My children use iPads at school they are in K and 2nd grade. They take tests with them and use them daily for school work. We did not pay for them and they can't be taken home until I believe 4 th grade. Our public school provided them for every student.
Personally I am not a fan but its the new wave of the future I guess.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Technology is a distraction with study after study demonstrating its ineffectiveness. . Reading, writing, arithmetic. Stick to the basics

What century? You are decades out of touch.

NP here. Well, not so fast with this criticism. In my experience with kids over several years, requiring kids to do school work using the internet and software programs isn't bad if parents can monitor the computer use, but my observation is that private schools make this much tougher when they require kids to have mobile access to the internet via laptops, IPads, etc. Yes, you can try to make the same house rules, but it is practically harder to enforce when the technology is mobile. Add to this that a number of schools (maybe most), don't really put serious parental controls on the devices. The lure of instant messaging, Facebook, etc. while doing homework -- including having to ignore on onslaught of incoming messages -- is tough for any kid. In that sense, such technology really can interfere with the efficiency and efficacy of studying.

Anonymous wrote:Our school uses Chromebooks and they are the worst! Many of them broke the first month. We are considering going with Ipads next.

That is crazy. Seriously, my son has one and it has been fantastic. He uses it all the time, carries it around in his backpack ( in a padded sleeve ) and it has been perfect. No issues at all. Wonder what went wring at your kids school. Defective machines or poorly handled machines? What grades?

Our school uses Chromebooks and they are the worst! Many of them broke the first month. We are considering going with Ipads next.

OP - My DD is a senior, and will more than likely chose another type of PC when she goes to college, so this is for one year. I get that you might think I am out of touch, I resent the school picking my technology, and grabbing the money out of my wallet. My children use pcs by choice, and I don't need another product laying around.

Anonymous wrote:Technology is a distraction with study after study demonstrating its ineffectiveness. . Reading, writing, arithmetic. Stick to the basics

My DD does not have any "personal" material on her school iPad. We told her to treat it as a business phone - one that could be taken at a moment's notice and you don't want to have to worry about leaving anything on it. She said it would be embarrassing to be working with a teacher and have messages popping up or Instagram post alerts flashing on the screen. She has a personal phone for that and keeps her school work separate. Some things she still prefers to handwrite but likes having the ability to share notes and study guides with others.

Anonymous wrote:Technology is a distraction with study after study demonstrating its ineffectiveness. . Reading, writing, arithmetic. Stick to the basics

What century? You are decades out of touch.

Technology is a distraction with study after study demonstrating its ineffectiveness. . Reading, writing, arithmetic. Stick to the basics

We didn't have to pay for DD Ipad.

Same school but my child has been in the pilot program. It's been pretty good. All of teh software is installed and updated by the school and they do any troubleshooting that comes up. Homework is turned in by Dropbox, textbooks are MUCH cheaper (basically offsetting the tech fee based on what friends have paid for books in other high schools) and the books are interactive which is a help - especially in math. She also likes doing all the presentations that they link up to the projectors to show in class. It's the way of the future I guess.

In my nephew's school which also uses iPads, teachers kept right on teaching through snow days. Uploaded lectures, assigned work, etc.

Our private has been testing Ipads. I thought it would fail, but apparently it has gone better than expected and they are going school-wide next year.

Yuck, bad move by the school on so many levels.

An ipad is a terrible choice. Amount of money is ludicrous - you can buy one yourself. No real writing ability. For research only. DUMB.

Best choice would be a Chrome. I am delighted that DS's school just moved this year to Chromes (STA). We got DS one last year by chance and it is the perfect device for school kids. Mac Books are too expensive and unnecessary and I have heard too many stories of them being stolen right out of backpacks. Plus, Chromes don't have software on them and you don't download anything onto them so no danger of viruses or such.

Its all about cloud computing anyway folks...

That is a ripoff.

Does he get an ipad to own? You can get a low end ipad for 420, so if you are paying that to rent for the year, that's a rip off

I was just informed that my DD school will charge a $420 fee for ipad use next year. Is this commonplace in the privates. and if so, what is the benefit (other than social networking during school hours)?