لخّصلي

1 Ali and his classmates sit next to each other in an eighth-grade science class in Saudi Arabia. They are not listening to their teacher or taking notes in their science journals. Ali is watching a video about cells on his iPad. Other students are using an app to design their own science experiment. When they need help, they type a quick message to their teacher, who monitors them from his computer. 2 In the U.S., young students are learning about world geography not through maps but through real people online. Using the Global Book Series app, schoolchildren from other countries create and upload presentations about their countries with photos and videos. American students then access this digital library on their tablets and go on tours of cities in Russia, Belgium, and New Zealand from people who actually live there. They watch them, they hear them, and the places feel much more real than maps ever would. In return, American students then share their own tours of cities in the U.S. 3 In today's world, tablet computers are revolutionizing education. More schools are using tablets instead of paper or books. Many governments predict the best jobs will require students to have strong computer skills. They want their students to be prepared for the future, where jobs in science and technology will dominate¹. Countries around the world are investing millions in technology for education, and putting tablets in children's hands is one step toward their goal. 4 Why are more and more educators in favor of tablet education? According to them, one of the biggest advantages is tablets allow students to be more creative. Experts agree that tablets should not just be for note-taking. Instead, they should be used to help students make their studies and their ideas come to life. As an example, students in a history class in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are using an app to discover and "rebuild" an ancient city. To start, they take a video tour of the ancient city of Petra. With tablet technology, they can "walk through" it as if they were really there. Next, they use an app to design their own city. Finally, with special software, they turn their designs into a presentation and share them instantly on their screens. The students use creativity to solve their own problems. Experts believe this motivates students to learn more. 6 Another advantage of tablet education is that learning is more interactive. Without tablets, students are limited to communicating with their teacher and the other students in their classroom. With tablets, they have access to a much larger, global community. In Canada, teacher Kristen Wideen works with another teacher in Singapore. Their students have used Twitter and Skype to share math problems and tweet about tadpoles³. The benefit is their students get a more global perspective than they would with just a book. They have a much bigger audience for their ideas. 7 Studies have shown that having tablets in the classroom can improve students' test, scores. A study of 266 kindergarten students in the United States showed that students with tablets scored higher on every reading test, compared to students without them (Bebell et al. 2012). Another study in California reported that middle school students with iPads did 20 percent better on their math tests, compared to students who just used a textbook (Bonnington 2012). Part of this is because tablets allow teachers to help students instantly. When students' scores on an online test are low, teachers can direct them right away to a video or website for extra instruction. Students can also email or text their teachers for help and get instant feedback. 8 Still, no technology is perfect. Many students are often expected to complete tablet assignments at home. One problem is that not all families have Internet access. Other times, Internet connections are slow or stop working. This can put children at a disadvantage. For this reason, governments around the world are also investing millions in fast, reliable Internet for schools and cities, but this will take time. 9 For teachers, another disadvantage is that students can get easily distracted on their tablets. After they complete their assignments, some students end up playing a game or texting a friend. They stop concentrating on the teacher and the classroom. This can be frustrating to teachers. It can make students miss important information. Too much distraction can also have a negative impact on students' grades. 10 How can these kinds of problems be solved? For one, teachers are going to need more training in using tablet instruction. Second, schools will have to make sure that children are accessing the right content at the right time. And parents must also learn to adapt to technology they never had in school. But, if students, parents, and teachers can work together, the "classroom without walls" could become the classroom of the future and prepare children even better for our connected, digital world.