A couple of days ago, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press featured an article called “Minnesota students, teachers find iPad becoming go-to tool“. When Apple first announced the iPad, I was initially pretty skeptical. I thought it was just a big iPod Touch. During the time in between Apple’s announcement and the iPad’s ultimate release, however, I would frequently encounter situations throughout the day and think to myself, “Gee, an iPad would actually be perfect for this.” So sure enough, within days of the device’s release, I had one in my possession. Even today, almost nine months later, the thing rarely leaves my sight.

As we sit on the brink of the iOS 4.2 release, I can only imagine how multitasking can really put the iPad into good use in the classroom environment. I already use my iPad extensively for my online classes as part of my Masters degree program. I use apps like The Early Edition, Instapaper, Dropbox, Evernote, PDF Highlighter, and Note Taker HD to great advantage while doing research and writing papers. Before I would have to go to the library and pull out bound books of journal articles, go to the photocopier and copy the article I want, take it home and read/highlight it. Now I can do all of that from home, with no paper. I can save websites for offline perusal with Instapaper and jot notes with Note Taker HD (and a handy iPad Stylus). Throw in Apple’s iWork Suite consisting of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, and I have almost everything I need for school, work, and play (don’t even get me started on play).

Do you have an iPad? If so, tell me how you love to use it in the comments below. If you’re a teacher, how could you best take advantage of a fleet of iPads in your classroom?