The wonderful thing that I have
found when using my iPad is that it is able to seamlessly switch from a tool
for entertainment into a tool for productivity and education. I can listen to
music while learning how to cook a meal or I can learn a language while playing
a game app designed to familiarize myself with the characters/letters and words
of said language. Today I want to highlight two of my favorite apps that I have
found that demonstrate the idea that work and play can work in harmony.
The first app I enjoy is a free app
called iBooks. iBooks has served me well so far in both my studies and personal
literature pursuits. With its ability to support PDF viewing, I am able to
collect journal articles that I need for research. I can also organize them
into separate folders so organization and ease of search are possible. Instead
of printing out every last article (and thus wasting paper) I am able to carry
all my articles with me wherever I go.
An added bonus is that collecting
all of these journal articles in PDF form has freed me somewhat from Wi-Fi
availability constraints. Since the PDFs are saved onto the iPad’s memory, I am
able to access them without the need to access the online libraries in which I retrieved
them from. So the next time I have a bit of free time I can read articles
regardless of my location or access to a reliable Wi-Fi network.
The same rules apply to any other
book that I come across. Along with scholarly journals, I have found pleasure
in downloading leisure books. Now, in the blink of an eye, I can switch from
academic reading to a full-blown fantasy adventure whenever the urge strikes
me. iBooks is certainly going to be an app that I use on a regular basis.
Now that I’ve discussed text-based
education and entertainment, what is out there as far as video-based apps are
concerned? This leads me to my second favorite app, TED. TED is an app that
allows you to view videos found on TED.com. For those who have never heard of
it, TED.com is a website that highlights videos from annual TED conferences
around the world. TED conferences are events in which leaders and scholars from
various fields and countries do talks on practically anything. The focus of the
talks is geared toward enriching and educating people and the lives they live.
In using the TED app I am able to
watch videos portably provided I have a reliable Wi-Fi connection. For example,
sometimes I have a half hour to kill while waiting for a class to start. If the
mood strikes I can access the TED app and in minutes can view talks about
subjects ranging from global warming, education, and technology. Instead of
waiting bored, I am able to develop myself and learn something new.
Not only are the videos informative, they are also
entertaining. Some talks are serious, but at the same time, are set up in a
humorous manner. For example, my favorite video is a talk done by Joshua Klein.
His video is about the intelligence of crows and how we can live harmoniously
with “animals of nuisance” if we took the time to learn about them instead of
exterminating their populations. His use of humor made the video not only
informative but also entertaining. Today I wanted to see that video again and
instead of heading to my laptop, I was able to sit in bed and enjoy the video
easily via iPad and the TED app.
My point in all this is that, I
have found that my iPad can serve both as a means of portable education and as
a means of fun. This coupling allows for a more powerful machine that can do
more as a whole than as two separate education and entertainment machines. In integrating
the two facets, I have found myself loving this machine more and more.
If you want to learn more here are the links to
the topics I discussed in this entry:
As you know, Fatima, I love TED. It is one of my favorite sources of inspiration. Those are ideas really worth spreading! Could you show your classmates how you collect all the pdfs you need for your research and store them in a folder in your iBooks?
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