Learning on the Go

Tablet devices are being adopted at two NTU faculties as important educational tools to facilitate learning.

By Krystal Chia, Wong Zioedy

While many students started the new semester rushing between lecture theatres, first-year medical student Leon Tan has spent the past three weeks reviewing most of his lectures on an iPad screen.

Tan was issued an iPad on the first day of school, and so were the rest of his 53 coursemates from the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. The students would be able to exchange ideas for their team-based assignments online and download content from a virtual library.

The iPads were issued to allow students to access learning materials on-the-go while they shuttle between NTU and the temporary campus at Novena, said Mr Paul Gagnon, director of E-learning and IT for the medicine school.

Currently, the iPads are loaned out to the medical students for two years. The school will use this period to gauge how useful the gadgets are at virtual teaching.

The medicine school also said it has yet to assess whether students can keep the iPads after the loan period. “Over time, more appropriate applications can be developed to support the learning process,” Mr Gagnon added.

Leon Tan added that iPads allow students to learn at their own pace. The 20-year-old said: “Because all lectures are pre-recorded and uploaded onto the device, students can access them anytime they want and watch them again if they do not understand certain concepts.”

The iPads are equipped with specific applications like iFolio for students to submit practical write-ups. The device can also be used to record videos of procedures in medical clinics.

But students still need the discipline to read through lectures and articles on their own, pointed out Claudia Tong, 19, a first-year medical student.

TECHNOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY: Medical student Howard Sim (left) will be responsible for the maintenance of the iPad once he signs an indemnity form.
PHOTO: IVAN LIM

Meanwhile, some 700 freshmen at the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS) received their iPad minis on the second week of school.

Associate Professor Chee Yeow Meng, Chair of SPMS said: “The iPad minis are especially useful for learning concepts such as geometry, which require visualisation.”

Nick Zhang, 21,  said: “We have been learning with pen and paper for most of our lives. Using the iPad makes learning new and different”

Others, like Luo Weiting, 19, were concerned that the iPads might minimise student-teacher interaction.

Students have signed an agreement to ensure proper maintenance of the iPad, which they will own till graduation.

He added: “We trust the students on the use of the iPads.

If using the iPad for leisure or social purposes besides school work can help students achieve a better balance between work and play, why not?”