6 ms·

The problem with deploying iPads in schools

23 points by Hagelin 16y ago

lurch_mojoff 16y ago
Ironically, today Apple announced the App Store Volume Purchase program, targeted specifically at education institutions. Apple don't provide much information precisely how it works from the point of view of a school, but from the 5 sentence blurb on the developer connection site it seems volume purchases and discounts on volume purchases are in the mix.
- protomyth 16y ago
  Apple does this with portables too. It is generally in groups of 10+.
jonbischke 16y ago
An "App Store for Education" should be in the works. I don't if there's an opportunity here for an entrepreneur or whether Apple will do this but it's not just about iPads. Students are going to be increasingly learning on all sorts of mobile devices and schools are going to want to have a way to centralize purchasing and control distribution. In addition, discovery on the current App Store is focused on the mass market consumer, not the needs of a student, teacher or school administrator. I'd be very interested to hear a discussion around the feasibility of building a software platform specifically focused on distributing educational software to mobile devices in schools.
Tichy 16y ago
Android has an "allow other markets" checkbox, which would enable his preferred solution. But I guess it had to be Apple for some reason. What school gives iPads to all it's pupils, and why???
- kylec 16y ago
  That doesn't solve the problem (unless you're advocating piracy) - they're looking to distribute paid apps from the App Store on many devices. It does strike me that they're willing to pay for the iPads at $499 a pop but don't want to buy more than one copy of an app.
  - Tichy 16y ago
    So in theory you can sync to as many iPads as you want? Didn't know that.
- Tarski 16y ago
  In his first first of the series the author states "I convened a meeting to suggest ways that we could get past this problem that everyone wanted access to computers in almost all classrooms almost all the time" - In places like Italy they make do with donated PCs running Linux, which works fine, rather than spending hundreds of dollars of an Ibad solution which doesn't work
  - rimantas 16y ago
    Please, provide more details what kind of tests you did with "iBads" and why did you decide it does not work.
akadruid 16y ago
It's an ostentatiousness toy; I'm geniunely interested how it could function in any educational environment?
- Tycho 16y ago
  Can't you say that about virtually any computer? First thing to note in the school context is that the iPad is small and light, meaning it's easy for pupils to carry, and the battery lasts 10-15 hours, meaning they can carry it about all day. It's also a far superior reading device to anything else on the market... I mean do you genuinely not think it would be useful in education?
  - nlogn 16y ago
    You consider the iPad to be a "far superior reading device" to, say, a Kindle or Nook? I do think the iPad (or any quality tablet with educational software available) could be very useful in schools, but I think it's a far cry from the "far superior reading device to anything else on the market" you claim it is.
    - Tycho 16y ago
      I don't think it's far superior for the purpose of simply reading text, I was alluding to all the other capabilities it adds to the bargain. Colour, video, pinch-to-zoom etc.
  - bho 16y ago
    I've found that an e-book whether in the form of an ipad or Kindle like device is great for reading for pleasure. Novels and News articles fly by for me. However, when I try to read any technical book on my Sony reader, I feel frustrated. I love jotting notes down when I'm learning, and I constantly flip back and forth between pages. Nothing beats a real book imo, and as much as people want to push technology in classrooms, I still don't think it's conducive to learning.
- muhfuhkuh 16y ago
  Critics have had the same contention about laptops. In fact, they're even more of a distraction for teachers because you have to flip it open, obscuring the students' face from the lecture, like erecting a wall of inattention (or at least obfuscation). At least, with the iPad, it will likely lay flat like a notebook or binder.
utexaspunk 16y ago
It would benefit Apple greatly if they were to distribute classroom apps for free- at least the basic stuff needed for student/teacher interaction. Second, they should promote wiki-style development of textbooks and associated materials. The textbook market is a huge sham and a leech upon our education system. Apple could make tons while simultaneously saving schools tons if they could free them from the textbook companies.
mattmiller 16y ago
The California junior college system had a lot more funding than the CSU system. My first two years of college were at JC. All the programming classes had a computer at every desk. I thought this made sense, it was a programming class after all. My first programming class after I transfered to CSU was done in a normal classroom with only a chalk board. The professor would write code in chalk on the board, and I would copy notes onto paper. It seemed dumb, but I learned a lot more in the chalk board classes than I did in the computer lab classes. I think technology in schools can be good, but it can very easily make things worse too. Right now education really wants to embrace technology, but I have a feeling that they will over embrace it and do stupid things like giving every student an ipad. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe wide spread adoption will allow for helpful innovation.
hippich 16y ago
c'mon. if you want child to learn computers - install *nix and ask them to work in it. but, ahh.. these government budgets - that they HAVE to spend..
Hagelin 16y ago
Related article from Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/08/new-school-program-for-ios-apps-doesnt-address-all-it-needs.ars http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/08/new-school-program...

23 points by Hagelin 16y ago

Ironically, today Apple announced the App Store Volume Purchase program, targeted specifically at education institutions. Apple don't provide much information precisely how it works from the point of view of a school, but from the 5 sentence blurb on the developer connection site it seems volume purchases and discounts on volume purchases are in the mix.

protomyth 16y ago
Apple does this with portables too. It is generally in groups of 10+.

jonbischke 16y ago

An "App Store for Education" should be in the works. I don't if there's an opportunity here for an entrepreneur or whether Apple will do this but it's not just about iPads. Students are going to be increasingly learning on all sorts of mobile devices and schools are going to want to have a way to centralize purchasing and control distribution. In addition, discovery on the current App Store is focused on the mass market consumer, not the needs of a student, teacher or school administrator. I'd be very interested to hear a discussion around the feasibility of building a software platform specifically focused on distributing educational software to mobile devices in schools.

Tichy 16y ago

Android has an "allow other markets" checkbox, which would enable his preferred solution. But I guess it had to be Apple for some reason. What school gives iPads to all it's pupils, and why???

kylec 16y ago
That doesn't solve the problem (unless you're advocating piracy) - they're looking to distribute paid apps from the App Store on many devices. It does strike me that they're willing to pay for the iPads at $499 a pop but don't want to buy more than one copy of an app.
- Tichy 16y ago
  So in theory you can sync to as many iPads as you want? Didn't know that.
Tarski 16y ago
In his first first of the series the author states "I convened a meeting to suggest ways that we could get past this problem that everyone wanted access to computers in almost all classrooms almost all the time" - In places like Italy they make do with donated PCs running Linux, which works fine, rather than spending hundreds of dollars of an Ibad solution which doesn't work
- rimantas 16y ago
  Please, provide more details what kind of tests you did with "iBads" and why did you decide it does not work.

akadruid 16y ago

It's an ostentatiousness toy; I'm geniunely interested how it could function in any educational environment?

Tycho 16y ago
Can't you say that about virtually any computer? First thing to note in the school context is that the iPad is small and light, meaning it's easy for pupils to carry, and the battery lasts 10-15 hours, meaning they can carry it about all day. It's also a far superior reading device to anything else on the market... I mean do you genuinely not think it would be useful in education?
- nlogn 16y ago
  You consider the iPad to be a "far superior reading device" to, say, a Kindle or Nook? I do think the iPad (or any quality tablet with educational software available) could be very useful in schools, but I think it's a far cry from the "far superior reading device to anything else on the market" you claim it is.
  - Tycho 16y ago
    I don't think it's far superior for the purpose of simply reading text, I was alluding to all the other capabilities it adds to the bargain. Colour, video, pinch-to-zoom etc.
- bho 16y ago
  I've found that an e-book whether in the form of an ipad or Kindle like device is great for reading for pleasure. Novels and News articles fly by for me. However, when I try to read any technical book on my Sony reader, I feel frustrated. I love jotting notes down when I'm learning, and I constantly flip back and forth between pages. Nothing beats a real book imo, and as much as people want to push technology in classrooms, I still don't think it's conducive to learning.
muhfuhkuh 16y ago
Critics have had the same contention about laptops. In fact, they're even more of a distraction for teachers because you have to flip it open, obscuring the students' face from the lecture, like erecting a wall of inattention (or at least obfuscation). At least, with the iPad, it will likely lay flat like a notebook or binder.

utexaspunk 16y ago

It would benefit Apple greatly if they were to distribute classroom apps for free- at least the basic stuff needed for student/teacher interaction. Second, they should promote wiki-style development of textbooks and associated materials. The textbook market is a huge sham and a leech upon our education system. Apple could make tons while simultaneously saving schools tons if they could free them from the textbook companies.

mattmiller 16y ago

The California junior college system had a lot more funding than the CSU system. My first two years of college were at JC. All the programming classes had a computer at every desk. I thought this made sense, it was a programming class after all. My first programming class after I transfered to CSU was done in a normal classroom with only a chalk board. The professor would write code in chalk on the board, and I would copy notes onto paper. It seemed dumb, but I learned a lot more in the chalk board classes than I did in the computer lab classes. I think technology in schools can be good, but it can very easily make things worse too. Right now education really wants to embrace technology, but I have a feeling that they will over embrace it and do stupid things like giving every student an ipad. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe wide spread adoption will allow for helpful innovation.

hippich 16y ago

c'mon. if you want child to learn computers - install *nix and ask them to work in it. but, ahh.. these government budgets - that they HAVE to spend..

Hagelin 16y ago

Related article from Ars Technica: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/08/new-school-program-for-ios-apps-doesnt-address-all-it-needs.ars http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/08/new-school-program...