Listen up Apple! First of all, congratulations. Today’s education keynote was pretty impressive. It is an exciting time to be an educator and you have me as excited as ever about the possibilities for the classroom of the future. As both a teacher and a principal you now have me dreaming of a classroom in which all of my students have access to an iPad. However, I still see a few roadblocks in the way of many schools being able to attain this dream. So, Apple, as a school principal, allow me to make some suggestions of what needs to happen to make real the dream of giving countless students the opportunity to learn the Apple way:
1. Drop the Price of the iPad
There have been rumors circulating that Apple, after the release of the iPad 3, may be willing to sell the iPad 2 alongside it at a discounted price. I say that this is a must if iPads in schools are going to become commonplace. Having an iPad available for $299 or less would make it far easier for schools to make it happen. Schools are always short on cash and the more Apple can make iPads seem like a money saving option over the purchase of traditional textbooks and laptops, the more schools they will get to hop on board the bandwagon. If all or most of the textbooks that schools need are available on the iPad for $14.99 or less, paying $299 or less for an iPad seems like a money saving bargain when compared to the price of traditional textbooks.
2. Offer a Discount Package for iPads Purchased with Wireless Keyboards
One of the main reasons my school has stayed away from adopting iPads as our main technology devices is the difficulty of typing on the touch screen. This is especially an issue because many of our students are expected to type essays and reports while at school. The iPad without a keyboard is still viewed as just a supplementary or 2nd device by most people and most schools just can’t afford to buy both an iPad and laptop for each student. Offering a special deal for schools who purchase the Apple wireless keyboard or another iPad compatible keyboard or keyboard dock with an iPad would solve much of this issue for most users and schools.
3. Design Software that Allows for the Management of Many iPads at Once
One of the biggest headaches of adopting iPads as a schools main technology platform is managing all the devices. While iCloud has made this much easier because you no longer need to sync each individual device with a cable, it is still difficult to quickly see what is on each many iPads at a glance and quickly add books, apps, or documents to many iPads or only certain iPads at once. iPad management software that helps to manage a large amount of iPads at once would be a godsend for teachers and administrators. Some features that I can imagine being useful at schools are the ability to see the battery charge on all devices connected to the network, locate all school iPads quickly, remotely view the contents of any iPad the school owns, remotely view device usage logs, and easily transfer files, apps, and books from one specific device to another remotely.
4. Offer iPads with more Storage Space at Entry Level Prices
The new textbooks being offered by Apple are very large file sizes. Many of the textbooks are over 2 GB in size. The entry level 16 GB iPad will run out of space very quickly with the addition of a handful of textbooks. If Apple is serious about schools making use of iPads for textbooks, they need to increase the storage space of the entry level priced iPad in the next iPad refresh.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS:
