Smashing iPads and Creating Innovators

This is a great article http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/edtechresearcher/2012/11/if_you_meet_an_ipad_on_the_way_smash_it.html on how and for what iPads should be used in the classroom.  
The article also discusses the 2012 EdTechTeacher's iPad Summit which is touted as the "first national gathering of educators pioneering the use of iPads and tablets in schools and classrooms".  The Summit facilitator and author of this article is concerned with the possibility of the summit being about the device rather than about the learning.  In his words, "The iPad summit is not about the iPad. The way we are seeking is one where we prepare young people for a life of civic commitment, of self-reflection, and of meaningful work and contributions to community. The way is about unlocking student talent, compassion, and humanity. If the iPad distracts us from defining the way, then we have to smash it."

The keynote speaker, Tony Wagner author of Creating Innovators,  will discuss topics like "talking about play, passion, and purpose as critical nutrients to fertilizing the soil where innovation can take root. He'll share a vision of emerging educational spaces—like Olin College, MIT's Media Lab, and High Tech High—that have developed effective strategies for fostering collaborative problem solving and creative thinking."  It won't be about the device and the cool apps but about what we should be using the device to teach.  The real innovation in learning.

This also made me think of John Medina's Rule#4 from his book Brain Rules  "We don't pay attention to boring things.  Especially where he talks about "emotional arousal helps the brain learn." http://www.brainrules.net/pdf/brainrules_summaries.pdf  and from his book Brain Rules for Babies The ingredients I propose include self-control, inquisitiveness, creativity, and verbal and nonverbal communication. All of these are, to some extent, controlled by genetics. (The DNA you give your kids controls about 50 percent of their intellectual horsepower.) And many of them are characteristics common among the country’s most successful entrepreneurs. But great accomplishments often take effort more than smarts." http://www.brainrules.net/pdf/brain-rules-for-baby-summaries.pdf

From my 8th grader who is in a district with 1 to 1 iPads for Middle and High School students she tweets, "it's not about the iPad, it's about the learning."  in her frustration of teachers refusal to let them use the device as a learning tool and the school administrators using the device as a reward/punishment tool.  And from the iPad Summit Article:  "If the nitty-gritty details of iPad use distract us from our larger mission, then we need to smash them. If we get too lost in the "how" of iPads in classrooms, then we need to stop and ask "why?"

 What is your take on iPads in the classroom?