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My kid's elementary school has recently shelved the iPads in favor of Chromebooks. Usable keyboard, multiple logins, gDocs collaboration, low replacement cost,
by joezydeco 10y ago
My kid's elementary school has recently shelved the iPads in favor of Chromebooks.
Usable keyboard, multiple logins, gDocs collaboration, low replacement cost, etc etc etc.
The fact that the iWorks collaboration was highlighted in an education talk tells me a lot.
- robterrell 10y agoMy kids' middle school just moved to iPads from Chromebooks, which I thought was weird. (The elementary school had some iPads, so my kids felt like they were moving up to adult-ish laptops when they moved to middle school.) The iPads had iWorks pre-installed, so I imagine they'll be using this feature.
- cududa 10y agoiPads for education support multiuser login
- joezydeco 10y agoAs of iOS 9.3 (March 2016). Too little too late. Our switch to chromebooks took place last year and the planning probably started a year or so before that. I also don't see where iOS' "Shared iPad" feature lets you log in to any iPad anywhere like a Google Apps account would.
- tedmiston 10y agoSystem-wide maybe it's late, but many education apps already had multi-user login support baked in. I guess it depends how you use the iPads.
- comex 10y ago> I also don't see where iOS' "Shared iPad" feature lets you log in to any iPad anywhere like a Google Apps account would. You can certainly log into any iPad in the school. Regarding other devices, AFAICT you log into Shared iPad with a 'Managed Apple ID', which you could probably also log into on icloud.com or use natively from personal Apple devices you have, though since macOS and iOS currently only support one iCloud account configured at a time (per user account in the former case) the utility would be limited, as you'd probably also have a personal Apple ID.
- cheriot 10y agoIt's an old trope isn't it? How many families bought their first PC and subscribed to AOL so kids could look things up for their homework? But homework never required that. It's a great excuse to give parents that want to buy anyway.
- pawadu 10y agoI am buying my kids a 3D headset and a 3D printer, they will need it for their education.
- criddell 10y agoMy kid's were issued Lenovo Thinkpads and the machines are total garbage. I don't understand why they didn't go for Chromebooks.
- soperj 10y agoWhat thinkpads are garbage?
- criddell 10y ago11e
- MaysonL 10y agoWhich is actually a Chromebook!
- criddell 10y agoNo, it isn't. You can get it running Chrome OS, but these ThinkPads run Windows and that's why the battery life is so terrible.
- pawadu 10y ago11e and x131e are available as windows and chromebooks. I think the chromebook version has an AMD cpu and a smaller battery These are definitely not the best laptops Lenovo has designed. Pretty much the bulkiest 11" laptop you can buy with the worst display, the worst keyboard I have ever touched and the crappy battery life and the fan noise are legendary... But in the end, both were better than anything I had when I grove up. So yeah, basically "kids today..."
- echelon 10y agoThat seems off to me. Thinkpads are normally quite amazing machines. What model(s) were assigned?
- karma_vaccum123 10y agoThose Chromebooks in many cases get coupled with Google's classroom software. One doesn't imply the other, but lots of schools seem to be jumping on the integrated platform.
- joezydeco 10y agoYeah we have some heavy integration going on. Our district even has a full-time dedicated gApps administrator now.
- tedmiston 10y agoEh, having Chromebooks really does imply using Google Classroom. If for no other reason, that Google Apps is the default office suite on Chromebooks, Google Apps for Education is free, and Google Classroom is included with that. Most schools don't have much in the way of a technology budget, so they win by default.
- tedmiston 10y agoI know for a kindergarten classroom specifically, the amount of useful and quality software available on an iPad far exceeds what's available on a Chromebook (ie, as a web app). Kits like Osmo are a great example of this. https://www.playosmo.com/en/ https://www.playosmo.com/en/
- joezydeco 10y agoUnderstood, but the topic here is iWork-vs-gDocs and the collaborative applications (word processing, presentations, spreadsheets) in an education setting. iPads are great for certain purposes like the Osmo. They're a relative failure when it comes to typing up a book report or creating a group slide presentation.
- tedmiston 10y agoFair point. What I've heard comes secondhand from kindergarten / early elementary school teachers where students can't do those kinds of things yet.
- pgodzin 10y agoEven with all Android apps being available on Chromebook now?
- tedmiston 10y agoPersonally I don't know of any schools using tablets that aren't iPads. I'm not sure that the K-5 education market is a segment that gets a lot of attention on Android. Osmo, one of the best and most funded education software startups, doesn't even make Android versions.
- curt15 10y agoI'd be surprised if Android tablets have any significant uptake in business or education settings. Not only do they generally lack software support in terms of security updates (imagine connecting your desktop PC to the internet without access to Windows updates), but also their apps are often just blown-up phone apps.
- jpkeisala 10y agoMy kids (10 and 7 years) have iPads in their school. They were bought for educational purposes but they are full of games. While I like the idea kids should learn to code. I really don't see any need for children that are not fluent on reading and writing to have any computers in the school.