Schools around the country are beginning to adopt the iPad. New York City public schools ordered more than 2,000 iPads, and some 200 Chicago public schools applied for grants to purchase them. Schools in California and Virginia have completely swapped traditional textbooks in certain classes for iPads.
Roslyn High School, on New York's Long Island, launched a pilot program late last month that gave iPads to the students in two humanities classes. The iPads will be used instead of textbooks, and the students will use the tablets at home and in class.
The district paid $56,250 to buy the 75 iPads, as well as cases and styluses. That dollar figure's certainly enough to raise some taxpayers' eyebrows, but the district claims the initial cost of going paperless will eventually save money.
We've covered the many ways educators can incorporate tech into schools, and the iPad, though likely more expensive than the standard PCs used in one-to-one computing projects, could certainly prove to be an investment. Physically, the iPad would be more ideal for students to carry in backpacks, weighing just 1.5 lb, and could easily lie flat on a school desk (for a better view of the teacher). And the iPad offers a new level of interactivity that would be a boon to lessons.
What do you think of schools' adoption of the iPad? Will the investment be worth the cost?
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