The impact of handheld mobile devices on educational practice continues to be an area of considerable
interest in both the research and practice of education (Ally, 2009; Kenny, Park, Van Neste-Kenny, Burton
& Meiers, 2009; Maag, 2007). However, there is a gap in the literature with respect to descriptions of
applications of handheld devices. Song (2007) comments that research needs to focus “more on making use
of simple features of handheld devices for educational applications in context” (p. 44). This session
presents the findings of an exploration of how the iPad, a new handheld device on the market, can be used
in a specific teaching context.
The particular iPad use described in this session is within a folk dance class. Folk dance lexicon and
presentation are complex motor skills to teach and often instructors themselves are not experts at every
dance movement (Ostashewski, Reid, & Ostashewski, 2009). The iPad allows for mobile on-the-spot
demonstration using exemplar videos from a large handheld database. The ability to finely control video
playback and display it for small groups of students is a key affordability of this device. Demonstrations of
how the iPad is used in this classroom context utilizing the multimedia iTunes application on the device are
the focus of the presentation.