Using an iPad as a Viewing Computer?

Has anyone considered using an iPad as a viewing computer for paperless debating? By using Dropbox and/or FileApp, it is relatively easy to transfer Word documents from a laptop to an iPad. The advantages of using an iPod are pretty clear: it’s smaller and lighter than any other viewing device, the screen size/resolution is good (certainly better than most netbooks), and it is super easy to use/handle. There are also obvious disadvantages, though: it does not have a USB port so it is impossible to jump files without either accessing a network or connecting it to iTunes, it doesn’t allow documents to be edited (just viewed), and the screen is smaller than a full-size laptop.

Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? Would debaters and coaches feel comfortable with an iPad as a viewing computer? Has anyone else experimented with this yet? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Bill Batterman

Bill is the Associate Director of Debate at Woodward Academy. The 2009 Wisconsin Debate Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year and 2010 National Debate Coaches’ Association Educator of the Year, Bill is an instructor at the Georgetown Debate Seminar and the Spartan Debate Institute at Michigan State University.

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