In my Organic Chemistry lab class about one third of the students have their own iPad. Probably about half have used them in other classes leaving about half that have had little to no experience with iPads in an educational setting. I have noticed that when students create a digital lab report in my class many of them have frustrating problems which arise. Some of these problems are good as they cause the students to problem-solve. This is a good skill. But sometimes the frustration level is too high and it distracts from the real purpose of the iPad in that particular assignment. The purpose is to utilize the technology as a tool to develop and express creativity as the students better articulate the difficult chemistry concepts they learned in a format other than purely written.
Yesterday was the first time I took out the iPads in my Fall 2014 Organic lab. I am starting out a little differently from previous semesters.
