[plug] iPads in WA schools

[Michael Van Delft]

I used to be the sysadmin in a high school and I was vehemently
opposed to iPads.

Partly because of the closed nature of the device (Can’t develop for
it without a $99 USD Developers license, need iTunes, can't
repair/modify it, etc…) and partly because I don’t believe that
tablets (be they iOS, Android or any other OS) are useful in a
classroom when you can buy a netbook that can do more for less. They
are fine for consuming media (e.g watch a video, read a book, look at
pictures, check email) but useless for producing it. It took a bit of
explaining that they were not a good idea for an English class to do
essays. I pointed out to many teachers with dreams of a class full of
reports and classwork getting done on iPads the lack of office suite
and even with one; you can type quicker on a laptop/netbook.

The one redeeming feature I found was the “Shiny” factor. We had a
problem with attendance and kids skipping class but in classes where
they got to play with an iPad we had markedly better attendance rates.
I don’t know how much sinks in when they are sitting up the back
playing angry birds with their mates but it’s got to be better than
skipping class and tagging up the local skate park.

Interestingly not long after I left they bought a bunch of MacBooks and iPads.