All of five years old and ready for an iPad! I was flummoxed. Certainly my friend was spoiling her son. What would he ever do with it? I mean he still lisps. But technology has come a long way. A recent article in AdAge.com, “How the iPad became Child's Play – and a Learning Tool” discussed this very phenomena - how easy it is for toddlers to use an iPad.
So the iPad is an excellent medium for knowledge delivery. And with Internet access, it enables easier reading than a laptop or PC for, say, text-rich websites and learning portals.
But, while an iPad can definitely engage kids and grown-ups alike, can it be utilized for e-learning? For starters, it has a great advantage. Its intuitive interface. This aspect allows both trainers and teachers to spend less time initiating the technology needed to access their courses to learners, and enables them, instead, to focus on the actual material. Also, a recent survey has shown that the iPad is a favourite among both the education and corporate sectors since it is the perfect tool for contextual and participative learning. This popularity can make the iPad the ideal platform for both self-directed learning and add-on learning.
However, creating e-learning content for the iPad throws up unique challenges, since Apple does not support Flash…the preferred e-learning standard technology for web-based interactive learning. Incidentally, Apple backs HTML5 and touts it to be the next big wave, forcing the developers to choose between Apple and Adobe. But the iPad’s popularity and giant strides in promoting both personalized and interactive learning, and workplace learning, has egged Adobe to accelerate the launch of its Captivate with capability to output HTML5 for iPad. If this becomes a reality, we can safely assume that HTML5 will be widely accepted as a platform for e-learning development on the iPad. And, if that happens, the iPad can move from being a great gadget to a full blown e-learning device. Welcome to the wait and watch game.
For interesting comparisons on Apple vs Adobe Flash, click here.
(Banshori Bhattacharya, Instructional Designer, C2 Workshop)
