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Secondary education

Are Ipads used a lot in secondary schools?

56 replies

vkyyu · 01/12/2013 15:08

Will any secondary school teachers or parents share their views please. My children are not in secondary school yet. However many and more and more primary schools seem to be acquiring IPads for pupils use in schools. So just wonder if this is also happening in secondary schools. As I want to invest my saving in the right equipment for my dcs. I think IPads are very expensive for what they are. However there many tablet-PCs available on the market and often come with Microsoft office seem very good value as comparing to IPads. So just wonder whether a IPad or a tablet-PC will be better support their school / home work in secondary schools?

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blueemerald · 01/12/2013 15:13

I've worked in 3 secondary schools and the only one that used iPads was a special school. A desktop PC or laptop is more useful for homework/research. If you are set on a tablet you can get an iPad (I personally think they are better than others on the market) for a comparable price at somewhere like Computer Exchange.

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Bradsplit · 01/12/2013 15:14

is irrelevant which one. def one or t'other tho

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LoopyLobster · 01/12/2013 15:14

Definitely a laptop supports learning better for secondary pupils. Ipads are toys. Lovely, useful, engaging toys, but toys nevertheless.

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MissMillament · 01/12/2013 15:16

They are not used at all in my secondary school. I can't see any particular reason why they would be useful in my subject (English) though I would love a bank of wifi-enabled laptops for use in class - access to machines with keyboards being more of a priority for me. But we don't have the budget for that. In terms of homework, again for my subject, a computer or laptop would be more useful than a tablet.

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Bradsplit · 01/12/2013 15:16

i think that might be the case for those of us who are used to trad laptops


kids ( sheesh!) nowadays dont see them as viewers like adults do

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Bradsplit · 01/12/2013 15:17

NOT USED at all? christ -you need to get with it.
Ours does a HUGE amount of work on google docs for drafting etc

its a missed opportunity

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MissMillament · 01/12/2013 15:18

Show me the money, Brad.

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vkyyu · 01/12/2013 15:29

I've seemed some tablets with preloaded Microsoft office and with detachable keyboards plus larger memories and window 8 etc at just around half of the prices as to similar sort of IPads. So just wonder..........?

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LoopyLobster · 01/12/2013 15:37

We have ipads and macs at school. Given the choice, the kids always go for the macs. Ipads hardly get used.

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Bradsplit · 01/12/2013 15:38

apply for the grant lady

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DoctorDonnaNoble · 01/12/2013 15:47

Our school has a huge shortage of IT in general.
I've just worked out that I will never be able to do computer work with my year 9s as we only have lessons when computing is on (so can't room swap). Most secondary schools are far away from the everyone having an iPad situation.

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MissMillament · 01/12/2013 15:52

I'm sure the school applies for every grant going. I teach in a huge comprehensive in an area of deprivation - we have many IT needs that are far more urgent than some 'nice to have' tablets.

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Metebelis3 · 02/12/2013 05:38

iPads really aren't toys. For school use their main advantage is the weight though.

I suppose a key advantage of a Windows tablet would be nobody would want to nick it. Mind you, you might find your DCs 'losing' it.

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Unexpected · 02/12/2013 10:21

Every student in my dc secondary (hit-achieving comp) is getting an iPad! Year 10s already have them, I think Yr 7 is next, DS1 who is in Yr 11 won't get his until beginning of 6th form but I think by beginning of the next academic year they will have been distributed to every year group. TBH, I am ambivalent, school has never let us down so far so I trust they know what they are doing here and I'm afraid I also have no idea how these are funded.

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Indy5 · 02/12/2013 12:56

Tablets like ipads are not toys (though they can of course be used as such) - they are powerful portable computers and great for taking notes especially if you don't want pages of scruffy writing to revise from ...would recommend tablet (for classroom notes/portability) plus laptop at home. You can always add a small keyboard to a tablet to make it easier to type with.

In the work place, people use tablets all the time for taking meeting notes/ diary...etc, not sure why senior school should be different.

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Indy5 · 02/12/2013 13:13

oh and forgot to add tablets can store lots of lovely textbooks on them ...in full colour and interactive too...like carrying your own personal library around ...portability is key these days... anyone dismissing them as a toy is clearly not using them the right way

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Lonecatwithkitten · 02/12/2013 13:34

One of the reasons why iPads are used is because Apple gives much better educational discounts than other manufacturers. When you are buying 200 of them that countsGrin.

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HowardTJMoon · 02/12/2013 13:41

Both of my DCs' schools have spent inordinate amounts of money on iPads that very rarely get used. Tablet computers are not well suited to a lot of educational tasks because you can only really interact with one app at a time. By contrast a laptop makes it easy to have multiple web pages open plus a word processor, spreadsheet or whatever, to quickly and easily flick between them and bring that information together. Tablets, by contrast, work best at media delivery rather than content creation.

I think a lot of the time schools buying into technology like this is a massive waste of resources that are of more use in looking good for prospective parents rather than being useful for delivering real educational value. And I'd very much put Windows tablets and Android tablets in with this. What's missing is the same thing that a lot of IT projects miss - you should select the applications first and only then decide what platform to run them on.

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Talkinpeace · 02/12/2013 13:46

DCs use them a lot
but they are school ones not ours
I refuse to buy one
the school has over 100 ipads and they are in constant use

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noblegiraffe · 02/12/2013 13:51

My school is currently looking into all the kids getting iPads. Can't wait, it's going to be fab :)

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mimbleandlittlemy · 02/12/2013 13:57

Every Y7 in ds's school (local comp) has now got an ipad supplied by the school and they are seeing how it goes with the Y7s before rolling it out through the school. School spent the best part of two years testing and working out which tablet would be best for battery life, what they could do on it etc, etc and the ipad mini came out top so they went with that. Parents can either pay £20 per term for 6 terms or a one-off £180 and the ipad is yours at the end of three years. All of them arrived with a school case and with the child's name engraved on it. If you can't afford £20 per term then the child isn't allowed to take the ipad home.

The children are allowed to put a few games on as long as they don't take up too much memory (no shoot 'em up type games obviously) and they are allowed to have their music on it. School can oversee exactly what they have on and what sites they have been accessing as soon as a child turns it on on the school premises.

So far, 4 weeks since arrival, it has been used extensively for various homeworks including PE, RS and geography with far more imaginative projects than we ever did at school, that's for sure.

Certainly not a toy.

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Klingyston · 02/12/2013 14:30

My children's schools - 1 at primary 1 at secondary - both use ipads a lot at school - Not toys at all but fantastic teaching aids - for art, drama, music, science ,literacy, maths and more - using apps or photographs, video etc etc. However, there is no expectation they will have one at home. They are however expected to have a pc at home - lots of homework is on pc - mathletics etc or just typed up stuff and laid out in word/publisher. Also often have to use internet for research.

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thecatlikesmebest · 02/12/2013 15:40

I would never let a child take one into school. If school provide them fair enough. A lap top or pc for use at home is pretty essential and more use than an iPad.

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Metebelis3 · 02/12/2013 19:43

If DD1 had to carry a lappy round (even a MacBook Air) her life would be intolerable, it's difficult enough for her as it is, she is severely dyspraxic and has to carry instruments around too. Being able to use her iPad in all lessons is a real boon. DD2 will also use an iPad once she is at secondary school. I agree with the point about spreadys, but school kids don't need spreadys. For what they need, the iPad is superb.

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vkyyu · 03/12/2013 17:38

Thanks for all your responses. Still interested to read more views. But I think I just wait for another year. As we already have pc and a tablet-PC. There s urgency for an iPad for now. May ask the same question again next year.

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