iPads in the classroom vs Computers for writing papers, notes and power points.

I surveyed three mixed classes of 9-12 graders about if they prefer iPads, computers or paper for taking notes, writing papers or making power points. The three classes I surveyed were Design, Clay and Beyond 2 and Crafts class. I had thought about surveying Graphic Arts and Clay and Beyond 1, but I think I will save another survey for them for another time. Below I will post the results and then discuss the findings. https://docs.google.com/a/byron.k12.mn.us/forms/d/178skW7pHBXxFYArftDicESZwBit87yLoJm1FgPP9U8w/viewanalytics When note taking which do you prefer? I found this question to be very relevant when I would observe students during lecturing. I was subbing in another room and the students were taking notes off of a power point. One of the things I have surprised to see was that half the class was typing on their iPads and the other half was using pencil and paper. When you think of actually writing out notes it should help you retain the information. I believe the same could be true with typing. I bring this up because in some classes I have seen kids just take a picture of the slide on the screen that forces me to question if the students are retaining the information if the only process they use is snapping a picture? When I was in this classroom taking notes I talked with one of the students and he mentioned that our English department had external keyboards that could be plugged into the iPads. Having the keyboard sounded like it would be very useful and helpful. To go over question number one, When note taking which do you prefer, I was surprised to see the results of 67% prefer taking notes with paper and pencil. I had made an educated guess of 50% paper and pencil with the other 50% being the iPad. Taking a photo was 10%, which I am glad to see as a small percent. I think that taking a photo has it's educational tool in the sense of taking pictures of rubrics, lists, process, announcements, etc., but not for retaining information. I have also seen students take a photo and use that as their notes while working on another computer to create their work. The students are actually looking at two physical screens instead of need to flip from site to site. This works particularly well in Graphic Design when they maybe reading about instructions or tutorial for the assignment, but then have the computer to create the work. For these instances I am in full support of using the photo option. I was surprised to see such a low percent for using an external keyboard to type on the iPad with. External keyboards are not required at our school. I would need to investigate further the low percent of the external keyboard if it was due to it not being provided, less training in using it or if there are flaws to it's use. Typing on their iPad was at 17% which I expected it to be a little higher, but his is a sore subject for most students if the assignment is at any great length. I had asked about using the computer lab for note taking and I am not surprised to see 2%, because at our school that would probably be more of an inconvenience unless your class was in a computer lab. As an added note I have heard about apps that let you record audio for notes, which can be helpful for special needs students. When typing a paper which would you prefer? A whopping 86% preferred to write their paper in the computer lab. I think that typing on a computer is easiest for students. It may also have to do with how much bigger the screen is for reading and writing. I would also think that maybe the keyboard keys itself would be easier to type on. Typing in the iPad only got 9% of preference and the external keyboard at 5%. These two having such low percents makes me question the position of the computer, bigger keys, and bigger screen. Switching to making Power Points students responded with 43% like using keynote. Keynote has been around for a little longer than Google Slides. Keynote does not have the capability to have two people working on a project at the same time like Google Slide, but does allow for pictures and background design choices that Google Slide does not allow for. For Art I prefer to have my students use Keynote. For other classes that need less visual appeal Google Slide would work well. Students who chose Google Slide was 19%. Students who preferred making power point on the computer was at 38%. Lab space is limited at my school so I am glad that students feel just as comfortable or more comfortable using keynote than power point. Some of the comments listed about Power point vs Keynote is that on power point more than one person can work on it at a time. Some felt keynote was easier. From the comments I read I felt that the app worked well and does the job, but the students still liked the educational tool of a computer over the iPad. With the percents as close as they are together I will proceed by letting the students choose which fits their learning style best. Some of the students prefer the keynote layout to the power point layout. When typing a Paper which do you prefer? Pages on the iPad was at a low 3%. I have heard many complaints about trying to type on an iPad for an extended amount of time. Google documents on the computer 57% and I feel this is a higher percent because our school is very google based. The students have been trained on sharing documents with the teachers making it easier to keep track of both as the student and teacher of the students' work. Word rounded out at 33% and then the google doc. app was low at 7%. In efforts to try something new I did ask the question on the survey Would you prefer to do a video on your iPad than a power point? 50% would rather make a video and 40% would do the power point. I am finding that this information gives more options on differentiated instructions and giving my students more choice. The more choice I give my students the more buy in they will have for my assignments that they are given. I am so glad I did this survey. I feel that this will open my eyes to what my students want to get out of my teaching and their learning experience.