We have ipads for KS1 and they are always in demand, whilst our laptops which are also for KS1 sit around doing not very much. I was reluctant at first when we got the ipads as im not a huge apple fan but I have to admit they do work well for primary education. I would advise looking to get some on loan first to trial them if you were thinking of the ipad route. We loaned some from the Learning Lighthouse i'm sure wherever you are they would have something similar. For KS2 and upwards I would say laptops every time but there are a lot of intuitive apps on the ipads for the little ones and they do get very excited about using them. The laptops are to big for them to use just as a 15 min activity and the netbooks we used to have just limited us to much. I did look into android but at the time their wasnt enough to contend I have no idea whats available in terms of educational apps now. Depending on what type of school you are based in we found them most useful for our EAL kids. Just if you do look at ipads dear lord buy decent cases! Ours have never been smashed or broken in over a year in the hands of sticky, bouncing children but that might be because I have kitted them out ready for survival in a warzone.
