Dive Brief:

• A new study shows how tablets can help students understand difficult concepts.
• Students saw learning gains after 20 minutes of study on an iPad when tackling topics such as the size of the universe and the size of an atom.
• In the study, high school students used a simulation app to explore the solar system in two ways: using the conventional diagram of the solar system and using one that more accurately represents the scale of the planets and distances.

Dive Insight:

This is exactly the kind of learning that you would expect iPads to help with: The size of the universe can be difficult to comprehend, and a scalable, dynamic model can help with that understanding. Expect to see this study brought up a lot by iPad champions. It's being published in the January 2014 issue of Computers and Education.