iPad Research Questions Themes
CEHD Research Team
12/03/10
The Student Experience
- How did the use of the iPad affect student interest and engagement?
- Qualitative: What was the student experience using iPads in classes?
- How are students using iPads in and out of class?
- How much time do students spend using their iPads for different purposes (social networking, studying, gathering material)?
- How does the possession of the iPad influence the perceived and actual accumulation of cultural capital for all students? Students of Color?
- How does it impact positioning in the classroom?
- How does the possession and ability to use the iPad promote a feeling of importance and capacity for students? How does this transfer into other academic contexts?
- Were there any differences in student learning among different student population groups? (ex; perhaps access to this technology serves as advantage for historically disadvantaged student groups such as first-generation, low income groups)
- How did the students learn to use the iPads?
Apps
- Which iPad apps are most popular with students?
- Which iPad apps are most popular with faculty?
eTexts vs Traditional Texts
- Do students prefer e-books to traditional textbooks? Why? What factors do they consider when making a decision?
The use of iPads (and other PEDs) in the Classroom
- Do Personal Electronic Devices in the classroom enhance, detract, or have no impact on students’ ability to focus during class?
- Did the use of ipads enhance academic learning or serve as a distraction?
iPads vs Laptops
- Do students prefer to use iPads or laptops?
- Do students use the iPads in different places and in different ways than their laptops (if they have one)?
- In what ways does the tactile use of the human hand for much of the interaction with the iPad differ, if any, from using a mouse and keyboard?
- Are the often single task focused apps a different and useful experience than using traditionally installed software packages on laptop and desktop computers?
Considerations
Need to extend studies beyond Spring semester?
Methods mentioned
- Surveys
- Individual interviews
- Focus group interviews
- The best design would be to randomly assign students to an electronic or traditional text and then see which group performs better on quizzes, but this isn’t possible.
- Randomly use electronic and conventional ways of reporting the results of student discussion and assess students attitudes towards these strategies
- Student journals
- Narrative and interpretive approaches
