Parents V teachers over iPad

[johcar]

Forcing the parents to buy technology that will need to be upgraded every couple of years is a dumb approach (setting aside the whole "why the **** would you force people to buy an overpriced/overrated Apple product?" argument).

The supplier should be coming to the school with a lease-to-the-school option and the school (if it's so important to the education process) should then provide the equipment to the students free of charge (perhaps with a bond on the gear for it's return in good condition).

[GameJunkie]

good point johcar

[HAL9000]

Like schools would actually have the funding to support such approach! 500 students at say $1000 per device is $500,000. No state school that I know of has that sort of money lying around.

Even leasing would be close to $200k per year assuming a life of three years for the device. Leasing companies are not altruistic organisations so will want a commercial return on their funds.

And then there is the practicality of iPads vs Note/Netbooks.

My wife has both a laptop and ipad. She primarily uses the iPad as a reference to look at documents and information created on her laptop.
The on-screen keyboard is really only good for short notes and emails. Utterly impractical for essays and projects.

And by the time people discover this they will be up for another $100-300 for a keyboard of some description, add shells or cases to protect the device there is another $25-200.

my 2c worth!

[Cicero]

good point johcar

I agree, all we need now is the info on where schools get the dosh?

[Cicero]

good point johcar

I agree, all we need now is the info on where schools get the dosh?

[Alex B]

Isn't there already such a relationship in place?, pretty sure that teachers are supplied heavily discounted items.

MOE covers pretty much all software cost so I believe. IE MS Office/Server/Windows/AV. Laptops are leased with very good deals, I think the MOE partly subsidise this.

[dugimodo]

Rather than every student having them perhaps those classes that would benefit most should have a set to remain in class. Of course the students would quickly destroy them but that's another issue.

I struggle most with why they try to push an iPad when all the reviews I've read rate them as a great toy/ content reader but mediocre in terms of productivity. A cheap netbook, maybe even linux based, would seem a much more practical solution to me. I can't Imagine students doing homework on an iPad, but could easily see them doing it on a netbook.

Seems to me like teachers jumping on the flavour of the month bandwagon and being taken in by the cool factor, how many iPads are actually being used by companies for work purposes as opposed to the humble laptop?

[Metla]

All it does is point out the absurdity of the entire exercise, how can these fools expect the parents to outlay millions of dollars for this crap?, they couldn't and wouldn't do it off their own back because its a stupid stupid plan.

The only ones to benefit are the people selling the pads and I bet those smarmy bastards are laughing al the way to the cocktail lounge, The Principle is just caught up in the apple wank factor, to the detriment of everybody else.

Line em up and shoot em.

[Metla]

To me the most practical solution is to do nothing. Make do with whats available.

If they did want to implement a new level of technology, then build em into the top of the school desks, Indestructible, immovable, light cheap units all hooked into a main server where the students files are kept.

[Metla]

Anyhow, I'm going to go sit outside this school with a bag of lollies, I'll have some ipad auctions set up on trademe later if anyone is interested.

I'll use the profits to buy an Asus tablet.