
Why Some Schools Are Selling All Their iPads - jmduke
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/08/whats-the-best-device-for-interactive-learning/375567/
======
robotcookies
You need a keyboard to do any serious writing. Students should write and they
should never have gotten iPads in the first place. What are these teachers
thinking?

~~~
blahedo
A lot of people claim that the on-screen "keyboard" is a keyboard, so it's
plausible that some people bought into that. Lack of keyboard is a non-starter
for me for any serious device, but I lost count of the number of people that
told me I would be able to touch-type on the iPad's "keyboard". (This should
be obviously false, but in case it isn't, I'll point out that the apostrophe
---which I've used five times so far in this post---isn't (6!) even on the
main keyboard, and if you "touch-type" an apostrophe, you hit the enter key.
Emergency backup keyboard maybe, but this is not usable as a touch-typing
device.)

~~~
manicdee
The apostrophe is inserted automatically by most spelling engines (even if
they get it wrong some of the time). If not automatically added, you can put
the apostrophes in pretty easily when you go back to review what you wrote
(because you read what you wrote before you hit post, right?)

A keyboard is an obstruction when you just want to read, paint, or do non-
text-entry work (and even for some text-entry work like dictation).

I found the best of both worlds was a Logitech "Ultrathin Bluetooth Keyboard":
it attached to the iPad magnetically like a Smart Cover and provided a
keyboard and stand when you needed it.

Ultrabooks don't work so well in portrait orientation. It's hard to type on
them when they're sideways. On the other hand, my iPad + bluetooth keyboard
weighed more (and was thicker than) than my 11" MacBook Air.

Ultrabooks are also harder to read on, since vertical space is at a premium. I
prefer tall narrow pages, rather than short wide pages. The main orientation
on an Ultrabook is "short, narrow" pages (a format that photographers love,
but there's no talking sense to photographers and their fascination for
"square" pictures).

~~~
Grue3
>The apostrophe is inserted automatically by most spelling engines

This is simply impossible for virtually all usage cases of apostrophe in the
English language: it's/its, word's/words/words'.

~~~
antimagic
Why impossible? The rules for when to use each is well-defined. We know this
is true, because *we can recognise when the apostrophe is used incorrectly".
Yes, you need to parse the sentence that contains the apostrophe, and yes, in
some particularly odd sentences you can trip up a computer's understanding of
the sentence's grammar, but current tech is capable of getting this right with
very good accuracy.

~~~
MereInterest
Any time I use the word "ill", I need to explicitly tell the auto-correct not
to change it to "I'll", regardless of context.

Also, given that "I see the house. I see its eaves." and "I see the house. I
see it's tilted." have the same opening, I can't see how a computer could
possibly decide correctly between the two.

~~~
Rapzid
It would be highly unusual to place "it's" before a noun.

~~~
MereInterest
Highly unusual, yes, but you need to have the full sentence available for
parsing before you can make that decision. I would say that having a sentence
change itself after having written part would be horrible for the user, and so
autocorrect's knowledge is limited to what has been written before the
questionable word, with no knowledge of what comes after.

------
cpncrunch
Chromebooks are just much more useful than ipads in so many ways. I've
recently finished getting our html5 web conferencing app working smoothly on
chromebooks because pretty much all our educational customers are moving from
laptops to chromebooks right now.

I was skeptical about chromebooks, but having owned one myself for the past
few months I can now see the benefits, and I would recommend them over Windows
laptops to anyone who is not a developer. For all intents and purposes
chromebooks are essentially virus-proof and screwup-proof. (I'm sure you could
get a virus or screw it up, but you would have to try damn hard!)

~~~
GuiA
> I would recommend them over Windows laptops to anyone who is not a
> developer.

Really? Would you recommend it to your (hypothetical) 17 year old sister about
to enter college, or 85 year old grandpa? Asking because I've never used a
Chromebook, and this thread has made me very curious about them.

~~~
tapoxi
I got one for my 25 year old brother (history teacher) as a replacement for
his old Macbook. All he does is watch YouTube, browse Facebook, listen to
Pandora, check his email, and use Google Drive.

He loves the device (an Acer C720) and his only complaint is that he can't run
Skype. He switched to Hangouts.

For the average user I recommend Chromebooks without question unless they need
Microsoft Office.

~~~
xiaoma
Can't even run Skype? That's a massive failure.

Hangouts is a deal-breaker for those who don't want the integration and
privacy costs that come along with data from search, chats and email all
integrated through a single provider. On top of that, hangouts doesn't even
work in some parts of the world.

~~~
lrem
So, Hangouts are a privacy cost, but Skype is acceptable? Have you ever paid
attention to Skype's track record?

~~~
riffraff
grandparent refers to the risk of having all your stuff available to the same
provider, so skype's track record is not all there is to it.

------
DigitalSea
I have witnessed this taking place in the enterprise sector as well. Without
naming names, I've seen one large company here in Australia in particular move
away from using iPad's to laptops because iPad's are too limited in what you
can do, they don't offer the freedom of choice when it comes to different
software options and date very quickly. From a cost point-of-view, you can buy
a decent laptop for the same price as an iPad which will last for years.

I believe Apple's closed-source nature of pigeon-holing you into using
applications only on their tightly controlled moderated app store is actually
coming back to bite them. The fear of knowing eventually your iPad will no
longer be able to use the latest and greatest version of iOS forcing you to
buy a new iPad to install the latest applications developed for later iOS
versions your iPad doesn't support meaning more money is also another factor
that works against Apple.

Don't get me wrong, the iPad is a pretty great device for simplistic Internet
browsing, checking your email and updating your social media, but if you want
to do anything serious with it, the iPad shows its shortcomings.

~~~
tsunamifury
$399 laptops rarely last more than a year and are rarely robust enough for any
type of work. I could make practically all the same criticisms about a $399
laptop as an iPad.

That being said, I don't know who would replace an laptop with an iPad in any
sort of robust, non-mobile workflow, so I'm inclined to call BS on your
statement.

~~~
rythie
Traditionally laptops have had far too many moving parts to be durable:

    
    
      - 1 or 2 fans
      - Keyboard
      - display hinge
      - Hard disk
      - CD Drive
      - often various flaps or expansion area
    

Whilst laptops are improving in this area, iPad have not had any of those from
the beginning - it clearly makes for much more durable device. Additonally
almost all laptops are high maintenance software wise with the possible
exception of chromebooks.

------
JunkDNA
I knew where this article was going before it even mentioned Chromebooks. It
had the distinct smell of submarine:
[http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html](http://paulgraham.com/submarine.html)

~~~
jcromartie
And this is the author's first piece for the Atlantic.
[http://www.theatlantic.com/meghan-e-
murphy/](http://www.theatlantic.com/meghan-e-murphy/)

~~~
Doctor_Fegg
"Meghan E. Murphy is an education journalist who formally wrote for Newsday."

"Formally"? Ye gods.

------
SystemOut
iPads are really useful for kids in the K-3 or so age range, especially in the
lower band. However, once the kids get to 4th and 5th grade they need to start
writing more and that's where the full keyboard and ability to create content
makes a Chromebook a better decision.

My company works on products that help kids increase cognitive skills and
overcome issues such as auditory processing disorders and with the younger
kids the touch aspect of tablets has made them superior to laptops either with
mice or touchpads because touch is just a simpler motor skill for these
younger kids. As they get older however this advantage starts to disappear.

Basically the trend I think that will play out is that you see a mix of
devices with iPads predominantly at the lower grade bands and Chromebooks in
the mid to upper grade bands. Chromebooks are nearly disposable at their price
point, are incredibly easy to manage compared to Windows machines or iPads and
do 95% or more of what kids need to use devices for at school.

------
ekianjo
Too bad the article does not really go in the insights as to why the IPads are
being replaced by something else. It's just being hinted, but that's the main
point they should have focused on the article.

~~~
mattmcknight
It sounds like the key points are:

-lack of keyboard

-perceived as more of a game device than a work device

-inferior cloud capabilities to a Chromebook (harder to issue replacement device)

-harder to use with some educational web applications

-cost

I never really understood the "tablets for schools" thing. Laptops are better
on a desk than on a lap, whereas you might prefer a tablet when you don't have
a desk: on the bus, on the couch, in bed...

Maybe we just need more laptops with touchscreens.

~~~
ekianjo
> Maybe we just need more laptops with touchscreens.

I'm probably very old school (no word pun intended :) ) but I still don't
really get much of why you'd need a touchscreen in the first place. I don't
see tons of people drawing with their ipads or on their laptop/tablets, most
of the time you just use fingers as a mouse replacement - yeah, it's pretty
useful for browsing, but for most of the other applications a touchscreen
feels very much "nice to have", i.e. not necessary at all. But again, I'm not
in the target population.

~~~
DSMan195276
I agree, I've never seen the need for a standard touch-screen laptop, it seems
like the touch-screen is in an inconvenient position since the keyboard sticks
out of the computer. That said, I've been eyeing touch-screen laptops that can
fold into a tablet form-factor for taking notes in class. It's one of the
areas where I find I simply can't type in most notes I take. But, paper's
still cheaper and works pretty well.

~~~
ekianjo
For browsing instead of touching the screen at arms' length I guess the mouse
is the most practical thing to use to scroll down in a page - especially those
mice with touch sensors.

As for laptops that can transform into tablets, I guess this makes more sense
to have touch-screen anyway.

By the way are you saying that you can not type in class using a keyboard? Is
there a reason for that?

~~~
DSMan195276
Honestly I've used touch-screen laptops before and using the mouse is just
more convenient because you have your hands down there to type 90% of the time
anyway. You can get 'used' to using the touch-screen for certain things but
for regular laptop usage I've never seen a reason to.

I can type in class if I wanted too (Though, typing it a bit loud, it'd be
kinda annoying for my other class-mates). The issue is actually entering in my
notes. For example, this summer I took Linear Algebra, and most of the class
involves lots and lots of matrices. It's easy to write them on paper, but
setting up the formatting correctly to have something readable on the computer
is easier said then done. There were also a few classes where we had examples
involving drawing two ovals next to each-other with dots inside and then
drawing lines between the dots. I'd simply be fussing with my computer to much
to actually pay attention and get all the information down when trying to draw
out stuff like that. Using a simple notepad is just hands-down better. A
tablet interface with a pen would be perfect though, because I could write all
my notes down just like a note-pad into the computer, and then go back and
reorganize them fairly easily.

I'd rather just buy a laptop that can fold into a tablet because I have no
real need or want to have two separate devices considering I probably won't
use tablet mode that much.

------
seba_dos1
So the schools are discovering that iPads are a toys rather than work devices?
What a surprise!

Notice how all those teachers were "at first disappointed that they weren't
getting an iPad". Really? If you choose the tool based only on its coolness
factor, you'll hardly get the right one, especially for education.

------
bgroins
I'm seeing this change in the workplace as well. I work in a large IT shop and
have about 15-20 meetings a week with different departments. Until the past 6
months, everyone was sporting iPads with some sort of bluetooth keyboard case.
Now it's ultrabooks or Airs. I used to carry a tablet/keyboard combo as well,
but over time the ultrabook became more appealing because of several factors,
namely, the keyboard, screen size, and Office suite. Battery life and
portability are also now acceptable for all day mobile use on the ultrabook. I
don't think there will ever be a tablet compelling enough to switch back. Even
the Surface (to me) has too many compromises over a lightweight ultrabook with
a usable keyboard.

~~~
swalsh
Its because workplaces/schools are centered around producing, and tablets have
a terrible user experience for producing. They're fine for consuming, but
that's not what people do most of the time in offices/schools.

------
lchengify
While I was working in the Google Apps group a few years ago, we would bring
in groups of teachers for focus groups and feedback on upcoming features for
Apps.

My biggest takeway from those meetings was that educators have a _really_ hard
job, much harder than even what educated people assume. On top of actually
being a useful educational tool, there are a ton of other boxes to check in
order to get any kind of technology into the classroom:

* Compliance with the myriad of federal, state, and local laws surrounding education procurement, student data, what can and can't happen on government property and around children, and cash-strapped educational IT departments.

* Able to be simple enough for any educator to use and maintain, but also have enough features to add value as a educational tool.

* Bureaucracies and procurement policies that run the gamut: administrators, local government, state government, federal government, parents, the school board, the PTA, the teachers union, etc.

* Extreme price sensitivity.

* Long life: Even rich districts struggle to get budgets to upgrade technology regularly, and by regularly I mean every 2-4 years.

* The mechanics of running a classroom filled with children ... who would often rather spend a class period figuring out how to bypass a firewall to get to facebook, rather than half a class period writing.

Getting by all these requirements, and reaching educators at the end, requires
a concerted, long running effort on the part of the company. We were lucky
that Google had a running a edu program for Apps/Chrome and made it a
priority. Consequently a lot of the core features of the offering are targeted
specifically at educators:

* Strong central administrative control. In order to use your chromebook at all, you really need to log into your web account. It's only able to install things locally (and bypass administrative restrictions) if you really work hard to get around it. This helps get the tools approved by IT departments and administrators. Compare this to the fleets of windows machines or ipads that lots of IT departments have to maintain, where they basically solve the problem by re-imaging the machine regularly to wipe out locally installed apps.

* Price. Edu Google Apps accounts are essentially free. Compared to other computing solutions, Chromebooks are cheap and get the job done.

* Tools that both educators and students can use. The biggest selling point on apps is actually calendar. Gmail is great but most schools already have a email system in place. A calendar that syncs, has proper access control, is central to your school, and free, saves educators a lot of hassle. Once a teacher is hooked on calendar as a "gateway drug", it's not hard to take the leap. Docs, gmail, chrome, and chromebooks all have the same login, contact list, and access control. Being able to use these tools makes it easier to pass this knowledge onto the student.

* Maintenance: A student can work on one chromebook, drop it in water, and then immediately log onto another one and have all his work. Also for a educator in the classroom, it's easy to understand that refreshing the page will fix the problem 90% of the time.

* Shared home / school: A student can log onto his apps account at home, and get all his state as if he were still at school.

* Platform cross compatibility: Apps can work well on a Chromebook, but also will do a best-effort attempt on IE9 on windows. Apple's core philosophy has never tilted that way. This isn't just to adapt to varying levels of tech in classrooms, but also for taking the tools home.

* And finally, lots of bells and whistles that often get overlooked: ADA compliance, language support, student data compliance, etc.

All that being said, for young children, an iPad is an irreplaceable
educational tool. I doubt any Google product has the kind of widespread appeal
as iPads do among young children. Maybe YouTube, but even that is a stretch.

~~~
tomp
> All that being said, for young children, an iPad is an irreplaceable
> educational tool.

IMO, for young children, the iPad is an irreplaceable brain-destroying tool.
It's scary when you see a 2-year old glued to a TV screen playing a cartoon,
completely detached from reality. Even scarier when they play with an iPad,
then try swiping picture book pages and finally throw the book away for being
boring. (Having said that, I also find it scary how much time teens spend
oversharing on Facebook.)

Although I hated it at the time, I'm actually infinitely grateful that my
parents limited the time I could spend on the computer when I was a kid
(30mins/day, no GameBoy). It made me develop in ways that I never could using
just a computer, and made me appreciate "real life".

~~~
TeMPOraL
I had exactly opposite experience. I'm infinitely grateful for unlimited,
unsupervised computer time since I was 9. Without that, I wouldn't have picked
up programming at 13, read as much as I did and be the person I am now.

Also, "real life" is overrated. A lot of things that technophobic people spend
their time on in "real life" feels like total nonsense to me - especially all
that gossips, interpersonal dramas and poking their noses into lives of
others.

I always pictured it as a difference between soap opera vs. space opera (like
TNG), where most people seem to live in the former, while I strive to live in
the latter.

~~~
tomp
I picked up programming as well. However, I also played outside, talked to
people, did well at school... I have nothing against the image of the
stereotypical herbivore men/"neckbears", but I have goals in my life that I
don't think I would be able to accomplish with a computer, goals like sports,
travels, girlfriend/wife/family, ...

My brother, on the other hand, only played computer games. For him, the
restriction was even more essential.

Also, I agree that dramas and gossip are not an interesting or worthy part of
"real life" \- however, gossiping and drama over facebook is even worse,
because it can haunt you forever.

~~~
TeMPOraL
Fair enough, but I don't see a reason to single out computers as something
dividing one's goals between good (not related to computers) and bad (related
to computers). I personally don't care about sports or typical tourism, and
I'm a bit tired of being called a "no-life" for that.

> _however, gossiping and drama over facebook is even worse, because it can
> haunt you forever_

Yes, and the people who do that gossiping and dramas tend to be the same that
tell you to "get a life". People's behaviour on social networks reflect their
behaviour in real-life interactions.

------
bennettfeely
My high school spent thousands of dollars on 30-40 iPads which we "used"
primarily in Spanish class in my senior year. Overall an enormous waste of
money and time not limited to problems connecting to the spotty Wi-Fi. Our
teacher was not aware of any good apps that she could tie into lessons so the
iPads were used primarily as a web browser for a crappy textbook website.

Virtually nothing was accomplished for a semester with the iPads. The IT
director at my school was right when he referred to the devices that were
supposed to be a revolution in education as "toys".

~~~
tjl
It sounds like your IT director didn't support the teachers use of the iPads
well (or the WiFi for that matter). Reading Fraser Speirs' blog
([http://www.speirs.org](http://www.speirs.org)) about how he did a 1:1
program for his school (he was the computer teacher and IT professional
there), it's clear that you can't just hand the iPads out and that's it.

------
f4stjack
When the deal comes to educational practices, a device mostly created for the
consumer (as in content consumer) practices does seem to fit the bill at first
glance, doesn't so in the long run.

I have used ipads, e-readers, laptops and desktop computers nearly all my
life. I was one of the first students who were taking his notes with a palm
tungsten e2 with a stowaway keyboard talking to it via IR.

The problem here is as same as the palm's however. I HAD to buy an external
keyboard to take notes or write stuff. Even though palm had ingeniously
offered a "handwriting method" to take fast notes. But lecture notetaking is a
different beast.

"Students saw the iPad as a “fun” gaming environment, while the Chromebook was
perceived as a place to “get to work.” And as much as students liked to
annotate and read on the iPad, the Chromebook's keyboard was a greater perk —
especially since the new Common Core online testing will require a keyboard"

Actually, come to think of it, a dream machine invented for the educational
purposes should have three things as essential:

\- a turnable (and good) cam to record the lecture with sound

\- a comfy keyboard

\- A 13' IPS screen. 13 inch is the maximal range. Although screen real estate
is a brilliant thing, lugging it out in a huge backpack with charger apparatus
does not make it worthwhile.

------
kennethfriedman
I think iPads could be great for K12 education, but only if they are used
effectively. You can't just take the current curriculum and stuff it with
technology hoping to make it better. You have to pair the content and
methodology with the technology. It seems like they are just buying
iPads/Chromebooks/Whatever, shoving them in classrooms, and hoping they make a
difference.

It might be more effective to start with iPads outside the classroom, not
inside. Inside the classroom they have access to a teacher. No current or
near-future technology is going to be able to replace the benefits of a
teacher.

But at home, many kids are stuck with boring paper homework assignments and
static, old (sometimes 10+ yr) textbooks. If we replaced paper homework with
interactive questions, and textbooks with engaging iBooks (or other iBooks
like) textbook[1], that could make a real difference.

Apple had created great interactive textbook creation software, and it seems
great paired with iTunes U. However, there don't seem to be great books coming
from it. Apple probably should have made many demos (instead of just 1) to
give educators and the public an idea of the potential interactive homework
and textbooks could have on student engagement.

~~~
greggman
K12? Maybe K-3. You're not allowed to program or share programs on iPads by
Apple's rules so once any of your kids show an interest in programming or if
you want to teach programming you'll have to get them something else.

~~~
kennethfriedman
actually this is an old myth. You can program on an iPad (there are even
programming apps) though you can't run executables and it's far from good
enough.

There are alternative solutions, like Scratch at the MIT Media Lab, which is
now available on the iPad to teach programming.

However the vast majority of K12 education is not programming.

------
masterjack
In terms of what has measurable effects in the classroom there is a very
rigorous study by Hattie: "A synthesis of over 800 meta analyses relating to
achievement" In it, things like computer assisted learning, simulation and
games, testing etc have a very low effect. Primary is things like feedback and
other things that come down to the teacher. A partial list is contained here:
[https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/proflearn/docs/pdf/qt_hattie.pdf](https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/proflearn/docs/pdf/qt_hattie.pdf)
That said, a big theme for what works seems to be personalization, custom
feedback, custom progress, and computers should be great for this. It'll still
be hard to beat a great teacher: in grade 1 alone there are close to 20
different reading levels that each student needs to be supervised through on
their own pace

------
jordanthoms
My startup makes PDF annotation software for chrome & chromebooks (
[http://www.notablepdf.com](http://www.notablepdf.com) ) and we've been
getting a huge amount of interest from schools deploying large numbers of
chromebooks. Dell even stopped selling their chromebook to individual
purchasers since they are struggling to keep up with demand from the education
sector [1]

It's a very interesting space at the moment especially with Google Classroom
on the way.

[1] - [http://www.pcworld.com/article/2453800/dell-halts-
chromebook...](http://www.pcworld.com/article/2453800/dell-halts-chromebook-
online-sales-cites-rising-demand.html)

------
wallflower
There is a saying in education that if something new comes in and threatens
the education system - the system will co-opt and neutralize it so that it
does not threaten the system.

For example, when computers first started being used in classrooms, they were
usually used by progressive teachers in a single classroom (they could usually
only afford one). The school 'neutralized' it by moving them to a dedicated
classroom and teaching the students secondary skills like typing, rather than
using it to create with/explore with as part of the curriculum. This continues
to present day - with app literacy (Powerpoint) substituted for typing
(usually).

iPads are an interesting case. They are not necessarily coming in from the
grassroots (the teachers) but from the top-down. Teachers, in some cases, are
the ones fighting the iPads. In fact, most of my educator friends, view the
iPad 'magical device' moniker with disdain. It's not so much the walled garden
as the hype.

This co-opting is also happening with the Maker Movement in schools. As soon
as the Maker Movement moves beyond the single classroom, questions start
getting asked. Why do you need a dedicated space? What is this Maker thing?
How does making things align to Common Core (no joke __).

 __One of the problems of using Khan Academy self-styled learning is that it
is very hard to map Khan Academy lessons to traditional student learning
objectives (as mapped out in 1.2.3.4 level detail by the school district or
state). Without explicit mappings, it 's a hard(er) sell.

~~~
mjburgess
All (ideological) systems are self-preserving, if they weren't, they wouldn't
be stable.

------
rdtsc
It is important to realize that Apple products are accessible luxury products.
They are used just as much for their functionality as for status signals. Do
you know a person who bought one and is using it for reading email? Yeah I
know a bunch.

The paradox in accessible luxury is that unlike other goods -- cars, homes,
clothes. The wealthy don't necessarily get higher end devices. You'd have to
be a multi-billionaire to have your own iPhone or iPad designed, built,
tested. Otherwise chances are even if you are Warren Buffet the highest end
smart phone you'll own will be an Apple one. And the paradoxical thing is that
someone poor living on food stamps can also probably swing getting the same
model with 2 year contract.

So people will shell extra money to own one to show off status. (Not saying
everyone does this, it is just some do). This then extends to school districts
as well. At some point it doesn't matter about features or functionality
someone "up there" with a check-book decided "we are getting the best
technology out there for the money. Hey Joe what is the highest end coolest
technology out there? Hmm well my kids all got iPads for Christmas... -- Ok we
are getting iPads for everyone.".

~~~
smackfu
That is a bit silly. What better non-luxury tablet are you suggesting they buy
instead, if the only point of Apple is accessible luxury?

~~~
rdtsc
The one that fits their requirements, probably not a tablet at all. Something
easy to centrally manage.

In general. The point was that signalling of status is _one_ of the reasons
Apple products are bought for. There are of course other reasons, but I wasn't
talking about those.

------
taigeair
Yeah I think a laptop is much more useful. I still don't have a tablet. The
biggest use of a tablet I can see is watching videos.

~~~
WalterBright
I use a tablet for reading books. They're much better than a laptop for that.

~~~
allegory
I disagree. They're easier to annotate on a computer.

Then again I still use hard copies when they're not extortionately priced and
postits for markup.

~~~
WalterBright
Fair enough, though I pretty much never annotate books.

Taking notes on a computer has never worked for me, either. I take notes on
paper, then later scan them in.

When I help someone with a math/electronics/physics problem, I also use a
yellow pad & pen. I cannot see any advantage to using a computer.

For writing significant text, though, it's a computer all the way.

~~~
allegory
I do the same actually. Can't beat a pencil and cheap HP AIO printer/scanner.
I tend to annotate errors in books more than anything - it seems recently that
publishers have lost the ability to review books...

------
Kayou
Maybe I got brainwashed by their video, but I indeed think that a laptop like
the Dell Latitude 13
([http://youtu.be/rq5dqKWymP8](http://youtu.be/rq5dqKWymP8)) is much better
than a tablet.

There is a keyboard, a network activity light on the back of the screen,
removable battery, spill resistance, compatible with the Dell Mobile Computing
Cart to store and charge them, the laptop can open flat and has a touchscreen
so it can do all what a windows table can, 8H battery life, USB ports, they
claim that it's sturdy. But most important, there is a keyboard! And with the
new features of windows 8 where you can reset the computer with factory
settings with or without keeping your data, that's good, but still not as good
as not being able to have any software problem like on an iPad.

I really like the network indicator on the back so that the student is
immediately spotted when going online, nice idea.

------
sheetjs
> since the new Common Core online testing will require a keyboard.

Is common core testing available on paper, or is it only computerized?

~~~
aefeuer
For the first 1-3 years, I believe, states/districts will have the option of
paying extra for paper versions of the test. That's only a transitional
option, though, and paper will be deprecated in favor of the online test. (One
exception -- paper tests will be available indefinitely for students with
special needs who can't take the test online.)

One of the big problems with online tests that we're seeing in some of our
school districts is that many students don't have great typing or computer
skills. Even though most students can probably type well enough to complete
the tests, the extra mental challenge of typing is likely to artificially
lower scores. So a test that purports to measure math skills might actually be
measuring a combination of math skills + computer skills, and a school that's
worked really hard to teach math might get docked because students haven't had
a lot of computer experience.

This doesn't necessarily mean that online testing is a bad idea, but just one
of the many things that we need to take into account.

~~~
ericcumbee
I'm all for more computer based assessments. But the idea of taking a math
test on a computer sounds horrible. I remember MyMathLab in college. you could
have the right answer, but if you did not enter it in the precise way that it
wanted, then it was wrong.

~~~
ivan_ah
the fuzzy acceptance of answers can be solved, but not having some paper to
"jot down" equations and intermediary results sounds terrible...

------
Synergyse
Our business is built around a Chrome Extension that provides interactive
Google Apps Training. At Synergyse we have seen massive adoption of
Chromebooks in the education market, which represents a majority of our valued
clients. In fact we have grown the business to over 1 million subscribers in 1
year. [https://medium.com/@majidmanzarpour/how-we-grew-
our-b2b-star...](https://medium.com/@majidmanzarpour/how-we-grew-
our-b2b-startup-to-1-million-subscribers-in-1-year-f55b4b4cdcf6)

------
pflanze
Hm, nobody is mentioning the Raspberry Pi. Isn't this their target audience?
Is it too slow, Raspbian not good enough for what they want to teach, or
what's the reason?

(I'm not a teacher nor have I tried to use a Pi (although I own one, haven't
had the time to play with it yet); I'm just wondering.)

------
r3m6
I fail to understand why any school would need iPads or similar devices. Use
the classic blackboard and invest every $ in recruiting and training GOOD
teachers.

Yes, a computer room or some sets of LEGO mindstorms kits can make good sense.
But iPads or Chromebooks for every kid? Come on...

------
australis
Single page link:

[http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/08/whats-t...](http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/08/whats-
the-best-device-for-interactive-learning/375567/?single_page=true)

------
valevk
Why do schools have iPads, when they can't afford basic supplies:
[http://redditgifts.com/exchanges/redditgifts-
teachers-2014/](http://redditgifts.com/exchanges/redditgifts-teachers-2014/) ?

~~~
smackfu
Um, some schools have more money than others.

------
capkutay
Apple probably knows and they probably don't think it's that significant for
them. They didn't hire the CEO of Burberry and st Laurent to sell digital
notebooks to grade schools

~~~
RowanH
.. but you get young minds entrenched in your ecosystem and you've got a head
start.

Fast forward a number of years with all of your school work online, maybe a
'school' email account/drive and profile linked with your 'personal' gmail
account and drive - it's seamless to transition between the two etc. Now
company x comes along and wants you to move ecosystems, it's going to be a lot
harder.

I for one couldn't even contemplate changing from the gmail/drive ecosystem
now. Get a new phone, put in your creds, boom - all there. The hardware is
irrelevant at that point.

------
ksec
Is Chromebook that much cheaper? Why is it hard to replace an iPad compared to
Chromebook?

To me, a lot of these issues have to do with software rather then hardware.

~~~
jay_kyburz
Actualy. I think it is about the keyboard.

------
EinLama
55 trackers according to ghostery. What the hell is wrong with
theatlantic.com?

------
ars
I never understood why an iPad - why waste money for the apple name? Nexus 7
devices are much cheaper and equal or better.

