Pros and Cons of teachers using laptops or iPAD's in school...

[kennysarmy]

A list I am working on which I'd like to share for comments and discussion:

 

Specifically when comparing the use of school owned laptops v's school owned iPAD's for use in classrooms by teaching staff:

 

Access to files stored on the network:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – NO – unless using some 3rd party app such as dropbox.

 

 

Connectivity to classroom data projectors:

Laptops – YES (although most rooms already are setup for this with a fixed PC)

iPAD’s – NO. Additional expense required for installation of Apple TV, data projector must have HDMI input.

 

 

Connectivity to network and standalone printers:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – NO

 

 

Ability to copy files off using USB drives:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – NO

 

 

Much greater storage capacity:

Laptops – upto 1000 Gb on a laptops hard disk

iPAD’s – maximum storage on an iPAD is 64 Gb.

 

 

Flash based websites:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – NO

 

 

Theft risk:

Laptops – bulkier and less desirable to thieves:

iPAD’s – smaller, desirable device with higher theft risk.

 

 

CentralManagement tools in place:

Laptops – YES – all windows based OS’s fully manged and secured. IT staff with +15 years experience of such

iPAD’s – NO – iPAD’s by design are not shared and not used in a locked down corporate environment.

 

 

Multi-user and shareable device:

Laptops – YES – users logging on to the network will have access to their own H:\ drive etc.

iPAD’s – NO – no logon required.

 

 

Instant On:

Laptops –NO

iPAD’s – YES

 

 

Touchscreen:

Laptops –NO

iPAD’s – YES

 

 

Portability:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – YES – though more so than a larger laptop.

[SYNACK]

Connect to a projector : Yes

Ipad: yes with an adapter or whole other box, Apple TV designed for home networks and enforcing a substandard insecure network setup

[plexer]

Touchscreen:

Laptops –YES

iPAD’s – YES

 

Ben

[Dom_]

You can print from ipads to HP Laserjet CM1415's - they just auto detect if one's on the network

[SYNACK]

Instant On:

Laptops –NO

iPAD’s – YES

 

Not quite correct:

Instant Resume from Sleep:

laptop: no but not bad esp with SSD

iPad: yes

 

Cold boot time is still noticacble:

[kennysarmy]

You can print from ipads to HP Laserjet CM1415's - they just auto detect if one's on the network

 

Thanks - but not applicable in our current setup

[tmcd35]

Access to files stored on the network:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – NO – unless using some 3rd party app such as dropbox.

 

Not entirely correct. You can use WebDAV to gain access to network resources.

 

Connectivity to classroom data projectors:

Laptops – YES (although most rooms already are setup for this with a fixed PC)

iPAD’s – NO. Additional expense required for installation of Apple TV, data projector must have HDMI input.

A tough one, we are looking at AirServer - The game console for Mac/PC has arrived or Reflection.app - AirPlay mirroring to your Mac or PC, wirelessly. as a work around.

 

Connectivity to network and standalone printers:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – NO

Again not entirely correct. Papercut would allow printing to any printer. OS X Server includes an AirPrint server AFIAR. And some wireless HP printers have AirPrint built into them.

 

Ability to copy files off using USB drives:

Laptops – YES

iPAD’s – NO

 

 

Much greater storage capacity:

Laptops – upto 1000 Gb on a laptops hard disk

iPAD’s – maximum storage on an iPAD is 64 Gb.

 

This is a metholodgy/paradigm difference. iDevices are all about Cloud/Network storage so in theory USB/Local is not needed.

 

CentralManagement tools in place:

Laptops – YES – all windows based OS’s fully manged and secured. IT staff with +15 years experience of such

iPAD’s – NO – iPAD’s by design are not shared and not used in a locked down corporate environment.

Again, incorrect: Mobile device management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apple offer their own free solution for managing upto 30 iPads at a time.

 

Multi-user and shareable device:

Laptops – YES – users logging on to the network will have access to their own H:\ drive etc.

iPAD’s – NO – no logon required.

 

Again, this is a question of paradigm shift and changing working metholodgy - cloud storage. Also, I believe, using a MDM you can set up multiple users and have a logon screen.

[kennysarmy]

Not quite correct:

Instant Resume from Sleep:

laptop: no but not bad esp with SSD

iPad: yes

 

Cold boot time is still noticacble:

 

Good point re: sleep mode..

[kennysarmy]

Not entirely correct. You can use WebDAV to gain access to network resources.

 

 

A tough one, we are looking at AirServer - The game console for Mac/PC has arrived or Reflection.app - AirPlay mirroring to your Mac or PC, wirelessly. as a work around.

 

 

Again not entirely correct. Papercut would allow printing to any printer. OS X Server includes an AirPrint server AFIAR. And some wireless HP printers have AirPrint built into them.

 

 

 

This is a metholodgy/paradigm difference. iDevices are all about Cloud/Network storage so in theory USB/Local is not needed.

 

 

Again, incorrect: Mobile device management - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Apple offer their own free solution for managing upto 30 iPads at a time.

 

 

 

Again, this is a question of paradigm shift and changing working metholodgy - cloud storage. Also, I believe, using a MDM you can set up multiple users and have a logon screen.

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply I appreciate it...

 

I think what your response outlines is that yes of course things are possible with additional training, expense and burden on the support staffs time....and for what gain?

What real benefit is there to the teacher in front of the class to use an iPAD rather than a PC or laptop....

 

I appreciate it's lovely for them to be able to take the device home and use it to play angry birds on their sofas but I am talking purely about the advantages to teachers in the classroom....

[SYNACK]

I am talking purely about the advantages to teachers in the classroom....

 

 

They can play angry birds in the classroom too

[tmcd35]

Thanks for taking the time to reply I appreciate it...

My pleasure

 

I think what your response outlines is that yes of course things are possible with additional training, expense and burden on the support staffs time....and for what gain?

What real benefit is there to the teacher in front of the class to use an iPAD rather than a PC or laptop....

 

Ahh, start from the negative. Why not start from the positive? Buy one, give to a teacher and ask them a week later - "how did you use it?". We have bought 10, one for each department, which we are distributing as a trial just to see if/how they can use them.

 

I have my own ideas, but I'm an evangelist (I'll happily admit my bias):

 

We have staff asking for slates to go with their IWB's as near £150-£200 ago. Not far off the price of an entry level iPad with a VNC viewer to the laptop?

 

You can IWB apps for an iPad. An iPad is 1/3 the cost of a Smart Board.

 

What about using the webcamera as document scanner or, with AppleTV/AirServer, as a document visuliser.

 

And that's just putting them in a teachers hands, we haven't even started looking what can be done if the teacher handed the device to a pupil.

[SYNACK]

My pleasure

 

 

 

Ahh, start from the negative. Why not start from the positive? Buy one, give to a teacher and ask them a week later - "how did you use it?". We have bought 10, one for each department, which we are distributing as a trial just to see if/how they can use them.

 

I have my own ideas, but I'm an evangelist (I'll happily admit my bias):

 

We have staff asking for slates to go with their IWB's as near £150-£200 ago. Not far off the price of an entry level iPad with a VNC viewer to the laptop?

 

You can IWB apps for an iPad. An iPad is 1/3 the cost of a Smart Board.

 

What about using the webcamera as document scanner or, with AppleTV/AirServer, as a document visuliser.

 

And that's just putting them in a teachers hands, we haven't even started looking what can be done if the teacher handed the device to a pupil.

 

Yea, the test and justify method is good but if there are fundamental flaws that prevent a large amount of its usage - NO FLASH or full java - for all of those free little edu apps that people have already found and are using. Why not start with something that can at least meet the basic requirements first like an old school Android tablet that still supported flash or a Windows 8 tablet that does everything that a laptop did and more. We can even project wirelessly to our Epson stuff without any additional hardware or just use the HDMI port

Edited September 20, 2012 by SYNACK

[zag]

- Nobody uses flash anymore on websites.

- Ipad has a perfectly good VGA adapter. We use them all the time, its no problem at all connecting to projectors. Infact I would say its easier

- Quicker registration with Emerge

- No maintance required for ipads. We have a fair few and i've never had to "fix" or "reinstall" them. They just work.

[Grey-gear]

maintenance.

 

A laptop can be taken a part and parts replaced if need be (or improved) easily, where iPads to have anything repaired needs the iPad sent back for fixing or reseting on a computer for a software problem.

[SYNACK]

- Nobody uses flash anymore on websites.

Rubbish, readingeggs.com, mathlettics, all those other edu apps that are out there that will never be upgraded, etc.

- Ipad has a perfectly good VGA adapter. We use them all the time, its no problem at all connecting to projectors. Infact I would say its easier

As an added extra, just like everything else in apple land

- Quicker registration with Emerge

Probably, no clue but I assume this is down to both software support and the sleep model of the ipads, a newer W8 laptop/tablet in sleep mode will probably be comparable if there is software support.

- No maintance required for ipads. We have a fair few and i've never had to "fix" or "reinstall" them. They just work.

No available fixes either, they break and your stuffed, they must be different to the Macs, I have tonnes of support calls to get stuff working on a mac or setup/repair email etc on iStuff. They are not as intuitive as some people think and they do break.

[LeMarchand]

You could also look at previous use of new technology that was going to "transform lessons".

 

Did your school buy a load of DSs (DSes?)? If so, are they still regularly used? In that case you've at least got a chance of getting some use from the iPads. If, like 2 of my schools, they are stuck at the back of a cupboard after the novelty wore off then you could probably save yourself a lot of time and money.

 

I'm sure someone has posted this story before, but if not: The school that swapped its laptops for iPads… and wants to switch back | PC Pro blog

[tmcd35]

Rubbish, readingeggs.com, mathlettics, all those other edu apps that are out there that will never be upgraded, etc.

If they are not being updated at which point are they naturally obsolete regardless of the platform you are using? You could argue that relevant replacement are/will be developed in HTML5?

 

As an added extra, just like everything else in apple land

Meh.

 

No available fixes either, they break and your stuffed, they must be different to the Macs, I have tonnes of support calls to get stuff working on a mac or setup/repair email etc on iStuff. They are not as intuitive as some people think and they do break.

I'm sure a broken iPad is as end user repairable as any tablet device/mobile phone regardless of name badge on the front or OS it's boots into. Unfortunately ATX towers and CRT monitors are not exactly portable...

Edited September 20, 2012 by tmcd35

[tmcd35]

I'm sure someone has posted this story before, but if not: The school that swapped its laptops for iPads… and wants to switch back | PC Pro blog

 

Interesting story; but the first half dozen comments sums it up - It's not the technology that's the problem, it the implementation of the technology. Most of these "issues" could be avoided by planning and knowing the technologies limitations before opening the cheaque book!

[SYNACK]

If they are not being updated at which point are they naturally obsolete regardless of the platform you are using? You could argue that relevant replacement are/will be developed in HTML5?

Yea, you just have to find them and hope they are free then get the staff to adapt to them.

Meh.

 

Interesting response to the most important part, that gear will eat your budget in seconds, buying an iPad is not enough, you need a mac, a stack of adapters, probably an Apple TV and whatever individual apps you actually need. Nickle and dimeing may as well have been invented by them.

I'm sure a broken iPad is as end user repairable as any tablet device/mobile phone regardless of name badge on the front or OS it's boots into. Unfortunately ATX towers and CRT are not exactly portable...

 

True but it does not mean they break any less, I have friends that work in retail. The most common return for failure is Apple gear and they sell maybe 20% Apple stuff as opposed to 80% of everything else. Whether this means the Apple stuff is less robust or just that its users are less careful/sensible I do not know.

[SYNACK]

Interesting story; but the first half dozen comments sums it up - It's not the technology that's the problem, it the implementation of the technology. Most of these "issues" could be avoided by planning and knowing the technologies limitations before opening the cheaque book!

 

Exactly, why begin with a flawed and limited technology to start with.

[tmcd35]

Exactly, why begin with a flawed and limited technology to start with.

 

(must use more characters )

[LeMarchand]

If they are not being updated at which point are they naturally obsolete regardless of the platform you are using?

 

This question posted today shows how reluctant some staff are to seek out new methods: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/educational-software/101519-patch-dazzle-plus-2-10-needed.html#post872606 (TuxPaint does a lot of the same stuff, and is free and I wouldn't be surprised if had been suggested and overruled - it certainly has been in some of my schools where they'd rather wait for XP Mode to boot so that they can stick with Dazzle).

 

Interesting story; but the first half dozen comments sums it up - It's not the technology that's the problem, it the implementation of the technology. Most of these "issues" could be avoided by planning and knowing the technologies limitations before opening the cheaque book!

 

Isn't that what the OP is investigating? besides which, surely if the tech has limitations (compared to the previous tech) then it IS a problem with the technology? Unless, I guess, if the shortcomings are outweighed by the new benefits...

[kennysarmy]

My pleasure

 

 

 

Ahh, start from the negative. Why not start from the positive? Buy one, give to a teacher and ask them a week later - "how did you use it?". We have bought 10, one for each department, which we are distributing as a trial just to see if/how they can use them.

 

I have my own ideas, but I'm an evangelist (I'll happily admit my bias):

 

We have staff asking for slates to go with their IWB's as near £150-£200 ago. Not far off the price of an entry level iPad with a VNC viewer to the laptop?

 

You can IWB apps for an iPad. An iPad is 1/3 the cost of a Smart Board.

 

What about using the webcamera as document scanner or, with AppleTV/AirServer, as a document visuliser.

 

And that's just putting them in a teachers hands, we haven't even started looking what can be done if the teacher handed the device to a pupil.

 

I am really interested in the feedback you get from the teachers on their use in the classroom.

But can I ask this : are they able to take them home and use them ? I bet this clouds their judgement on whether they are a good educational tool

[tmcd35]

I am really interested in the feedback you get from the teachers on their use in the classroom.

But can I ask this : are they able to take them home and use them ? I bet this clouds their judgement on whether they are a good educational tool

 

At this stage, definately not. There is talk though that laptops might get fixed to classroom desks and then yes, they take iPads home. A few years off from that yet I think

[zag]

We've been trialling iPads for over a year now. Nearly half of all staff have them now. I think about 45 in total.

 

I've never had a complaint about a flash website.

The absolutely love them from the feedback I have received.

The VGA cable costs 20 quid Apple Dock Connector to VGA Adapter MC552ZM/B | Insight UK It really is no problem to buy them with the ipads which is what we do.

In the entire trial I have not had one maintenance request for an ipad. Literally not one at all.

Some staff have used them to replace the genie visualizers with great success.

We let staff take theirs home and install all their own software, again no problems with that.

 

Amazing devices that are going to change the face of education forever I reckon

Edited September 20, 2012 by zag