Apple Offers to Replace iPads With MacBooks in Maine State Classrooms

[emm386]

Like gaming it's not possible in laptops...

Like educational blood, sweat&tears content creation (taking plenty of notes, writing, programming, rearranging complex data, etc) is conveniently possible on an iPad...

The iPad takes away the possibility of making the vast majority of "mistakes" kids need to make while working on devices in order to "learn" from their mistakes.

The iPad is an awesome device for binge media consumption though, Ill give 'em that!

 

[maflynn]

You have to change your system, to control usage with so easy with 9.3.

Playing the devil's advocate - how much will that cost to set up controls, policies and procedures for a new product, and then implement them? Again with public schools and their ever shrinking budgets, is that something that can feasibly be done?

 

[oldmacs]

+1!!

This whole story is about the question of devices in the classroom, not iPad vs laptop. Kids simply do not need "technology" in the classroom to learn. A laptop is equally pointless and unnecessary.

And the dumb teacher quotes show that the staff had zero training or understanding of iOS and iPads, because honestly you can count on one hand the tasks that a legacy laptop is still superior at.

I do think that technology can have a role in the classroom, and especially in senior school, when extra research, tools etc are helpful, as are textbooks that you can annotate and my gosh, my back thanked me when I was no longer carrying 8 textbooks around.

I got through literally the whole of primary school with minimal computer use. From Kindy to year 3 we had one computer in each classroom. From Year 3 to Year 5, we had a computer room where we'd go once a week and learn computer skills. In year 6 we had a set of laptops that we used for work, which we also got for 2 hours once a week. In high school I had more computer exposure, but by then it was more necessary and helpful for assignments and essays.

I think my grade were far more computer literate than say my (6 year younger brother) because they're not taught anything, they're just given iPads and MacBooks and have no idea really how to do anything other than consume. I don't think they're educationally better off than I was. NSW Australia has a 'basic skills test' every two years (Year 1, Year 3, Year 5, Year 7, Year 9) and as far as I know nothing has improved, but computer literacy has gone backwards a bit).
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If students are playing games, it's not a device issue, it's an engagement issue. Like the other poster said, laptops have games. Besides, every student has a phone.

It is a behavioural issue, and a generalised problem with technology being chucked to solve problems that don't really exist, with little thought given to management. Laptops have been easier to control traditionally with programs available to control what students can do.Apple was really slow introducing it with iOS 9.3, so many schools are not aware of it, and would need to completely re deployed to fit the new system.

 

[Sandstorm]

LOL, right, because you can't run MS Office on an iPad, or use a keyboard with it, or draw, or record music, or take notes, or markup documents, or edit movies and photos, or... oh wait, you can do all those things on one, easily. So maybe your lack of understanding is the issue here?

Absolutely not. iPad is a computer, it much more powerful and allows to do even more than classic PC.
Read this https://www.macstories.net/stories/working-on-the-ipad-one-year-later-still-my-favorite-computer/

Absolutely disagree. I've used iPads for years - since the beginning actually (iPad 3G, iPad 2 3G, iPad 4 LTE, iPad Air 2 LTE) and often it's the only "computer" with me when travelling (+ iPhone, of course). But it's only a clumsy bandaid compared to a real computer. Maybe because I'm a power user and I really can multitask and be very efficient and FAST on a Mac/PC. I could never ever achieve anything similar with iPad, at least in current state of iOS. I love to relax and use iPad, but when time is critical and I really want to be productive, using iPad is like working with one hand tied behind my back. And, of course, there are a million things I wouldn't even to begin to do (I'm a graphic designer & Adobe CC user, all the current iOS apps including from Adobe are just toys or extremely simplified versions of what I actually need).

There are things you can do on iPad, that you simply can't on Mac/PC. And there are many things you can't do on iPad. But that's not even the point - the point is that iPad is good for only single focus / simple tasks. If all you do is some ridiculously trivial things, go ahead. But efficient multitasking, fast, complicated work is simply impossible on iPad.

 

[echelon5]

Idiot Apple! You have been replacing your integrity with embarrassment. How about focusing on that instead?
What's that hunger for innovation? You are out of it and now you try to "FORCE" people to replace their devices because you think innovation happens when you force? Really?
And you couldn't stop there and now you roll back that replacement, losing the last drop of your integrity.
Take a breath, Apple! Get some rest.

 

[sirozha]

Apple tried since the release of the first generation iPad to diffirentiate between Macs and iPads vis-a-vis their capabilities so as to prevent iPad from cannibalizing the MacBook market share. The sad result of this stubborn go-to-market strategy finally revealed itself last quarter, when we saw a significant drop in sales in both iPads and Macs, resulting in a 18% revenue drop year-over-year for the same quarter.

The artificial limitations placed by Apple on the software capabilities of iPad have crippled this revolutionary device. I'm not saying this as a petulant consumer but as an IT professional with keen interest in various technology areas (not necessarily limited to consumer-grade devices) and also as an Apple shareholder with a very significant investment portfolio in APPL. As for the value of APPL, the shares are valued today about the same as 4 years ago. We have witnessed an innovation stagnation at Apple since Steve Jobs passed away, and even though the massive momentum created by Mr. Jobs allowed Apple to generate massive revenue and bring in massive profits for several years since Mr. Jobs passing, the reality finally caught up to Apple this past quarter.

One of the obvious conclusions that should come out of all of this is that the time has come for a combo iOS/OS X device that would function as an iPad when detached from the keyboard enclosure, and would function as a MacBook when reattached to the keyboard. This device should be a fusion of the iPad Pro and the retina MacBook. It does not mean that Apple should eliminate tablets or MacBook Pros. What it means is that for a majority of users, this hybrid device would be exactly what they need - a device that can consume content as an iPad but also create content as a MacBook. The iPad-only devices should remain as a lower-cost content-consuming device, and the MacBook Pros should remain as a professional-grade content-creating device for power users and for serious gamers.

In the field of work that I am in, I need this hybrid device much more than I need a MacBook Pro. If Apple were to create such a hybrid device, they would open up a new and powerful revenue stream and would return to being able to sell healthy amounts of computing devices that people need in their daily lives.

 

[JosephAW]

Apple can solve this problem by dumping OS X from their laptops and replace the x386 chipset and install a iOS 10 / A10 chipset in them. Problem solved, kids can now have a laptop.

 

[2ilent8cho]

At a school i'm the IT manager for we have over 450 iPads deployed in a 1:1 ratio for the upper year groups.

We started a 1:1 deployment in 2009 with Windows based netbooks, and moved in 2014 to iPad Mini's.

The iPads are better. The kids have no issue typing on a touch screen in Microsoft Word, Excel or Powerpoint. (They have no issue updating their status on Facebook with a touchscreen on their iPhone do they?.......). All have Office 365 with OneDrive.

Apple also offers iTunes U which is used for submitting work to the teacher. They also with iOS 9 introduced a lot of extra features to help control some things on the iDevices too.

They don't necessarily use them every lesson, or even for a whole lesson. It might just be for 10 minutes to gather information. (When i was at high school in the 90s we used encyclopaedia britannica or MS Encarta , they don't make them any more, using the internet is the relevant way of accessing resources in todays world, so the iPad is a great tool for accessing it).

We do let them play games or listen to music, watch films during dinner and break on them, this is clearly defined and enforced. This has helped reduce overall bad behaviour in the school as they have something to stop them getting bored and misbehaving during lunch. It also has the effect of the kids looking after the devices a lot better.

At one of the primary schools we support we gave them some of our old working netbooks and a 5 year old child screamed in terror at the physical keyboard. He wanted a touchscreen tablet. I think the younger kids will have much less of an issue using an onscreen keyboard purely because its what they are use to and have been brought up around. The iPad is only 6 years old remember.....

 

[bushido]

LOL, right, because you can't run MS Office on an iPad, or use a keyboard with it, or draw, or record music, or take notes, or markup documents, or edit movies and photos, or... oh wait, you can do all those things on one, easily. So maybe your lack of understanding is the issue here?

i guess the issue isnt what you can or cannot do but (i am just gonna use we) are so used to do it a certain way that trying to do it on the iPad seems unnatural. like for example you cannot have two doc documents open next to each other. also theres the lack of a file system, opening an app and then picking the file seems backwards. plus no mouse support.

the fact that one has to go in and out of apps also drives me insane

 

[maflynn]

Apple can solve this problem by dumping OS X from their laptops and replace the x386 chipset and install a iOS 10 / A10 chipset in them. Problem solved, kids can now have a laptop.

And many laptop customers who use Apple laptops will be dumping Apple.

 

[bennibeef]

What?

I get the argument for the older ones for coding/programming because, lets say the ipad platform isnt there yet.

But games or watching netflix? What is up with these school that its possible to game and watch?
The ipads should be locked to not install apps by user and the network filtered for the most obviuos stuff like netflix for school time. Come on this is whining on steroids

 

[Sharewaredemon]

I think the problem is that plenty of schools will introduce technology for the heck of it. Money is dumped on iPads but no thought is put into making them work in schools, not to mention that technology is not even needed in many of the situations that it is shoehorned into. Teachers need to be trained and good workflows and integration need to be identified and taught.

Totally. And I think another huge challenge is how fast software changes, that makes it hard for reluctant learners to learn at all how to use something because in their experience by the time they gain any comfort things change too much for them.

 

[apolloa]

I bought an iPad specifically because I preferred it for learning then a laptop. I did not however do all my notes on it, given I believe school work should still be written.

Good for you, I do wonder if handwriting will be a dying skill? So many parts of life are typed now.
Although an Apple Pencil would help of course.
Do you have an iPad Pro or regular iPad?

 

[ZipZap]

For high school and college students the ipad is a terrible primary device. Main reason...lack of keyboard and mouse.

You cannot be as productive without them. Its as simple as that.

To be clear, yes I am saying that the iPad is a toy.

 

[Jax44]

am I the only one who thinks that apple products are overly charged??

Yes.

 

[NT1440]

All of this comes down to whether the curriculum was actually set up to use the iPads, or if this was a case of "hey, take an iPad, it's magically going to make things better".

 

[oldmacs]

Good for you, I do wonder if handwriting will be a dying skill? So many parts of life are typed now.
Although an Apple Pencil would help of course.
Do you have an iPad Pro or regular iPad?

Many parts are typed, but exams (at least in Australia) are still all written, and I can't see that changing for a while. I think also you retain things that you write better than if you type it.

I bought my iPad when I was in Year 11, I'm now in 3rd year Uni, so it was (And it still is) an iPad 2.

My hand writing was quite bad, and I had to work hard to improve it, so moving fully to typing everything would have ruined it completely for exams. I look at the handwriting of students who do everything on computers and its terrible.
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All of this comes down to whether the curriculum was actually set up to use the iPads, or if this was a case of "hey, take an iPad, it's magically going to make things better".

Very much so. This and the fact that there are many parts of education where technology just doesn't make anything better.

 

[M. Gustave]

And many laptop customers who use Apple laptops will be dumping Apple.

I saw his comment as suggesting Apple make an iOS laptop form factor specifically for education. Not dropping OSX from the entire Mac lineup.

 

[Col4bin]

Apple Executive: Eureka, I've got it! While we've been vehemently against this notion (to maintain profit margins on our existing MacBook and iPad lines), how about we design a combined laptop/tablet device?

Apple Engineer: Errr sir, it's called a Microsoft Surface/Pro. We've been beaten to market by about four years.

 

[vooke]

I love my Air 2 and use it alot, but it's absolutely just a toy & media consumption device. Whenever I want anything done (efficiently), I turn to a real computer. Even basic stuff like browsing, filling forms and so on is still much much better on Mac/PC. So I completely understand these students and teachers.

Me too. The iPad is just a toy and nothing else. No a,punt of discipline will change that.

 

[BigHonkingDeal]

Why not just modify iOS to use a wireless mouse and keyboard? Then make a big push with developers to offer pc quality apps?

That's exactly the problem.... after all these years the iPad still runs on a Phone OS. If they ever want to make this a PC replacement they should put some resources into IOS for iPad.

 

[AlliFlowers]

I think the problem is that plenty of schools will introduce technology for the heck of it.

Teachers need to be trained and good workflows and integration need to be identified and taught.

You've hit the nail on the head here. I've watched our school system invest in one thing after another and implement without proper training over and over. Always results in frustration and loss of money that could have been used elsewhere.

You've probably seen me say on other threads (I say it a lot) that classrooms need to determine what they want to do FIRST, and then determine what technology fits that need. But that means a school system (especially a large one) can't make decisions for all of its hundreds of schools for all curriculum areas.

This year I purchased Chromebooks to make two labs for student use. Number one reason - price. I could buy two Chromebooks, even at the overinflated state bid price for one iPad. BUT...it's easier to control a child sitting with a computer on a desk than one holding any kind of tablet in his lap. You can't see what someone is doing when he's holding a tablet...and kids want it that way.

But ya know what? Most of it comes down to basic classroom management, which is not taught. It probably cannot be taught, anymore than you can be taught to be a good teacher. You either are, or you aren't.

 

[Dephtones]

Kinda crazy how my kid has an iPad in kindergarten. I don't care, but it shows how far education has come. Pretty soon virtual reality classrooms and won't even need majority of teachers.

 

[Kaibelf]

well thats not awkward at all after their whole "EDUCATION" and "Perfect PC Replacement" speech

It's one school.

 

[mrgraff]

Clearly poor training and preparation on the part of the teachers and students, but it also seems to me that this school system's IT department wasn't ready for iPads either.