Apple Offers to Replace iPads With MacBooks in Maine State Classrooms

[Agent007]

Tim Cook really scared me when he declared there will be no integration or merger of iOS and OS X. This is a huge mistake and will lead to Microsoft taking back market share. I'm a die-hard Apple user and have been since I bought a 15" G4 PowerBook in 2005. However, I was a die-hard Windows user before that and I can honestly say that I've been very impressed with Windows 10 and the Surface tablets. iPads might be good for preschoolers who can't type on a keyboard but who wants to do word processing or coding or anything school related on them? If Apple really wants to infiltrate the educational system like Microsoft has, they need to get serious about iOS and the only smart way to do that is to merge the OS and then just have it run in a different display/interface mode on small devices with the option to revert to a desktop style view. Obviously the chip archetecture is an issue but they need to think long-term like they did when they switched from PowerPC to Intel.

Tablets are just a status symbol that schools bought into because of feel-good TV commercials where some ****-stained kid draws a pretty picture on the tablet and then flips it over like an etch-a-sketch to show the overbearing, sharenting douche that gave birth to them. I say give the kids some beat Sony VAIOs with AMD processors and 802.11b and tell them to tough it the **** out.

 

[maflynn]

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

Ok, I misunderstood. I thought you were promoting the idea that Apple switch over to the ARM chipset for their laptop line.
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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.

Which often the case with government entities. I've heard stories of state governments handing out iPads but not really training their IT staff regarding the tablets.

 

[NT1440]

Which often the case with government entities. I've heard stories of state governments handing out iPads but not really training their IT staff regarding the tablets.

Same, I remember reading about a school system that purchased iPads, but did literally no prep work to get textbooks or course documents on them. I can buy a great motorcycle to get to work, but if I never bothered to register or put gas in the thing it's essentially a paperweight.

 

[urtules]

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.

With Pencil and iPad Pro you can do amazing things. Many professional replace their Wacom tablets for it. You use some old apps which don't want to change. But if you embrace yourself for new software, love Procreate and Pixelmatr you can achieve great results. Many people do.
iOS 9 brought Split Screen and Picture in Picture which allows to use 2 apps at once.
[doublepost=1464007822][/doublepost]

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?

I would ask Fraser Spears. His job is to integrate iPad devices into schools. http://www.speirs.org

 

[radiology]

I applaud apple and the MDE for this decision. There are people who prefer iPad and people who prefer a laptop. While everyone who prefers an iPad would be able to do well with an iPad, there is a lot of people who prefer laptop who simply can't think of using an iPad the entire. It is not impossible to use Microsoft office apps on iPad, but it is WAY MORE productive on a laptop. I have had iPad since the first generation and I love it. But can't think I would do well with it in classroom. Perhaps with the iPad Pro, but still not quite the same.

 

[apolloa]

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

Ah the iPad 2, one of the better models. I have to say that I also think you remember things more if you write them down. But I also think as you type more your brain adapts and you remember what you type more as well. Maybe not as much as hand writing things but better then just reading things.
But it's going to be different for everyone. I type too much and my hand writings not the best as a result! However I still maintain its better then doctors hand writing haha.

 

[AntonLee]

This is sadly a classic case of the school district and the teachers not taking the time to learn how to use a fantastic tool.
While iPads may not be seen as a laptop replacement yet, in a school environment they are phenomenal! Especially for books and collaborative learning! All this "they just played games" and "word processing was impossible" is a bunch of shenanigans that tells us they just didn't even bother to learn the medium. (From the student's angle I do understand the coding bit, even thought there's got to be at least a few good apps for that, but I couldn't say.)
But anyway, props to Apple for giving them a sweet deal.

Especially if they switch to iPad Pro with keyboard cover

 

[Abazigal]

A good carpenter never blames his tools.

If your students are playing games in class, that is indicative of poor classroom management on part of the teacher. What's to stop the students from doing the same on a laptop? If anything, won't it be easier to play flash games in the browser?

Seems the school committed to buying the iPads but never bothered to design a proper curriculum around it or train the teachers on how to integrate them into the classroom lessons.

 

[parapup]

Post-PC era is a comin! Just got to wait for the 15" iPad pro plus!

 

[NT1440]

A good carpenter never blames his tools.

If your students are playing games in class, that is indicative of poor classroom management on part of the teacher. What's to stop the students from doing the same on a laptop? If anything, won't it be easier to play flash games in the browser?

Seems the school committed to buying the iPads but never bothered to design a proper curriculum around it or train the teachers on how to integrate them into the classroom lessons.

Not only that, these machines clearly aren't managed properly if the students have the ability to do this. A simple MDM solution driven off a Mac mini or enrolling in the pre-setup program would have put the proper restrictions in place.

Poor planning on the curriculum and management sides, nothing more.

 

[diipii]

Apple and the Maine Department of Education have offered to swap school iPads for MacBooks at no additional cost, after it emerged that students and teachers overwhelmingly favor the use of laptops in class.

According to a report in the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal, schools in Auburn and other districts in Maine are set to benefit from the "Refresh" swap, following surveys of students and teachers across grades 7 through 12, which revealed that 88.5 percent of teachers and 74 percent of students preferred laptops over iPads.

An Edward Little High School senior works on her iPad during class (Image: Sun Journal)​

iPads were perceived to have poor educational value in the classroom and were often used to play games in class, while laptops allowed students better opportunities for school work. The preference gap widened even more when it came to older students, who saw laptops as better devices for coding and programming tasks.

"The results are pretty darn clear," said Auburn School Department Technology Director Peter Robinson, who conducted the survey. "The findings made the decision for us." Robinson said that three years ago, after seeing success with iPads in primary grades, he thought iPads were absolutely the right choice, but now he realized iPads have shortcomings for older students.

One teacher wrote in the survey that iPads "provide no educational function in the classroom. Students use them as toys. Word processing is near to impossible. I applaud this change."

"The iPads are largely students' gaming devices," another teacher wrote, while one called their introduction into the classroom "a disaster".

As part of the state's "Refresh" swap offer, Auburn's iPads are being returned and 1,718 laptops will be delivered in the fall to Edward Little High School and Auburn Middle School.

The state "underestimated how different an iPad is from a laptop," said Maine Learning and Technology Initiative Director Mike Muir. "Student use of iPads could have been better if the Maine Department of Education encouraged more teacher training."

The offer applies to 7th and 8th-graders' computers, which are paid for by the state, and computers for high school students that some schools pay for as part of the Learning and Technology Initiative. The initiative allows up to $254 per student for a device and teacher training to help students get the most out of technology.

The cost of the new Apple laptop will be $217 per year per student for 2016-17, and $248 per year after that. In Farmington, Mt. Blue High School's technology manager Darcy Dunphy said the state's offer is "too good to refuse", because students would be getting new laptops while saving about $140,000 over four years.

"Three years ago the Apple laptop was $273 per student a year," which meant that to stay with the Apple laptop, schools would have had to pay more, Muir said. "People chose iPads. They were within what the state would fund."

Apple has been working on overhauling its iPad in Education program since 2015. With iOS 9.3, Apple introduced a number of new features that are specifically geared towards the education market. Outlined on a new Education Preview site, education-oriented features in the iOS 9 beta include shared iPads for students, a new classroom app, an Apple School Manager feature, and an improved Managed Apple IDs function.


Article Link: Apple Offers to Replace iPads With MacBooks in Maine State Classrooms

"Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings". It's reasuring that our children have more sense than money and less inclination to fall for the spin, lies and cajoling that emanates from the Appleverse.
Maybe Cook is watching will realise before it's too late that computers for actually doing something is what we need and maybe also realising that a billion invested at home is best.

 

[69650]

I've tried using my iPad as a laptop replacement and it just doesn't work. You don't realise until you try how restricting the iPad is. Apple have made it that way deliberately because they want users to buy a Mac and an iPad.

 

[2457282]

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

I bought my iPad for my senior studies and it was Great! I had been taking my MacBook to school but got sick of it. Better than a Laptop for battery life, better for textbooks, lighter, great for in class research for tasks, annotating books and textbooks. Did most of my writing in books as doing it all on a computer isn't the greatest idea. It was very good and that was under iOS 5 and 6 - many advances have been made since then.

I also had the self control to ensure I didn't waste my time on it. Surely with the iOS 9.3 education update, keeping a class on track would be much easier.

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.

Before the ipad pro with a keyboard cover, I had spent many a threads railing against the lack of a keyboard. As clearly shown in the picture, giving a kid an ipad without a keyboard is a killer. If you are typing up papers for school the on-screen keyboard is just a non-starter. If they wanted to do things right, they need to include a keyboard with the ipad, otherwise it really is just a consumption device and not a creating device. I have an ipad and have gone through multiple keyboard cases. Now with a good one in place, i do use my ipad way more than the laptop or desktop. My goal is to upgrade the ipad, but not the other devices in the future. I think with ongoing merger of the two OSs I see that the iPad will be (as in not quite there yet) a replacement in a couple of years.

 

[Shirasaki]

See, Apple?
You are wishing it wrong.

Using iPad to replace PC is simply ridiculous, even after one or two years from now.

 

[jweinraub]

I am 35 and going back to school for a second degree. And I bought the iPad solely for my studies as I did not want to lug my MBP to school. While a LOT of my fellow students did do that, it wasn't for me. That being said, I got a smaller sized iPad Mini and my colleagues at work suggested I get the larger sized drive as I would regret a small sized. Point being, I had thought I would use it only for school getting textbooks and educational/learning apps and it soon became an entertainment device. While being an older student that is paying cash for classes I am mature enough not to goof off while learning, I hardly use the iPad with the exception of reading the textbook for school purposes. I watch TV on it, play games, and its my travel companion for short trips. Otherwise the laptop will come with me.

Had I not gotten the iPad I would have just used the MBPr instead. Though I am now considering using the larger sized iPhone and abandon the idea of iPad all together. Not too sure yet though.

 

[samcraig]

Right on the heels of the metrics that show chromebooks' popularity.

 

[tampageek]

This debate wouldn't be happening if Tim Cook hadn't tried to sell iPads as laptop replacements without first having them run MacOS. It's not about the device - it's the operating system.

 

[Gherkin]

Chromebooks are clearly the ideal choice at this point in time for education. Super cheap, super easy from an IT perspective and students prefer the laptop form factor.

Now if a school district can afford MacBooks then that is even better, at least for a student as Chromebooks are still pretty limited (though that is fast changing with more complex web apps and Android apps coming to Chromebooks soon).

 

[Actor Man]

Apple and the Maine Department of Education have offered to swap school iPads for MacBooks at no additional cost, after it emerged that students and teachers overwhelmingly favor the use of laptops in class.

According to a report in the Lewiston-Auburn Sun Journal, schools in Auburn and other districts in Maine are set to benefit from the "Refresh" swap, following surveys of students and teachers across grades 7 through 12, which revealed that 88.5 percent of teachers and 74 percent of students preferred laptops over iPads.

An Edward Little High School senior works on her iPad during class (Image: Sun Journal)​

iPads were perceived to have poor educational value in the classroom and were often used to play games in class, while laptops allowed students better opportunities for school work. The preference gap widened even more when it came to older students, who saw laptops as better devices for coding and programming tasks.

"The results are pretty darn clear," said Auburn School Department Technology Director Peter Robinson, who conducted the survey. "The findings made the decision for us." Robinson said that three years ago, after seeing success with iPads in primary grades, he thought iPads were absolutely the right choice, but now he realized iPads have shortcomings for older students.

One teacher wrote in the survey that iPads "provide no educational function in the classroom. Students use them as toys. Word processing is near to impossible. I applaud this change."

"The iPads are largely students' gaming devices," another teacher wrote, while one called their introduction into the classroom "a disaster".

As part of the state's "Refresh" swap offer, Auburn's iPads are being returned and 1,718 laptops will be delivered in the fall to Edward Little High School and Auburn Middle School.

The state "underestimated how different an iPad is from a laptop," said Maine Learning and Technology Initiative Director Mike Muir. "Student use of iPads could have been better if the Maine Department of Education encouraged more teacher training."

The offer applies to 7th and 8th-graders' computers, which are paid for by the state, and computers for high school students that some schools pay for as part of the Learning and Technology Initiative. The initiative allows up to $254 per student for a device and teacher training to help students get the most out of technology.

The cost of the new Apple laptop will be $217 per year per student for 2016-17, and $248 per year after that. In Farmington, Mt. Blue High School's technology manager Darcy Dunphy said the state's offer is "too good to refuse", because students would be getting new laptops while saving about $140,000 over four years.

"Three years ago the Apple laptop was $273 per student a year," which meant that to stay with the Apple laptop, schools would have had to pay more, Muir said. "People chose iPads. They were within what the state would fund."

Apple has been working on overhauling its iPad in Education program since 2015. With iOS 9.3, Apple introduced a number of new features that are specifically geared towards the education market. Outlined on a new Education Preview site, education-oriented features in the iOS 9 beta include shared iPads for students, a new classroom app, an Apple School Manager feature, and an improved Managed Apple IDs function.


Article Link: Apple Offers to Replace iPads With MacBooks in Maine State Classrooms

 

[rapicell]

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.

Actually, the staff are given several training classes each summer for the upcoming school year about what they can and can't do with laptops/ipads. I went to this particular high school and while yes, the students 9/10 times knew more than the teachers in terms of what you could do, the staff wasn't ill-equiped by any means. However, I do feel the application, at least in Maine, for laptops/ipads was poorly done because there was too much restriction and people got pissy over the dumbest stuff.

 

[Hastings101]

iPads have always been a huge distraction in the few classrooms I've seen them used in, so not surprised teachers hate them. It's been a few years since I was last at a school district that used them, 2012 or so, and then it was hard to monitor iPads from one location like it was with laptops/desktops; there wasn't any software (that the schools had at least) that could record what was happening on each screen. One teacher can't look at the screens of thirty kids by walking around the room, so guess how many played angry birds .

It's great that you guys who are in college have self discipline to use an iPad correctly or whatever, but most high school kids don't care lol

 

[Michael Scrip]

Interesting move on Apple's behalf. As the majority of schools in my area have all switched to Chromebooks from iPads. I think the Laptop is more versatile for a student in terms of academic applications.

Chromebooks are great because they give a "laptop-like" experience in an inexpensive package. And they're relatively easy to manage by the school system.

But I always thought the iPad was supposed to replace textbooks... not "computers"

It kills me to see CHILDREN carrying 50lbs of textbooks on their back. Or needing rolling luggage.

You can add a keyboard to the iPad for typing. But you can't remove the keyboard on a Chromebook for reading.

 

[Kroo]

Apple has an uphill battle with trying to establish themselves in the education sector. With tight budgets, it makes little sense for public schools to spend so much money on iPads (or MacBooks) when you can get Chromebooks for a lot less.

My kid's school system has done that and I know more school systems in my vicinity that uses Chromebooks over iPads

Its far more costly to run a whole bunch of PC's than iPads or even Macs. IT geeks who work in the education system see PC's as rivers of gold, with the license fees, anti virus software costs, constant breakdowns and networking issues etc. Its a well known fact that a school that runs solely on PC's has a 2½ greater IT budget requirement over 3-5 years.

This article just points out two things. Teachers aren't as smart as they'd like to think they are, otherwise they'd know how to get the best out of their iPads, and that the education system is more worried about the IT they use over the outcomes of student education. Maybe they should focus on WHAT is being taught not on what they're being taught on.

 

[tampageek]

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.

I think you have that backwards. OS X is a far more capable OS. Not only does it have mouse capabilities, it has file management. I'm not saying the iPad is not a useful device, but you're kidding yourself if you think a phone OS can replace a desktop environment.

 

[linuxcooldude]

I can't say its confusing or not, as I've never used one. My kids don't seem to have a problem, and school systems do seem to love them.

I see using the tools for learning as the ones you use in real life. Don't know of any business or job that uses Chrome books on a daily basis. See plenty of businesses using iPads and MacBooks.