Like most of you, I've been thinking about the idea of the iPad since the announcement this week. There's no denying that it looks cool, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how I'd actually use it.
Ideally, I'd like to have my students send me .docx versions of their papers. I'd load them all onto the iPad and then be able to grade on the go, without having to schlep around sixty 8-page papers. I know that Pages has a post-it feature where I can type in comments, but I wouldn't want to use the virtual keypad on the iPad to do this. If Apple had an integrated hand writing feature in Pages, I could load up all those papers and correct them by hand all on the iPad. That would be awesome. I could handwrite all my comments and symbols and then convert to PDF and send back to the students via e-mail.
That's really the feature that would send me to the stores to buy the thing immediately.
Also, it would be great to have student work corrected on the iPad and then hook it up to my projector to workshop student essays in class.
As for eBooks: I use a four - five textbooks for my classes (you know those big Norton anthologies?) plus a number of smaller novels / memoirs. I'd love to load all my textbooks onto the iPad and carry only this device. But without being able to handwrite notes in the "margins," it's kind of useless to me. I often use my marginalia to pose questions in class. It's got to be right there on the page in front of me; not in some other document that I'd need to bring up.
So, yeah, the lack of an integrated handwriting feature in Pages and the ebook reader is a deal breaker for me. I'd love to see it, as I could easily imagine trading a shoulder bag full of dog-earred, carefully annotated textbooks and a bundle of loose student papers for a sleek iPad that allows me to read, grade, and annotate books and student work.
Maybe in the next version? Or am I missing something here and can I do those things on an iPad?
Ideally, I'd like to have my students send me .docx versions of their papers. I'd load them all onto the iPad and then be able to grade on the go, without having to schlep around sixty 8-page papers. I know that Pages has a post-it feature where I can type in comments, but I wouldn't want to use the virtual keypad on the iPad to do this. If Apple had an integrated hand writing feature in Pages, I could load up all those papers and correct them by hand all on the iPad. That would be awesome. I could handwrite all my comments and symbols and then convert to PDF and send back to the students via e-mail.
That's really the feature that would send me to the stores to buy the thing immediately.
Also, it would be great to have student work corrected on the iPad and then hook it up to my projector to workshop student essays in class.
As for eBooks: I use a four - five textbooks for my classes (you know those big Norton anthologies?) plus a number of smaller novels / memoirs. I'd love to load all my textbooks onto the iPad and carry only this device. But without being able to handwrite notes in the "margins," it's kind of useless to me. I often use my marginalia to pose questions in class. It's got to be right there on the page in front of me; not in some other document that I'd need to bring up.
So, yeah, the lack of an integrated handwriting feature in Pages and the ebook reader is a deal breaker for me. I'd love to see it, as I could easily imagine trading a shoulder bag full of dog-earred, carefully annotated textbooks and a bundle of loose student papers for a sleek iPad that allows me to read, grade, and annotate books and student work.
Maybe in the next version? Or am I missing something here and can I do those things on an iPad?