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iPad for High School
- Thread starter Baseballjohn
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those are some expensive toys for children. if you want to use it to teach them a lesson about responsibility (i.e. if they break/lose/get it stolen), then go right ahead. i learned about responsibility in high school when i saved up to buy a HP calculator and I kept damn good care of it.
personally, i wouldn't ever give my kinds such expensive toys - i'd make them earn it. kids who grow up with all sorts of stuff handed to them on a silver platter grow up to be entitled and then bitter in the working world when they find out that life doesn't work that way outside of their parents' home.
personally, i wouldn't ever give my kinds such expensive toys - i'd make them earn it. kids who grow up with all sorts of stuff handed to them on a silver platter grow up to be entitled and then bitter in the working world when they find out that life doesn't work that way outside of their parents' home.
Oh the MacRumor's parenting advice.... i knew it would go this way when i read the OP.
The OP didn't ask for parenting advice, he asked if the iPad would work for their needs that he outlined.
OP, for the needs you posted they would work fine. My daughter does most of that on hers, only using the desktop these days to transfer things to print. It replaced the dying 6 year old 12" iBook she used for school daily.... she uses the BT keyboard occasionally - we share it which i think you could do between the 3 of them at first too.
She hasn't encountered the "why do you have a big touch?" from her peers - most of them want their own. She travels in a different circle though, and they tend to be a bit less ruthless than your typical teen set.
I did remove the Netflix account password from her iPad though.... Buffy marathons wasn't i had in mind, homework was! Earned my "mean mom" hat that week (and she hasn't earned it back, in fact this weekend i have possession of the iPad itself for an unrelated reason).
I've been happy with it for meeting the needs we figured out she had - you might check with the kids if they haven't been part of the discussion and have them outline what they think they might need and make sure it works for them. We had talked about it for a few months, and she'd been using a Touch for school daily already.
But remember, you are the parent - so take all the above posters advice with a grain of salt
The OP didn't ask for parenting advice, he asked if the iPad would work for their needs that he outlined.
OP, for the needs you posted they would work fine. My daughter does most of that on hers, only using the desktop these days to transfer things to print. It replaced the dying 6 year old 12" iBook she used for school daily.... she uses the BT keyboard occasionally - we share it which i think you could do between the 3 of them at first too.
She hasn't encountered the "why do you have a big touch?" from her peers - most of them want their own. She travels in a different circle though, and they tend to be a bit less ruthless than your typical teen set.
I did remove the Netflix account password from her iPad though.... Buffy marathons wasn't i had in mind, homework was! Earned my "mean mom" hat that week (and she hasn't earned it back, in fact this weekend i have possession of the iPad itself for an unrelated reason).
I've been happy with it for meeting the needs we figured out she had - you might check with the kids if they haven't been part of the discussion and have them outline what they think they might need and make sure it works for them. We had talked about it for a few months, and she'd been using a Touch for school daily already.
But remember, you are the parent - so take all the above posters advice with a grain of salt
I would suggest you think more of a netbook, considering it has a regular keyboard, can load a full word processor on it, and in general is less of a "look at me" magnet. You probably can get 2 netbooks for the price of 1 iPad.
I love my iPad, but I never would have considered using it in class if I was still in school.
I love my iPad, but I never would have considered using it in class if I was still in school.
The question was whether iPad would work effectively for the described tasks, and the answer is no in my opinion. While Pages can handle light amount of writing on iPad, it is not good for inserting graphs and pictures. In a way, you would be buying an iPad and using it for what it is least effective in doing.
For school work, Macbooks would be much, much more suitable. Look for used ones if money is tight. iPad won't be ideal for school work, even cheap pc netbooks would be better.
Since the only thing I have used Pages for is documents (for work) with pictures I would disagree. It worked great and was a lot easier to format them within the documents than on the laptop. I think it depends on the person as to how effective Pages is and their expectation. And for the type of papers most middle school and high school students write, it should suffice.
I would suggest either the apple case or other that can place it at angles to make typing easier.
Put the money you'll waste on an iPad into a college fund. There's very little you can't do in high school without a pencil and some paper.
I'm a high school student, and for most essays and written compositions they have to be typed up in most subjects. Even when a student said that their computer or their printer was broken, the teacher told them to go to the public library to do it, she didn't accept any hand-written compositions or essays. It's a different world now than when you were growing up but it's all for the better.
Hi,
I'm in highschool, and just got an ipad for myself. My main purpose is using it in school. I basically have all my textbooks on there, and take all my notes on it. It lightens my load tremendously. No textbooks, no binders, just a folder for handouts. No more forgetting my textbooks, everything's in one place. Taking notes on it is superb, the best note taking experience. Why? Because you can type, draw, and its all digital. you can't be disorganized with everything centralized like that, ok maybe you could find a way, but you get what I'm saying.
I'm in highschool, and just got an ipad for myself. My main purpose is using it in school. I basically have all my textbooks on there, and take all my notes on it. It lightens my load tremendously. No textbooks, no binders, just a folder for handouts. No more forgetting my textbooks, everything's in one place. Taking notes on it is superb, the best note taking experience. Why? Because you can type, draw, and its all digital. you can't be disorganized with everything centralized like that, ok maybe you could find a way, but you get what I'm saying.
I'm in high school & I use my iPad for writing papers, taking notes, etc. It's easier than lugging around my MBP. My school isn't completely okay with the idea of students having electronics in the classroom, but I have several teachers who are fine with it.
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My nephew had to have one for school work. I was looking at it last week and it is full of fart apps and games. He uses a laptop for the real school work.
The problem is when writing a report with the iPad you have to keep switching between apps to do research and then typing. And printing isn't easy. With a laptop he has his word processor open in one window and in another window he has the internet browser open for research. Side by side. Can't do that with an iPad.
The problem is when writing a report with the iPad you have to keep switching between apps to do research and then typing. And printing isn't easy. With a laptop he has his word processor open in one window and in another window he has the internet browser open for research. Side by side. Can't do that with an iPad.
I think the iPad can work for what you want but it depends on your expectations. There are several things that the iPad is very useful for.
- If you have any school material in PDF form the iPad is perfect for you to take them on the go, both for study, reference, etc. It's also great for you to keep your notes.
- I can't say if the iPad will work for you to take notes or not, since that's kind of a personal preference. But there are several great apps for it, and even some that let you also draw diagrams and other things.
- iStudiez Pro is a great app for you to keep track of tests, papers, assignments...
- While most people wouldn't recommend the iPad for papers and projects by itself you can still use it if you want to write down some ideas when you have some free time, to gather information and even use if for reference while you're writing a paper on a main computer. And you can also do the bulk of your writing for papers/projects on your iPad and then simply finish the formatting/editing on a computer.
- Even though a lot of people say the fact that you only have one app open on the iPad at a time makes it unusable for work that can actually be an advantage. It might make you more focused, while on a computer you might switch around more.
- If you have school reading to do and the books are available in ePub format you can keep them all on the iPad.
While the iPad is not perfect and there are a lot of things where a computer is more efficient there's a lot you can do with it.
- If you have any school material in PDF form the iPad is perfect for you to take them on the go, both for study, reference, etc. It's also great for you to keep your notes.
- I can't say if the iPad will work for you to take notes or not, since that's kind of a personal preference. But there are several great apps for it, and even some that let you also draw diagrams and other things.
- iStudiez Pro is a great app for you to keep track of tests, papers, assignments...
- While most people wouldn't recommend the iPad for papers and projects by itself you can still use it if you want to write down some ideas when you have some free time, to gather information and even use if for reference while you're writing a paper on a main computer. And you can also do the bulk of your writing for papers/projects on your iPad and then simply finish the formatting/editing on a computer.
- Even though a lot of people say the fact that you only have one app open on the iPad at a time makes it unusable for work that can actually be an advantage. It might make you more focused, while on a computer you might switch around more.
- If you have school reading to do and the books are available in ePub format you can keep them all on the iPad.
While the iPad is not perfect and there are a lot of things where a computer is more efficient there's a lot you can do with it.
I had a maxed out Powerbook G4 in high school. 1 ghz Titanium. Bought it by working hard and selling shareware...
I'm a high school student, and for most essays and written compositions they have to be typed up in most subjects. Even when a student said that their computer or their printer was broken, the teacher told them to go to the public library to do it, she didn't accept any hand-written compositions or essays. It's a different world now than when you were growing up but it's all for the better.
What is wrong with this solution? I wish more students went to the library PERIOD. Less distractions, less procrastination, more solid and substantial references (works cited full of wikipedia is a joke). I'm 23 and lived and breathed in the library until all my work was done. It kept me focused, which allowed me to finish my work faster so I could go out with friends and created good habits.
iPads weren't around when I was in high school but i did use a laptop in class. it worked wonders except for math. My teachers loved it because when I student was absent I would just print out the notes for that day not to mention they could actually read my papers and tests. During free periods I would watch DVDs and browse the Internet. It was a win win!
The iPad is a big toy. It sucks for school because theres to many distracting fun not school things to do on the iPad.
Anyway it is more of a luxury item for high school students. I don't bring mine to school (It would definitely get stolen also my school doesn't allow them at school period) my friends iPhone 3GS got stolen last year at school. If you do give them iPads, make sure to tell them to leave them at home.
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It actually is. At high school we must check our emails at least 3 times a day as teachers send important assessments and details about meetings etc, I learn two design subjects and often need to sort out 10's of photos a day for these subjects and we easily browse the web doing research for 2+ hours each day.
Just don't leave it alone and it will be fine. (aside from the school not allowing them.)