Best educational tablet

Jackson on 22/12/2013 - 02:17

Hi fellow bargainers,

I was recently asked by a friend with a 13 yr old to source a iPad, because according to her "They need on for school, and it must be an iPad"

Upon further discussion it needed to be at least 32Gb and be an apple or it wouldn't connect with the schools wireless, which made me suspicious.

The question I have then more pointedly becomes:

  1. Are schools sanctioning tablets?
  2. If so, are there apps currently in use by the dept of education (if it's still called that) requiring iPad over Androids due to app compatibility?
  3. I have read that NSW schools are all getting 5ghz wireless, does this mean they won't have 2.4 at all?

Thanks in advance for the heads up.

Computing

Comments

  • nikhi24 on 22/12/2013 - 07:37

    Definitely ipads for the younger kids have no idea for 13 yr olds. Plenty of yr 1 or prep year have ipads for the ipad programme meaning a high percentage of class time is dedicated to work on the ipad. My son is special needs and until you have an ipad and see what amazing educational apps there are on there it is hard to believe. Wish I had got it when he was younger like about 3 instead of 7 or 8.

  • nikhi24 on 22/12/2013 - 07:40

    Above refers to QLD schools and they do have certain amount of ipads for use in schools, same goes for WA as far as I know. Pretty common for a few years now I think :)

  • p1 ama on 22/12/2013 - 08:21
    +1

    Tablets are great for kids, but in highschool I would honestly think that it's time to move onto a Surface Pro or something more serious.

    • scrimshaw on 22/12/2013 - 09:06
      +2

      Most kids in highschool would have at least a personal laptop for word processing and pretty much every school has a BYOD (bring your own device) procedure. meaning the kids are expected to bring some form of computing device which meets the device specifications.

      To answer the OP's questions:

      1. Schools usually have a bring your own device policy sheet that should also tell you what devices are supported by the school, so either contact them or read their website to see the minimum requirements.

      2. iPads are widely used in primary schools because Apple has a volume licensing program that allows institutions to purchase volume licenses for apps that can be distributed to a large number of users. That's why Apple is the preferred choice for schools.

      3. 5ghz is a recommended requirement, but it is not absolutely essential to have a 5ghz wifi device since the wireless access points that have been deployed would be configured to operate on dual radio mode (both 2.4 and 5ghz).
        2.4 ghz is compatible with almost anything. The upside of 2.4ghz is that signals will actually go through walls better than 5ghz, the downside is that there is more congestion in this spectrum.

      • p1 ama on 22/12/2013 - 10:10

        I know, I actually graduated from high school not THAT long ago (been a couple of years now, but feels longer than that), the year after I graduated was the year my school started to introduce laptops in class. But rather than BYOD, they bought every student a Lenovo X131e, pretty much a fully fledged laptop (i3 processor) in a netbook-ish form factor.

        I know that in primary schools they tend to use iPads, but yeah, there were definitely congestion issues at my old school when they introduced the laptops, the wireless infrastructure just wasn't able to handle it. They have access points in every classroom now so that's an improvement, but ideally it still isn't as great as it could be.

  • Almost Banned on 22/12/2013 - 11:13

    One of my kids is starting high school next year and I just went to orientation (WA).
    There is no personal computing device provided and they have requested we don't bring one.
    The end of the Federal Government computers for schools funding has made it impossible for our schools to provide or support devices.
    However, this is a government school. Private may well be different.

  • OldBugger on 22/12/2013 - 11:16

    Its a messy issue at the moment I think. Some schools use iOS, most use Windows computers and some use a combination of both plus Android. I would say all admin use Windows.

    The wireless in WA schools use both 2.4 and 5 GHz.

    I know a WA private high school that rolled out all ipads. The on-site IT blokes were kept busy with the things constantly coming in broken, hacked and generally having issues. I guess its the teething process.

    I am researching the same topic though but only for in class use. For the flexibility of student needs in HS, I think a Windows laptop is the best way to go allowing them to gain a deeper understanding and working knowledge of an operating system. But I'm unsure, as I've really never worked with an iPad.

    Which device would allow the greatest flexibility for learning for the real world?

  • Jackson on 22/12/2013 - 14:49

    Thanks for all your constructive info, much appreciated.

    Regarding Windows, Scrim is right, these kids have laptops already, for some reason they need tablets too.

    • scrimshaw on 22/12/2013 - 15:44
      +1

      They shouldn't need tablets.

      AFAIK the kids will only bring 1 device to school (either a laptop or tablet) and shouldn't be required to use both.

  • Jackson on 22/12/2013 - 20:42

    Ok, I got the name of the school and did some digging on their site. As usual the child is telling half truths to get an expensive present for Xmas.

    The school is trialling a 1:1 ratio of iPad per student, by paying for the hardware infrastructure and connectivity for all students by placing a router in each classroom, and brokering something of volume licensing for some apps to the tune of an extra $50 perstudent per year charged with the fees.

    They are explicitly supporting iPad only. I still can't work out why (except maybe It are douches) as their 50 Page document on it has blank pages for the software parts. I don't get how they can say to people "You must have an iPad because of compatibility but we haven't decided on the software you will be using." How are we supposed to know the apps aren't available on Android? Seems they missed the key things ppl need to know to make a decision. How did hey even come to $50? After reading there FAQ, I can honestly say that none the first the questions were anything like what I would be asking.

    It is a Catholic school out west of Syd, so technically private. The reason the half truth is that the trial is for 7 and 9 and the student is in 8 (no idea why they aren't doing it for 8 too). They did say that you will not need a laptop if you have an iPad.

    I am all for technology in the classroom, but forcing everyone onto iOS is ridiculous. I know that Windows has had a monopoly for ages but it was a Monopoly of the software only, you could make do with some very cheap and accessible hardware. Some parents can't really afford to buy 3 iPad for their 3 kids, and beyond that why should they be forced to use anything? They even went so far as to say an iPad 1 is not suitable because the camera is no good. What the? I didn't know that every student was going to be the next Spielberg.

    I will link to the policy of anyone wants to have a read shortly.

    • Astro551 on 23/12/2013 - 12:50

      sounds like an interesting rollout. I believe that this idea of trialing iPads (and iPads ONLY) really is just testing the waters to see how effective this form of ICT is in the classroom. If everybody is using a range of devices - Android tablets, Windows RT, iPads; you can imagine the pain it would be to find and do things compatible across so many different operating systems in the classroom. Sure there are alternatives to most mainstream apps, but I'm sure the school has a general idea what direction they want to be heading to, and will be easiar on them logistically.

      I would wager that recommending iPad 2 and above is merely a precautionary thing.

      These options could save you money, but are not recommended, as they are not
      sufficient for school use.

      You could probably make do with it, but you may or may not be missing out on things ala not recommended. But I agree not everyone can afford to spend hundreds of dollars on these things.

    • valour on 25/12/2013 - 00:53

      As a teacher in a NSW gov. school,I bought an android to use for various things, only to find out that the departments system installed is indeed only a 5 Ghz system and the tablet couldn't connect as it was only 2.4 Ghz. I took it back. Apparently Ipads run both. Everyone with an Ipad can connect easily. I can also connect with my Android phone. Most retailers can't tell me if their product will connect to a 5 Ghz system when asked.

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