by Iber Poma
On a Spring 2014 semester Tuesday morning at 11 am, the first iPad Cart arrived to a classroom at Hostos CC. It was a momentous occasion, and to see students delighted and ready to embrace the familiar iPad into their class time was worthwhile. Using Tech Fee funds Hostos Community College bought 2 multimedia carts with 30 iPads each. Faculty used the reservation system to reserve the carts and have them delivered to class. For this Pilot, instructors who participated in the Faculty iPad Pilot were given preference to participate.
iPads came pre-loaded with apps previously requested by faculty, and all are available for free. One app installed in all the iPads is Nearpod. Nearpod lets faculty create interactive multimedia presentations that they share with students in real time. The students can interact and submit responses through any mobile device while faculty can monitor and measure student results on an individual and aggregate basis.
Assessment of Effectiveness
These are some of the students’ comments:
“I think the iPads experience was very interesting and helpful for our classes this semester.”
“It was very useful in my Class. Using the iPad made the lecture run smoothly as everyone was on the same track and no one got left behind. I could use this feature in my English classes :)”
” I like very much work with iPad in class and I want to work with them in the college.”
These are the preliminary results of the survey conducted in the Spring 2014 semester. Sixty five students have taken the survey. This is a sample of some of the questions and results:
How strongly do you agree with this statement: “The iPad helped me visualize the material used for this class better.”
|
number
|
percent
|
|
| strongly disagree |
8
|
12
|
| Disagree |
6
|
9
|
| Neither agree nor disagree |
9
|
14
|
| Agree |
26
|
40
|
| Strongly agree |
13
|
20
|
How often do you think you would use an iPad to do school work?
|
number
|
percent
|
|
| Every day |
34
|
52
|
| two, three times a day depending on the class |
16
|
25
|
| about once a week |
4
|
6
|
| less than once a week |
8
|
12
|
Do you have broadband internet and Wi-Fi at home?
|
number
|
percent
|
|
| Yes |
55
|
85
|
| No |
7
|
11
|
| I have access to broadband internet, but not WI-FI |
0
|
0
|
Which of the following devices do you own (select all that apply)?
|
number
|
percent
|
|
| iPad |
28
|
43
|
| Another tablet (Galaxy, Kindle Fire, etc. |
18
|
28
|
| Laptop |
49
|
75
|
| Smartphone |
47
|
72
|
| Regular cell phone (not a smartphone) |
2
|
3
|
| An e-book reader (Kindle, Nook, etc.) |
6
|
9
|
How helpful was the EdTech staff with any technical issues you may have had?
|
number
|
percent
|
|
| Very helpful |
33
|
51
|
| tSomewhat helpful |
27
|
42
|
| Not really helpful |
1
|
2
|
| Not helpful at all |
1
|
2
|
To learn more about the iPad Pilot Inittiave, please visit the site:
