A student drawing on the iPad

One of our student iPad evaluators, Angelica, recently created this drawing using AutoDesk's Sketchbook Mobile Express. She is a talented young artist and I'm glad to see her experimenting with painting and drawing in a digital medium. Angelica doesn't have a ton of traditional painting and drawing tools at home, but with the iPad she has a nearly unlimited supply of art making tools.

She is in the process of putting together her AP Art portfolio, and I hope she considers submitting some of the work she creates on the iPad.

I continue to be less interested in the iPad as a tool for doing the typical things we do with laptop computers and analogue resources like textbooks. However, I'm becoming more and more interested in the iPad as a platform to amplify creativity through art and music making programs.

Can we justify the cost of the iPad?

When we last gathered in our user groups, I mentioned my concern for the impact of toxic waste resulting from our 21st century consumer model of mobile technology.  This story raises an entirely new concern.  As you will hear, more than a dozen employees of the Chinese company responsible for producing the iPad have committed suicide in recent months. 

With a feverish pitch we all rush to the newest, shiny thing.  Are we stopping long enough to consider the true cost to our humanity and to our planet?

by Ryanne Saddler