Wisconsin Uses Microsoft Settlement Funds to Buy iPads

GORANKAR said:
You are correct, the ipad does have have educational value, it is just a poor value.
What can it do, education wise, that a $200 Kindle Fire could not?
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Having not used either extensively I don't know; perhaps there is platform-specific software or development tools that they want to use, differences in support contracts, student/teacher familiarity with the platform, etc. that make it a reasonable value proposition.

Without knowing any of these requirements and considerations, the above internet criticisms are mostly substanceless.
 
jimmyb said:
Having not used either extensively I don't know; perhaps there is platform-specific software or development tools that they want to use, differences in support contracts, student/teacher familiarity with the platform, etc. that make it a reasonable value proposition.

Without knowing any of these requirements and considerations, the above internet criticisms are mostly substanceless.
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As is the reason for getting an iPad. The schools have been given nearly double the amount of money since the 60's, adjusted for inflation, and grades HAVE NOT improved. Therefore, any dart throwing at "lets get this and hope it makes our kids less retarded" is mostly substanceless.
 
How do you know the rationale was "lets get this and hope it makes our kids less retarded"? Perhaps this is part of some of a comprehensive plan to improve education; I don't know and I doubt you do either.
 
Also you remarks about grades not improving since the 60s is not especially remarkable because: grades not in an absolute indicator of of education level (in fact some schools normalize grades to a fixed-level so it is expected that they would not improve), and contrary to your statement there is a sizeable amount of research which indicates there has actually been grade inflation over the last 50 years (which is a possible problem in and of itself).
 
I really hate it when administrators decide to inflict some shiny expensive new toy on students. You should respond to a need, not just invest in stuff just because it sounds cool. My engineering school decided to force all it's students to buy tablet computers back in 2007. They cost twice as much as normal laptops, were twice as slow, and virtually all fell apart. Worse, they added nothing to the program. It was just a shitty pad of paper that didn't write well and broke easily. For most students, they were just a invitation to get distracted on the internet.

When people get this mentality that cool and shiny is good, and then figure they'll retcon meaningful benefits in after the fact, it's a recipe for disaster. You shouldn't buy things unless it fulfills a need you had before you saw it.
 
Aluisious said:
Somehow I manged to learn to read and do math without a tablet computer.
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THIS!
Now if someone would be so kind as to enlighten me as to how an iPad helps with handwriting skills. Oh wait... :rolleyes:
As mentioned earlier, a tablet with a stylus would be FAR better suited in an educational setting. iPad = entertainment.
 
450 said:
iPads make sense. iBooks 2 and interactive textbooks...
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Absolutely. Some kids (myself included when I was back in school) learn much better with hands-on tangable material rather than boring text from some book. I, personally, feel like the ipad could be an outstanding learning instument if the faculty actually uses it correctly.

however, I recall being a junior in HS and our school getting around 150 brand new computers. The staff didn't even get it setup for the students to use until the year after I graduated. :rolleyes: So we shall see how this goes.

For the haters, here is some positive study results showing that using tablets in the class room does indeed improve scores.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/23/tech/innovation/ipad-solid-education-tool/index.html

More and more schools are jumping on the digital bandwagon and adopting iPads for daily use in the classroom. Apple's education-related announcements last week will no doubt bolster the trend, making faculty tools and student textbooks more engaging and accessible.

But today another data point emerged, demonstrating that the iPad can be a valuable asset in education. In a partnership with Apple, textbook publishers Houghton Mifflin Harcourt performed a pilot study using an iPad text for Algebra 1 courses, and found that 20% more students (78% compared to 59%) scored 'Proficient' or 'Advanced' in subject comprehension when using tablets rather than paper textbook counterparts.
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Only time will tell.
 
BBA said:
Yes, they do.

Chrome cloud apps is already in place for some schools. I guess you missed the news on the chromebooks posted yesterday. It isnt much of a stretch to say an Android tablet can fill the role of a chromebook using the same backend. Google actually beat Apple to the punch on this one.
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and get screwed on the support once the newest version of Android hit. Like it or not, Googles unwillingness to control it's ecosystem is a double edged sword. Too many people get a D in the A when it comes to promised updates.


I honestly don't blame the school for going with ipads over android tablets. If the school plans on keeping these around for atleast 3-4 years before replacing them, android wouldn't be the smartest way to go IMO.

Rumor has it that Apple has an academic version of the iPad on the way as well that could put it into the kindle fires price range.
 
dr.stevil said:
and get screwed on the support once the newest version of Android hit. Like it or not, Googles unwillingness to control it's ecosystem is a double edged sword. Too many people get a D in the A when it comes to promised updates.


I honestly don't blame the school for going with ipads over android tablets. If the school plans on keeping these around for atleast 3-4 years before replacing them, android wouldn't be the smartest way to go IMO.

Rumor has it that Apple has an academic version of the iPad on the way as well that could put it into the kindle fires price range.
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That's not an issue on the 'closed' ones like the Amazon tablets. It's actually subsidized specifically for this application.
 
I think the Apple iPad 2 can be a pretty good deal for a teacher. I use one along with an LCD projector and an Apple TV for mirroring.

I love being able to show any content via WiFi to my LCD projector from my iPad 2. I can use it as a whiteboard, or to run any app or show any textbook that I can get on my iPad. It's a good bang for the buck, and for under $1500 I think it's a bargain.

And if you think that there is little in the way of exceptional educational apps for the iPad you are very mistaken. I'm not even sure how to respond to someone who knows so little about what is available.
 
Sly said:
That's not an issue on the 'closed' ones like the Amazon tablets. It's actually subsidized specifically for this application.
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All of the Nooks and Kindles use the same OS as their predecessors?
 
After realizing the amount of schills out there due to the nVidia fiasco...I can't help but read every one of these posts with a high degree of distrust. Especially ones like CW_Cage.

Serioulsy...my iPAD2 + Projector...it is a great deal for $1500?!? WTF. You know what you could do with $1500 in a school system.

Teacher : All these tools make us so much more awesome, give us more money
Parent : Why do my kids grades still suck
Teacher: It isn't us, because we have these awesome tools...it must be you. So, to help you out, give us more money!

:rolleyes:
 
Trepidati0n said:
After realizing the amount of schills out there due to the nVidia fiasco...I can't help but read every one of these posts with a high degree of distrust. Especially ones like CW_Cage.

Serioulsy...my iPAD2 + Projector...it is a great deal for $1500?!? WTF. You know what you could do with $1500 in a school system.

Teacher : All these tools make us so much more awesome, give us more money
Parent : Why do my kids grades still suck
Teacher: It isn't us, because we have these awesome tools...it must be you. So, to help you out, give us more money!

:rolleyes:
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badgrades.jpg
 
The irony of using money won through a lawsuit alleging price-gouging in the software market to purchase overpriced hardware is not lost on me...

But, and there is always a but, I must say that in my own experience with tablets, going back to Windows XP-based tablet PCs, then continuing on to the current market of Android versus Apple tablets, which is light-years ahead of where things were with tablet PCs (i.e. a somewhat ultraportable notebook with a bizarrely attached screen), the iPad is the best tablet I have used recently. My opinions should probably be taken with a grain of salt though, since I am not an average user, I do not have any unrealistic expectations about what a tablet can do, and the majority of my time spent using a tablet has been reading articles or responding on forums such as this one.

On to the educational opportunities, I know my son has enjoyed 'playing' on the iPad, learning about what different bird calls sound like, practicing his spelling, and watching the occasional educational video. It definitely lends credibility to the usefulness of tablets as educational tools when we are outside and he says, "that's a sparrow" or "I hear a blue-jay", etc. It is information that he could have learned watching a Discovery Channel program on bird calls, but he would not have had the patience to sit through it if it wasn't something that he could manipulate in his hands. The closeness of the resource, or at least its perceived closeness, certainly can have an impact on the retention of knowledge in my experience.
 
Azhar said:
All of the Nooks and Kindles use the same OS as their predecessors?
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Exactly what features are you looking for a tablet that you think is suited for education? And is there anything there that you won't find on an android? Amazon already has experience with publishing books, so much so that their tablets are subsidized (Remember they whole issue a while back about them undercutting their competition?) specifically for publication.
 
Sly said:
Exactly what features are you looking for a tablet that you think is suited for education? And is there anything there that you won't find on an android? Amazon already has experience with publishing books, so much so that their tablets are subsidized (Remember they whole issue a while back about them undercutting their competition?) specifically for publication.
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http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/


probably Apples biggest advantage over Amazon and Android in the education segment. Then add in itunes U and current market penetration of the ipad and it's easy to see why schools seem to be adopting it over it's competitors.
 
dr.stevil said:
http://www.apple.com/ibooks-author/


probably Apples biggest advantage over Amazon and Android in the education segment. Then add in itunes U and current market penetration of the ipad and it's easy to see why schools seem to be adopting it over it's competitors.
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That's not much of an answer since amazons tablets are also made for book publishing at less than half the cost.
 
Sly said:
That's not much of an answer since amazons tablets are also made for book publishing at less than half the cost.
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huh? books aren't being published directly on the ipads. I guess my point was that Apple is making the tools avalible for anyone to publish a book. Educators can come up with lesson plans, compile it into an interactive book and make it avalible for the students to download (paid or free) via iTunesU.

Likewise, they also have traditional ebooks availble via itunes (that the Amazon store would also likely have).
 
pigster said:
Great. Now someone explain to me why students in countries from Poland to Slovak Republic all score higher than American students. Guess they must have better computers or something.
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check out "waiting for superman"

It's a great documentary about the education system in the US. It has nothing to do with funding or computers.
 
pigster said:
Great. Now someone explain to me why students in countries from Poland to Slovak Republic all score higher than American students. Guess they must have better computers or something.
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They don't.

European schools are tracted. Under performer students in math don't enter the math tract and, thus, their math scores aren't compared with American student math scores.

In the US, everybody is subject to scoring and standardized tests.
In most of Europe, if you don't show academic promise then you typically are not even afforded the opportunity.
 
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