Apple make products that are too expensive and not repairable. They should pull out of Education completely so schools won't have to waste time even considering the kits. It is a race to the bottom, and there is the ChromeBook.
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Apple Offers to Replace iPads With MacBooks in Maine State Classrooms
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Too true. It's all based on teacher training. Growing up, I had access to Apple II computers in elementary school. One year, all my computer class did was play games. Another year, with another teacher, we actually learned math and computer skills.
In the end the teachers or administration are the ones who own their students learning in the classroom. You can't just put a device in a kids hands and say "learn" then be surprised when they play games (and who's not properly managing the devices to ensure games aren't installed?) Teachers should be able to find ways to implement devices in your current curriculum as tools to accentuate learning. If they don't, the kids will have loosely structured "iPad time" and will be left to play their games.
Both iPads and laptops in the classroom are distractions from learning. The problem is that there is no profit margin for Apple or kickbacks for administrators with pen and paper.
This could be a case of just bad management. Office 365 works just fine, particularly with the Smart Keyboard. Mobile Device Management would let them limit installation of third party apps (and is far easier on an iPad than a Mac). Given that schools have no issues at all using Chromebooks (because they are dirt cheap) they ought to be able to figure out how to use an iPad. The high school where I went just went all iPad. Before they did it, they did a LOT of research into MDM, firewalls, apps for teaching, and also trained the teachers on what is available.
Given all the debate over hybrids, it would be interesting to see if there are any statistics on the Surface in education.
Given all the debate over hybrids, it would be interesting to see if there are any statistics on the Surface in education.
True. I saw a study recently about the impact of laptops (of any variety) in college classrooms. In it, students who brought laptops or tablets to class did less well than students who did not.
Finally. I have literally been saying this for years. The iPad is a great content consumption device but it is piss-poor as an input device.
To get any real work done on one of those you need to buy expensive productivity apps and a keyboard attachment. And even then it's cumbersome to write things, print stuff, get your files out of the iPad etc - And in trying to make it workable you've essentially turned it into a crap laptop with a touch screen and baby software.
Real laptops are what students actually need!
To get any real work done on one of those you need to buy expensive productivity apps and a keyboard attachment. And even then it's cumbersome to write things, print stuff, get your files out of the iPad etc - And in trying to make it workable you've essentially turned it into a crap laptop with a touch screen and baby software.
Real laptops are what students actually need!
i could see tablets being a decent textbook replacement, but is everyone getting a keyboard accessory too? just something else to keep track of. and since they aren't pros, no pencil either. otherwise there could have been value in virtual note taking and diagrams.
i think we're at the point where novelty of touchscreens has hopefully worn off and people realize that you don't have to try to force a square peg into a round hole and use them for everything just because they looked cool and futuristic a decade ago.
i think we're at the point where novelty of touchscreens has hopefully worn off and people realize that you don't have to try to force a square peg into a round hole and use them for everything just because they looked cool and futuristic a decade ago.
Chrome books are popular mainly because of their cost, and because teachers generally rely on free web apps, so a browser and Google suite of services is really all they need. At the same time, they don't have to deal with the complexities of Windows.
Within the context of education, a chrome book means most of the benefits of a laptop without any of the drawbacks.
Except it didn't quite work out that way. Apple II was never really a serious business machine, and Windows supplanted the Mac. Chromebooks are essentially the return of thin clients. That works just as easily with the iPad, Surface, or anything else.
Yeah you can do all those things, very poorly, very inefficiently.
It sucks as a video editor, my god you'd have to be out of your god damn mind to edit anything of substance on that thing. It cannot colour grade, it can't do any complex effects. You would 100% need a "big boy" computer with a proper editing suite to make anything beyond a vacation film.
And recording music? come on are you for real? - The iPad sucks for any kind of content creation and if you're going to buy a keyboard dock for it just buy a laptop in the first place and get the proper experience.
Try programming on an iPad, it can't even compile or run the code you write for gods sake.
Really depends on the nature of the lesson, don't you think?
If I am using Popplet to create a mindmap of the Greek civilization, it might be easier to manipulate the various parts of the mindmap with a touchscreen than a cursor and keyboard.
And baby software isn't inherently a bad thing. It means the apps are easier to use and familiarize, especially when we are dealing with younger children.
People seem to equate productivity and classroom learning with typing long essays, and I can assure you that is the least of what we do during lesson time.
Not surprised. Laptops are wayy more versatile for everything. Especially school work, when you need to go back and forth between writing a report and researching a report. Copy and paste is much easier and putting the document in whatever format you need is better.
iPads are overrated and I know no own one as I don't find much use for it.
iPads are overrated and I know no own one as I don't find much use for it.
1. An ipad is a screen with input capability which delivers usefulness via software.
2. A laptop is a screen with hinged keyboard with input capability which delivers usefulness via software.
3. A intelligent administrator is a person who knows how to harness the software and hardware to the benefit of the enduser.
2. A laptop is a screen with hinged keyboard with input capability which delivers usefulness via software.
3. A intelligent administrator is a person who knows how to harness the software and hardware to the benefit of the enduser.
I think the most obvious point in the article is the school, more specifically the IT Director, didn't know what they were getting into. The Director said as much. In that scenario it seems a lot of incorrect assumptions were made. Alliflowers said it best on quote #48. The school should have laid out their plan first, decided what they wanted to accomplish, and then choose the best tool to achieve that plan. Purchasing iPads because they worked well in an elementary setting was not the smartest decision. This is less a story about iPads being poor replacents for laptops and more about the old adage: Proper planning prevents piss poor performance.
People keep parroting this. I don't think it means what you think it means.
It depends on the need. Most 10 year olds don't need to program or do coding. It's easier to control access on an iPad (mobile device management) and you can keep the user experience simpler. The problem is that the Maine schools just threw technology at people without thinking about the right way to use it. In some respects, the iPad Pro 9.7 with the smart keyboard should be easier to type on for smaller hands. And the ability to limit file access ought to make it more difficult to cheat. Mobile Device Management would prevent students from downloading games.
Plus, drawing is a lot easier with the Apple Pencil and iPad Pro than the Mac or even a typical Windows 10 PC (a Surface may be a bit different). Art students probably prefer the iPad.
No argument. But you can see why Apple would be interested in "upgrading" these classrooms to keep them on Apple.
Again, what's the context?
We are dealing with school children here. If they are creating movies or slideshows, you won't be expecting professional grade video quality anyways. The purpose is to allow them to express their ideas and creativity and tell a story, not edit the next Avengers movie.
The iPad's chief advantage here would be its integrated camera, allowing the school children to take photos and record videos and edit them directly on the same device.
Same with programming. At this age, children will likely be exposed to scratch, and the learning objective is probably more to develop problem solving skills rather than actually code an app.
An iPad actually does all this well. The main issues I can see are price, the various idiosyncrasies of iOS and the challenges of getting your work off the device to submit to your teacher.
In my country the children learn programming and coding at age 7-8 and it continues from there. I mean we are a bit progressive in europe, maybe you're American or something and a simple basic iPad is good enough for your kids I dunno.
Why? I did my entire Physics Degree on an iPad. Using it to take all my notes for my math and physics class, with an old school nib stylus. If I didn't hate school so much I'd like to go back and do it with the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil.
I was replying to the user who was talking about adult use of the device not children. The iPad is a very poor creative device in general. It's a consumption device.