The Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education at the
University of Oklahoma is trying to make sure its next crop of teachers is
indeed prepared. A pilot program for the spring 2013 term will train 575
students enrolled in the university’s undergraduate teacher education courses
how to use iPads for classroom work and developing lesson plans.
Each student will receive a shiny new fourth-generation
tablet this month before the holiday break begins. Students pay nothing for the
devices—it’s all covered by the pilot—and they can keep the devices when the
program is over. The idea is they will continue to use the iPads when they
start their teaching careers.
The teacher education faculty got their own iPads last
fall and have been preparing coursework with the devices.
“The goal is to have the faculty use the technology as a
tool to incorporate the activities that they are already doing, such as lesson
planning, and to extend to such activities as reviewing apps that would further
enhance what they are teaching,” said associate professor Teresa Cullen in OU’s press release about the pilot.
