The iPad

as aLanguage Learning Tool

The four stages of an innovation development• 1. need

• 2. Research

• 3. Development

• 4. Commercialization

1. NEED

• I am proposing to use the iPad tablet to teach and learn languages because it relieves the department from buying costly equipment for the language laboratory. Each student would have his own device onto which the language application would have been installed. Step by step, learners would complete each lesson following the guidance of their instructor.

RESEARCH• Hello-Hello, a company that develops language

learning programs experimented with the applications designed to work on the iPad and the result is that this device offers a new way to learn languages. Not only students are provided with authentic and real-life materials, they also have access to native speakers of the target language through a dedicated social network. Learners can practice through interactions with native speakers. In addition, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) recommends the use of the iPad because it provides learners with authentic materials.

DEVELOPMENT

• My innovation is intended for both language teachers and learners. The main problem is the price of the iPad. Knowing that everyone would keep it at the end of the course would encourage them to buy it. They will be able to use it for other purposes as well.

COMMERCIALIZATION• The first iPad was commercialized in april 2010. It was

designed by Apple. I think that most of the devices produced by this American company are manufactured in Taiwan. According to sources on the Internet, 14.8 million iPads were sold in one year. The iPad 2 was launched in April 2011. It was made to improve the first version which was slow and lacked some of the features that would allow users to really appreciate it as a powerful computer. More and more schools have decided to use the iPad instead of having their students buy paper-based textbooks, they would provide the learners with electronic books downloaded on this device.