Blog #10 U.A.E. Moves Toward Paperless Classrooms

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Sara Hamdan wrote this article on October 28. In Dubai, a student talks about how he’s now using his ipad now for classes, instead of just games. He also uses it for his art class, instead of using paper. “Last year, the United Arab Emirates decided to turn a product that was already popular with students into an academic tool. So when school began in September, 14,000 tablets were handed out to all first-year students in the country’s three major higher-education institutions: United Arab Emirates University, Zayed University and the Higher Colleges of Technology.” (Hamdan, “Paperless”). The school system thought that since that it was such a popular product among students that why not use them for school. The main goal of using it is to have more students succeed in all their classes, while keeping a green environment. “Education experts hope that the tablets will help raise low test scores; bridge the gap between classroom learning and practical workplace skills; and promote more diverse fields of study in a region where students are often pushed into subjects like business.” (Handam, “Paperless”). Not only is it benefitting the older students, but also younger students are using them too for their studies. “At $750 an iPad, it is a less-expensive alternative to laptops that cost an average of $1,200. Local U.A.E. students attending public universities generally do not pay for tuition or textbooks, though they are required to buy their own laptops. The introduction of iPads will reduce that cost by nearly half, though in the U.A.E., which has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, few schools reported problems with families that could not afford the technology. Teachers were “panicky” before they realized how easy it would be to use the device educators were now working directly with Apple to develop their own apps and create their own reading material as e-books on iBook’s Author. By reducing paper use and waste, the iPads also promote environmentally friendly values. “ (Hamdan, “Paperless”).

            This article has to do with education because it talks about how students are using ipads to help them succeed better in their classrooms, and to have more students attend schools. It’s a great idea because its so much cheaper than having to go out and buy all of these textbooks, paper, binders, and writing utensils. For I pads you can just download the textbook for the fraction of the cost, and save paper. All schools need to do this.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/29/world/middleeast/29iht-educlede29.html