Is the iPad Fit for School?

Kevin Honeycutt watched as a group of students at the Turning Point Learning Center, a K—8 charter school in Emporia, KS, took turns with an iPad, rocking out on a virtual guitar as they rehearsed for an upcoming spring concert.

Ethan Rodriguez, a student at Turning Point Learning Center, tries out the iPad iShred app.

In just the first month since the iPad's release, educators have been scrambling to test drive the slim touch-screen device to see how it works for them—and potentially their students. And some schools have already placed orders for discounted 10-packs of the device, at $20 off each iPad. Whether they've purchased one or not, teachers overall seem especially keen on the iPad's potential to deliver content in a novel way.

Steve Dembo, online community manager for Discovery Education, has postulated about the device on his blog. "While being able to store a thousand books on the device is wonderful, that in itself doesn't increase student learning," he wrote in an email. "But when you begin combining the written knowledge with images, videos, and interactive activities in a personal, intuitive interface, that's when we begin truly experiencing the future of learning."

Beth Knittle agrees. The K—12 technology integration specialist at Barnstable (MA) Public Schools has 10 iPads on order for five elementary schools, one intermediate, and one high school in her district and is especially amped about the possible applications she can use with students. One such program, "The Elements: A Visual Exploration," transforms the periodic table into a magic carpet ride of zoomable imagery and rotating symbols. It even includes video clips of experiments on various chemical elements. Also intriguing to Knittle are applications that offer flash cards in multiple languages, and one that she says can diagram sentences.

Knittle hopes to get the devices to English-language-learning students, as well as inclusion rooms, where high-functioning special education students could use the iPad to help them work alongside their peers in regular classes.

But ordering the devices for every classroom? That's not on the immediate agenda. Knowing that applications are still being developed—with just 310 educational ones available on a recent check of the iTunes store—Knittle says it's critical to try the devices on a smaller scale before committing to larger integration.

"Is it going to make a difference for students, or can we just do with a laptop or desktop?" she says. "For us, it's a big experiment."

Still, for some educators, the device is likely to remain a hypothetical tool. Fifth-grade teacher Ashlee Ritzko can't imagine her school, Homestead Elementary in Crossville, TN, purchasing the iPad anytime soon. While the touchscreen appeals to her as a teaching tool, she's skeptical as to whether her district would deem it necessary, at least now, as they already have computers in the school. "I don't think it's realistic in our district because of the cost," says Ritzko.

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