The iPhone, iPod, and iPad. Are They Just Distractions?

When the iPad was revealed in January, educators already began to dream up all kinds of possibilities. Their students could have access to every book ever written. They could download interactive lessons with videos and interactive multimedia content. Of course, they could also play Scrabble with each other over Facebook when class starts to get a little boring. They could send texts to one another instead of paying attention.

And so the double edged sword of technology continues to swing in our midst, cutting both ways. President Obama, for one, certainly isn't convinced that a new device will bring positive change. He stated at a graduation ceremony that "with iPods and iPads and Xboxes and PlayStations, - none of which I know how to work - information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment."

Ask most university professors and the story is the same. They're tired of dealing with students who bring their laptop loaded with World of Warcraft into the classroom. They want their students to stop sending texts to one another when they should be paying attention to the lecture. More than anything, they want their students to care.

You can't help but be amazed at how far we've come in making information freely available to everyone, and yet when so much is out there, we'd rather play Sudoku or watch YouTube videos of people crashing their motorcycles. In many ways, the iPad has the potential to become the 21st century equivalent of a dirty magazine covered up with a thick textbook on Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Everyone says they're getting one because it will help them build their business or study more efficiently, and yet here we all are, downloading old episodes of Lost.

Image Source: IdeoToyLab

Will the iPad, iPhone and everything else with an "i" in front of it, revolutionize education? You bet they will. But only as much as we all make a conscious effort to avoid distracting ourselves. It's unreasonable to place 100% of the blame on the devices themselves. We're the ones who, in the middle of an otherwise productive day, decide to "wind down for a little bit" and play solitaire. We're the ones who jump from article to article about Bob Barker and The Price Is Right for no good reason.

We are, as Obama says, allowing information to become a distraction. But there are those who are fighting it with every ounce of concentration they have, and they own iDevices. Some of them are even building apps that stop people from distracting themselves. These apps block everything out for a set time period so the user can focus only on the task at hand. Once the set time period is up, it's back to Slate, Digg, and The Onion. The list goes on...

The idea of apps that intentionally limit what you can do is offensive on a personal level, but sometimes it's best to admit defeat when you're fighting an enemy that continually outsmarts your every move. Perhaps this is the future of the distraction-free classroom. As students enter, they are forced to load an app that shuts down everything but note taking and class interaction. Students will enjoy what their devices allow them to do, and professors won't have to worry about that kid who just keeps on playing World of Warcraft.

With the iPhone application development boom, we, as mobile app developers, love the exciting new prospects and perspectives it offers. And do you know why we'll opt in to it? Because we know ourselves too well, that's why.

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