Yesterday I went to an Apple conference for educators, focused on the applications of iPads in the classroom. I learned MANY cool things and can suggest some GREAT apps I was shown to enhance your curriculum. It's so freakin' awesome! As amazing as the iPad bits were, the thing that stuck out the most was the implications of "the future". Having come from the sticks of Kenya to the columns of Budapest, my eyes have been more opened to the future of learning. I've noticed more and more how different students learn now than they did when I started teaching 12 years ago. How quickly they can access information. And how this greatly influences how learning and teaching (should) take place. Mostly I'm realizing that when my teaching career finishes, the way I teach will be DRASTICALLY different than how I began. Books will all be digital. Every child will have a personal learning tool, such as the iPad. I won't need a class set of books or notebooks or pencils. I'll need a class set of iPads or the equivalent. The heavy backpacks will no longer be heavy. Everything will be digital.Talking with a colleague after the conference, she was nostalgically saying how important it will always be for kids to curl up with a book in the corner of the room on a pillow, feeling the pages between their fingers. Why? The truth is, I already curl up with my Kindle. It's much more economical - saves paper, saves energy from transport, saves money. I will admit I love the feel of a book in my hands - I enjoy it much more than my Kindle, no matter how convenient it is. But will the kids of today have the same feeling about paper books in the future? Honestly, I don't think so.
