s feeling that there is a “wedge between expectations and reality” when it comes to tech in the classroom.

The massive report concludes that “despite the huge potential of digitalisation for fostering and enhancing learning, the impact of digital technologies on education itself has been shallow”. What’s worse, it warns that “technology may do more harm than good to the teacher-student interactions that underpin deep conceptual understanding and higher-order thinking”.

So, does this mean we should turn off the WiFi and bring out the chalk? Director of ICT at Brighton Grammar Sandra Maher says we need to teach kids how to use technology. “Many parents go, ‘Oh our kids are digital natives’ because they’ve grown up with a laptop or Xbox, and as such, don’t think they need technology in the classroom’,” she says.

“This is especially true of the iPad kids. I can spot them a mile away. They don’t know about right clicks, menus, ‘function’ keys and so on. They haven’t developed all the other skills they need to be aware of.”

For Maher, fundamentals like handwriting and reading printed books remain critical, but iPads can enhance learning.

“We have fantastic engagement with iPads in the lower primary school,” she says. “We have ‘Osmo’ kits that attach to the iPad for spelling. They’re like an iPad stand with a tiny camera, and it has little [letter] tiles. The camera senses when the tiles are in the correct place, and gives instant feedback and satisfaction. Isn’t that more fun?”

It certainly sounds fun, but as a high school teacher, that’s my whole problem. Screens such as iPads are way more fun than my lessons.

“They can be a distraction, absolutely,” says Maher, arguing the importance of only using technology only “if the activity warrants it”. Despite her misgivings, Hehir agrees. She says we need to foster a climate in which teachers can “use their judgment” as to whether they need to use the tools, and “whether to work in groups, or not. Whether to use silent work, or not.”

“Using iPads has to be a deliberate choice, not the default”.

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