As some of you may already know, with the release of the latest IOS (6), Apple has included Siri for the iPhone 4s, 5 & iPad 3. For those who have never heard of Siri, in a nutshell, it is a digital personal assistant that allows you to create messages, search the web, check the weather, get directions or listings, make phone calls and find out answers to basic questions all by simply speaking into the device. Siri is also smart enough to ask clarifying questions and learn about you along the way in order to inform its responses.
Here is a link to some basic information about Siri: http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/siri-faq/
Our colleague, Ingrid Boyd, ran up against this earlier this week. As you already know, she is piloting a 1:1 iPad program with her grade 4 class. When she rolled out the iPads for the first time and began working with students in her introductory lesson, she was amazed that a number of the students knew about Siri and immediately began to use it rather than engage in the web search activity "the usual way." So now, just like me, she is faced with wondering if this is a good thing in the classroom.
We already know that students are now afforded the luxury of having more information at their fingertips at any given moment than we could have dreamed of having when we were in school. This is just a reality that we must deal with and so we modify our way of teaching accordingly. We cannot control this, nor should we. Nevertheless, Siri still gives me pause for thought. If students begin using Siri to assist them with their interactions with technology, are they missing out on the benefits of knowing the "fundamentals" of using technology as a tool? Or, do they really need to experience typing key words into a search engine, reading an online weather chart, writing their own emails or text messages, making their own entries into online calendars, etc? Will their skills be poorer or their lives be negatively impacted by missing out on this? I really don't know.
What I do know is this: just like the computer, and the calculator before that, and the reference book before that...these tools are here, now. While Ingrid may be able to tell her students to turn off Siri when using the Ashbury iPads, she cannot control the fact that it is on their personal iPhones, iPads and iPods. They are going to use it at some time. My initial response to her when she asked my opinion was to suggest that she take the time to explain Siri to her students and then explain her policy about using it in the classroom. She should have them turn it off, unless she has instructed them to use it. Then, just like she would for any other technology tool, she will need to find appropriate times for her students to incorporate it into their repertoire of tools.
Here is a link to a pretty good blog post about the way Siri may impact education: http://www.onlinecollege.org/2011/11/27/20-ways-siri-may-forever-change-education/
Both Ingrid and I are interested in your thoughts about this. What are the benefits of using Siri in the classroom? What are the potential pitfalls? Please take a moment to post a comment with your ideas.
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