HETL Note: We are pleased to launch a new article type for The HETL Review called the technology review article. A technology review provides a critique and overview of a technology application – its usefulness to educators, its applications for teaching and learning, and its strengths and weaknesses. The technology review article is part user experience and part literature review on the specific application as well as on the broader technology in general. Its emphasis is on how educators can benefit from the practical applications of the technology. In this article, Dr. Kevin Yee and Lissa Pompos explain how OnLive Desktop, an iPad application, can assist faculty in creating a more interactive classroom environment and a more engaged teacher-student relationship in the classroom.
Bios: Dr. Kevin Yee is an Assistant Director at the Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Central Florida and a Committee Member of the Florida Faculty Development Consortium. Kevin’s research interests include new technology tools, interactive classroom techniques, and issues in second-language learning. His disciplinary research includes German Romanticism, Goethe, and 19th-century German novellas. This background in second-language learning has allowed him to explore the issue of language and cultural connections in the classroom. Lissa Pompos is an undergraduate English literature student and a Research Assistant at the UCF Faculty Center. She will begin her graduate studies in Rhetoric and Composition during the Fall 2012 semester.
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OnLive Desktop: An iPad Based Technology for the Classroom
Kevin Yee and Lissa Pompos
University of Central Florida
Abstract
This article presents a review of the iPad application “OnLive Desktop” and discusses its potential classroom benefits. OnLive Desktop allows iPad users to both create and present files and presentations with the full capabilities of Microsoft® Windows® programs such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. In addition, OnLive Desktop users can view Flash® files within the application. This unique combination of the iPad’s portability and OnLive Desktop’s desktop capabilities and annotation features has the potential to change teacher-student interaction in the classroom.
Keywords: OnLive Desktop; iPad; iPad apps; interactive presentations; Microsoft Windows; PowerPoint
Introduction
The field of software applications (commonly referred to as “apps”) designed for the iPad (a tablet computer) has quickly become crowded as both users and developers have discovered a need for unique programs that leverage the particular capabilities of the iPad. Although not as big as a desktop PC or as small as a smartphone, the iPad combines features of both devices. Yet, it has been difficult to find true bridge technologies that allow it to replace both the phone and PC, even if only in certain contexts (Travis, 2010). OnLive Desktop is one such bridge technology. It runs on both old and new iPads with operating system iOS 4.3 and higher.
Much of the iPad’s critique has focused on its status as a “passive consumption device” (Budiu & Nielson, 2011; Foote, 2010; Parry, 2010), but some have argued that the iPad has the potential to actively engage students through its rich media experience and portable, sharable size, both of which foster classroom discussion and collaboration (Bradshaw, 2011; Budiu & Nielsen, 2011; Foote, 2010; Wieder, 2011). One way to tap into these educational goals is by using applications that allow instructors to create and share content in a portable and interactive way. Many applications can approximate the functions of full-scale PC programs, but usually at the cost of providing a “workaround” rather than a full-fledged solution.
