Barriers to change

A reflection on Khalid, Kilic, Christoffersen & Purushomthamam’s “Barriers to

the Integration and Adoption of iPads in Schools: A Systematic Literature
Review based on the philosophy of ‘think global, act local” by Robin
Montgomery

Khalid, M.S., Kilic, G., Christoffersen, J. & Purushothaman, A. (2015). “Barriers to the
Integration and Adoption of iPads in Schools: A Systematic Literature Review
based on the philosophy of ‘think global, act local.” In Proceedings of Global
Learn 2015 (pp. 58-67). Association for the Advancement of Computing in
Education (AACE).

Last week saw the six year anniversary of the introduction of the iPad to the world. It
was not introduced to the world as a tool specifically for educational purposes, but
educators – and students – quickly began exploring the role of iPads in the classroom.

Khalid, Kilic, Christoffersen and Purushothaman conducted a systematic literature

review “on the barriers to iPad integration in elementary and secondary school” that
examined 13 full-text and peer-reviewed articles. The authors initially examined 372
articles that met their search parameters, but they eliminated all but 13 based upon
secondary criteria.

The articles were reviewed and categorized into themes surrounding the topic. These
themes were then split into three categories.

The first of the three categories considered broadly as a barrier to integration the iPad
was basic challenges. One challenge that the authors noticed was that the iPad was not
designed as a learning tool. At its introduction, it was widely perceived as a device for
consuming content and not creating it. Apple quickly introduced new features into the
iPad which made it more appealing for an educational setting.

The next category of barriers to the integration and adoption of iPads in schools
surround the integration itself of the device. Cost is a large barrier for many schools.
iPads are considered expensive and they often come with additional costs for peripheral
keyboards, screen protectors or apps. iPads also require an investment in internet
connectivity. There are additional costs to integrate iPads into the computing
ecosystem, particularly in a Windows environment in which Apple and Windows devices
do not always operate well together.
A second cost of integration of the device is the cost associated with teacher and
support staff skills. It takes time and investment for IT staff to learn to support iPads in
a school environment. Teachers must also invest their time in exploring how to best use
the devices in class.

The final category of barriers to integration and adoption of iPads in schools considered
in this article are “barriers in learning” and “iPad’s influence of the teaching methods.”
Some of the barriers in learning include the vast number of apps available for the iPad
and the weakness of the iPad as a shared-device. The mindset of the iPad as a gadget
rather than a tool to be used in support of the curriculum and content is another
integration barrier that the iPad faces in the classroom.

Although there are many barriers to integration and adoption of the iPad in schools, it is
interesting to consider that the iPad is still in its infancy. We do not have a great
number of studies on the use of the iPad in schools and at the rate of change
technology is experiencing today, it is a challenge to imagine any particular technology
standing still long-enough for us to get a long-term picture of its implications. After all,
the nature of technology is to change and develop.

The implications of the barriers to adoption and integration of iPads are quite similar to
the barriers to the adoption and integration of almost any new technology in schools.
We heard many of these same concerns when we first brought desktop computers into
schools. They were costly. They needed support. Teachers did not know how to use
them. And now there are teachers clamoring for more computing power in their
classrooms. As society in general comes to accept new technology, schools follow suit.
The technology eventually becomes a given.

These barriers are greatest, though, in countries where resources are scarce. Schools
that have great funding or prosperous parents will not suffer from the cost barrier. But
for the approximately 3 billion people on our planet who live on less than $2.50 per day,
it is hard to imagine that the cost barrier to iPads or any technology will come down
significantly enough and fast enough for this generation. Those of us who have plentiful
resources must be wise and generous in our use of them so that their benefits can be
maximized for the most people.