Repost from: Lounge: Apple Touch Devices in the Classroom?

(Some redundant parts from the last post.)

Watched and blogged about Apple’s enterprise and development media event, yesterday. The event was about what I call “Touch” products (iPhone and iPod Touch).
One thing which struck me is that Phil Schiller started the enterprise section of that presentation with some comments about Stanford. Now, I’m not one to favor the customer-based model of education. I still see Stanford as being about knowledge more than about financial profit.
Still, this all got me thinking: What if we started using Apple’s Touch products in the classroom? Distributing and sharing documents around the group as we are working on diverse projects. Streaming lecture material (audio, video, slides) directly to learners’ handhelds on which they can take notes. Synchronous and asynchronous chats. Collaborative editing. Task management…
For that matter, even Microsoft Exchange could make sense in this context. Some campuses already use it for faculty but it’d make perfect sense to have push email, calendars, and contacts on school devices. Secure connections. Global address list. Remote wiping if the device gets stolen or lost.
Even the application distribution system (using the App Store), which may make some developers cringe, could make some sense for schools. Controlling which applications are on school devices sounds awful from the perspective of many a tech enthusiasts, but it could sound really good to school IT managers.
In this sense, Touch devices could make more sense than traditional laptop programs for education. Better battery life, somewhat lower cost, better security, easier maintenance… A Touch program could even have some advantages over newer generation laptop programs, especially in terms of “control.”

I know, I know… I’m sounding like a Pointy-Haired Boss. I’m surprised myself. I guess that, as an ethnographer, I tend to put myself in someone else’s shoes. In this case, it happens to be the shoes of a school administrator.
Of course, I prefer Open devices. In this sense, Google’s Android would satisfy my Open-loving side more than Apple’s Touch products. It’s just that admins tend not to like openness so much and they’re the ones who need to be convinced.