Toys
Today I watched my grandson with one of his favourite toys. A ball! He loves his ball and for a nearly two-year-old he has excellent catching and kicking skills. We throw him the ball and he catches it. He has several types of balls, soccer, basketball, rugby, rubber, plastic, soft and fabric ones. His toy is a necessity.
It teaches him hand
eye coordination. He loves to kick and chase his ball. He is
learning fine and gross motor skills. He is learning to balance while
chasing and kicking. Learning and entertaining himself is important for his
independence. Playing with his toy is teaching him language skills as he gives directions about where and how to catch the ball. But most of all he is having fun.
In my head I had an
idea that there was a connection between my grandson’s toy and my questioning
whether I need an ipad. I'm not sure if
I buy myself an ipad whether I will actually use it for school or it will
become an expensive toy. I can see the benefit for my grandson and his
toy but at this moment I can’t say the same for me.
I wanted to write
something that would clarify my thoughts but I've just confused myself.
Funny! One thing I know for sure is that I will wait before I make a decision to buy an ipad.
Shall I buy and
ipad...a new toy or a useful piece of technology? What does the ipad do?
Will it be able to cut my paper trail in half? Will I be able to
save all my planning to my ipad? Shall I use it for school or for my
personal use? Will an ipad be a good place to save my photos? Will
I be able use it as a conferencing tool with my students? Can I still
watch my ondemand television using an ipad? Is it true that you are
unable to use microsoft-word on an ipad?
Today I watched my grandson with one of his favourite toys. A ball! He loves his ball and for a nearly two-year-old he has excellent catching and kicking skills. We throw him the ball and he catches it. He has several types of balls, soccer, basketball, rugby, rubber, plastic, soft and fabric ones. His toy is a necessity.
 |
| "Catch Nana catch!" |
I do see iPads as the future of technology....I could NEVER has imagined that I woudl be writing to YOU here in my robe with my tea at 6 AM on a Sunday....but like with any new technology, there is a LONG learning curve....trust me...I have one!
ReplyDeleteTechnology is ever changing and expanding. When I'm skyping my family I think back 40 years to when our family got our first phone. It was a great day!
DeleteLow tech toy, so many obvious skills developing. High tech "toy" with potential for skills. What to do? That's a great question. Eventually the ipad will be come like the laptop, more common place and we will know all the potential it holds. Right now I'm still trying to figure out what it can do.
ReplyDeleteMy laptop is a vital tool... The jury is still out for the ipad (for me anyway).
DeleteMy son bought an iPad and bought his nephews/niece one for Christmas--nice uncle. I watched as they all played/used the iPad. I always wanted a Kindle Fire, not sure I really would like it. It was an experiment for me. Not quite as expensive as an iPad, used mainly for reading. I've decided it's a good learning tool for an iPad and does not replace books!!! I miss sharing my books now. You can't go back and look at a page unless you want to flip back one page at a time. But I'm keeping up with technology to a degree. Just another slant on things for you.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the ipad would be great to use to read my ebooks especially in bed at night. No need for a lamp.
DeleteI enjoyed your comparison! My thoughts: I love my ipad! It doesn't replace my laptop totally but I love it and use it all the time. I would suggest buying a keyboard to go with it if you plan to do any lengthy typing. Commenting with my ipad is about the length I like to stick to with the virtual keypad. Good luck deciding!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that advice about the keyboard. I think that would be better for word-processing purposes.
Delete