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New York's 'P177Q iPad Band' breaks through learning disabilities

A public school in Queens, New York is reportedly using iPads to great success in teaching music to kids with learning disabilities, particularly autism.

A music class led by teacher Adam Goldberg has done so well that he's formed the "P177Q iPad Band," in which every non-vocal instrument is played on an iPad, according to CBS News. A TV segment on the class was highlighted on Twitter by Apple CEO Tim Cook.

CBS noted that a previously non-verbal student has become able to talk and even sing.

Part of the key to the endeavor is believed to be the iPad's visual feedback. Because kids can focus on stimulus as long as they need to, information is easier to absorb.

Apple has heavily promoted the iPad in the educational market, which is likely a big reason it released a $329 basic iPad earlier this year. School budgets are often tight, which has made it harder to sell the iPad over cheaper rival devices like Chromebooks.



6 Comments

emoeller 17 Years · 590 comments

The video was absolutely incredible and those kids were amazing.   

lkrupp 19 Years · 10521 comments

But they could do it much cheaper with a Chromebook. /s

JanNL 9 Years · 328 comments

emoeller said:
The video was absolutely incredible and those kids were amazing.   

Heroes! And the solidarity of the teacher is great!!

Don't know if the word "solidarity" is the right word, I mean something like his involvement with his pupils is great.

macxpress 16 Years · 5915 comments

lkrupp said:
But they could do it much cheaper with a Chromebook. /s

All too true...I work in a school and I'm so sick of hearing that. ChromeBooks are yes, cheap and work fairly well, however, they're good at one thing and one thing only. If you want to do anything other than Google Classroom or Office365 its just kind of a POS. 

All of these schools using ChromeBooks I think are digging themselves a hole. I know schools want to save a buck and are strapped for funding these days, but this is not a good route. They're so limited on what you can do. I try as hard as I can to limit them coming into my district as a district device. I'd rather have Windows PC's than these. At least a Windows PC is useful in more ways than one. 

bestkeptsecret 13 Years · 4289 comments

I think this illustrates the essence of what Steve and Apple are always aiming for - products that improve and enhance lives.

Sure, it sounds like a pretentious ideal at face value, but things like this show how it isn't just a poster in the Apple meeting rooms and lounges.