iPads in schools

[colacao82]

Hey guys,

 

Our ICT department keep asking for iPads for ICT teaching staff. I've got a meeting about this today at 11 and want to know if

1. Anyone has had a similar request?
   
2. What were their reasons for wanting them
   
3. Pros/Cons from a school/IT management perspective
   

 

I can't see what benefit an iPad brings over having the PC in the room already that justifies a £300 - £400 price tag.

 

Thanks,

 

Ant

Edited April 30, 2014 by colacao82
bad spelling

[ICTDirect_Dave]

I'd say there's no pros at all to using them as a replacement for a proper pc. iPads make fantastic interactive textbooks for subjects, but not particularly for ict.

 

Especially since you could get a couple of decent laptops for the same price.

[stevenlong1985]

Hey Ant,

here's another thread about Ipads,

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/netbooks-pda-phones/102095-i-need-pros-cons-ipads-school-stat.html

I personally would avoid them, its too costly and more of a headache of managing them. I'm looking at the route of Learn Pads LearnPad - The Tablet Computer Designed for Education I've heard good things about them.

 

Steve

[colacao82]

Thanks for the replies guys! We currently don't have any laptops in our school (bonus), because our Business Manager thinks that they're too fragile and the amount of support time spent on them can be huge. I agree with that. I just worry that iPads are going to be the next big pain in the backside.

[caffrey]

The ICT department actually want them for teaching staff ? that's a rarity !

[colacao82]

The HOD wants them for her staff. So they can fill in progress sheets and other stuff apparently...

[jallsop]

Hey guys,

 

Our ICT department keep asking for iPads for ICT teaching staff. I've got a meeting about this today at 11 and want to know if

1. Anyone has had a similar request?
   
2. What were their reasons for wanting them
   
3. Pros/Cons from a school/IT management perspective
   

 

I can't see what benefit an iPad brings over having the PC in the room already that justifies a £300 - £400 price tag.

 

Thanks,

 

Ant

 

I have to say I think this being a one department thing does remove many of the benefits iPads are bringing to education. If you roll it out school wide, students too, then we're talking useful.

Although heavily promoted by Apple, the Essa Academy in the North of the UK is showing the way the whole ecosystem approach works. They've done the iPad thing to the max, and its really working.

 

Unfortunately there is not a whole MS ecosystem, in the same way, and since many Network bods hate Apple, its being dismissed by them as unmanageable or not worth it. I used to be be an apple hater myself, but I can now see the benefits having the iPad, iTunes U and the like. MS has nothing close. Surface hasn't made a dent, and android, whilst cheaper for hardware, doesn't have the same level of services. Things like Learn Pads are nice tools, they don't have anything like the range of apps and collaborative tools that exist for iOS.

 

We tech bodies need to adapt. We've had to, and are about to launch iPads for all next term, after trials of 3 models, android, MS, and apple. We're a MS school, before you all ask.

[colacao82]

I agree! I'm an Apple user (iphone, ipad x2, macbook pro) but I can't understand the justification for 1 department to spend over £2000 on an idea that because we've got a new wireless system they suddenly NEED iPads to work efficiently.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

The HOD wants them for her staff. So they can fill in progress sheets and other stuff apparently...

 

£300 to fill in notes? Get them a windows RT Tablet or cheap android effort!

 

Thanks for the replies guys! We currently don't have any laptops in our school (bonus), because our Business Manager thinks that they're too fragile and the amount of support time spent on them can be huge. I agree with that. I just worry that iPads are going to be the next big pain in the backside.

 

iPads are wayy more fragile than laptops. If you get good business quality laptops like the Lenovo Thinkpads then you're unlikely to have many problems at all. But iPads have a glass front that tends to shatter when dropped from even a small height. Unless you're wrapping them in bubble wrap (or a Griffin suvivor case) then they're going to break with more frequency than anything else in the school! You can get accidental damage warranties and insurance bundles, but they're expensive in their own right.

[caffrey]

Just make sure your infrastructure is in order first