
More Schools Embrace the iPad as a Learning Tool  - px
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/education/05tablets.html?pagewanted=2&src=twr
======
danilocampos
Fraser Speirs' iPad 1:1 deployment odyssey at a private elementary school has
been fascinating to watch:

[http://speirs.org/blog/2010/9/23/the-ipad-project-how-its-
go...](http://speirs.org/blog/2010/9/23/the-ipad-project-how-its-going.html)

 _At this point, all I can give you are some practical anecdotes which, I
hope, will give you a flavour of the change.

I picked up a ream of printer paper yesterday. It had dust on top of it.
Primary 2 pupils have now memorised their passwords. That's not something that
happens when they get 40 minutes a week on computers. Last week, we couldn't
get the Primary 3 pupils to stop doing maths and go for lunch. My daughter
April asked me if I could install the educational apps from school on my iPad
so she could use them at home. We're seeing a reduction in the amount of
homework forgotten or not done. "Forgetting your folder" for a subject is now
a thing of the past._

tl;dr: iPads are an epic, epic win in education – if you can afford them.

------
TomOfTTB
Nice idea but as someone who manages technology for a school I can say tablets
just aren't there yet. A few things (that might not be apparent with 41 hand
picked kids)...

==========

Damage: Understand that planning technology for a school is all about scale.
It isn't about "Can we afford to buy this for each kid" its "can we afford to
buy this for each kid and deal with a 30-40% damage rate". Because they're
kids.

Remember the way you treated your backpack in Jr High and High School? Now
imagine how a $750 iPad would have done if you carried it around all day.

Most hardware companies combat this by either (a) making devices durable or
(b) making them easy to repair. The iPad is neither of those things.

Control: The problem with an iPad right now is there's no way to lock it down.
If a student decides to start browsing the Internet while you're giving a
lecture there's little you can do about it (why do you think most schools ban
Cell. Phones at this point). It's hard to focus a class when their text book
can also be used as a Game machine and Internet browser.

Software: The most obvious point is that Apple hasn't compensated for mass
purchasing yet. I should be able to have a "Purchaser" account that allows me
to log in to each system and install multiple copies of a given software
package. At least the last time I investigated this option that process was a
mess (At first it wouldn't let me pay for multiple copies of software because
it said I'd already purchased it then it would lock me out because I'd
installed it too many times and so on)

============

There were some other issues that are escaping me now but the bottom line is
it's a great dream and a great opportunity for some startup. But just plain
old stock iPads don't work.

Edit: A few I forgot...

\- Power: You either have to find some way to power them during class (which
requires rewiring the classroom) or limit their use. Plus kids forget the
charger and use it as an excuse not to do homework or participate in class.

\- Eye Strain: You'd be amazed how parents who park their kids in front of a
TV all day will come back at you complaining they read a report that said
extended viewing of an LCD screen is bad for the eyes.

\- Updates: Since there are no over-the-air OS updates its a chore to update
the things

\- Kids Content: Since there's no way to lock kids out of the administrative
functions of an iPad a few will just change the account to their iTunes
account and start downloading media on it which causes all kinds of problems

\- Theft: There's not much of a market for Jr High Text Books on ebay. The
same can't be said for iPads.

~~~
davidedicillo
Control: There's parental control and control is the same problem you would
have with a laptop (at least you won't be able to play flash games ;) )

Software:Schools can apply for the Education program and purchase software at
50%. While I haven't tried myself, I'm sure that if they let you buy in bulk
they won't lock your account while you are doing it (if you are an authorized
buyer).

Power: Not sure you have tried an iPad but mine lasts days without being
charged. Can't say the same about my laptop.

Kids Content: again, parental control.

Also who said that giving each kid an iPad is the only way to use tablets in a
classroom. We had teachers contacting us because they were using SyncPad (
<http://mysyncpad.com> ) in place of devices like SmartBoards (that if I'm not
mistaken can cost up to $40,000). At that point they would need only one or
few iPads to pass around to actually interact with on the whiteboard when
asked, while everyone else can follow looking at the board itself or on their
laptop.

~~~
TomOfTTB
Control: I'm talking about control in the classroom. Being able to stop a kid
from browsing the Internet while you are giving a lecture.

Power: If you think an iPad will last all day while constantly in use you
haven't tried it. In my test it ran for 6 hours and change which isn't enough
to get a kid through a whole day of classes plus make it through the ride
home.

Kids Content: Parental Control won't survive a hard reset and kids aren't
stupid.

Finally there are plenty of ways tablets can be used in the classroom but that
wasn't the premise of the article being discussed. The premise of the article
being discussed was giving each kid a laptop in place of textbooks

~~~
glhaynes
Are any of those dealbreakers though? There are all sorts of non-tech things
that go on in the classroom and can't be controlled other than by the "old
fashioned" method of the teacher looking around. I'd be really surprised if a
student ever needed to have their tablet on for six full hours out of the day
- my kids are only in school for 7 hours total, and if you take out lunch, PE,
recess, bathroom breaks, and time without textbooks open, I'd guess they'd
only need about 3-4 hours max (they certainly don't have to use it during the
ride home). And is the parental control situation any different with iPad than
with any other computer? Anyway, I'm not saying that iPads are necessarily
right to replace textbooks (maybe, maybe not - I'd be way more excited about
using them in school in other ways besides), but these reasons don't seem like
serious problems to me.

------
RoyG
“You can do everything that the iPad can with existing off-the-shelf
technology and hardware for probably $300 to $400 less per device,” Professor
Soloway said.

Really? This is why they refer to it as the Ivory Tower!

------
wallflower
When they weren't the market leader[1], Apple used to give good discounts to
schools to use Macs. What about now?

[1] You can argue that they are the market leader in the next generation of
computing, tablets.

