ipads issued to school children..

Gilldog · 29-08-2011 06:09PM #1

Students at a Dublin school were issued with iPads instead of books at the start of term today.
Parents pay for the tablets over the child’s time at school - €150 each year – and they come with online material for all subjects studied by the first-year students.

According to Blake Hodkinson, principal at St Kevin's College in Crumlin, this system is 40 per cent cheaper than buying books. Until now the school has provided all books at a cost of €20,000 per year, with €4,000 of that contributed by families.

One of seven schools in Ireland issuing iPads to students, St Kevins is using material from Edco Digital which is automatically updated during the year.

Teachers at the school already work with interactive white-boards.

History and geography teacher Denise McLaughlin said it will make her classes more realistic. “It’d be good for geography. If I’m trying to explain about volcanoes, they can push a button and watch one erupting on screen now.”

However the students were the most excited people in the room.

“The iPad is better than books, you don’t have the heavy bags and it’s easier to organise everything,” said Peter Casey (12)

His classmate Pamela Gleide (13) was already at work, saying: “It’s whopper, there’s loads of apps on it. It’s less boring than books.”

Im so jealous

orourkeda · 29-08-2011 06:11PM

They might give them teachers and classrooms next.

mackg · 29-08-2011 06:11PM

Wow great idea I'm impressed!

Oscars Well. · 29-08-2011 06:12PM

I'll give it a week till half of them are robbed.

UnknownSpecies · 29-08-2011 06:14PM

Yeah they are cheaper but now that these schools have been on the news, what thief wouldn't lick their lips at the thought of 100 first years walking down the road with iPads! Absolutely crazy tbh!

mackg · 29-08-2011 06:14PM

Oscars Well. wrote: »

I'll give it a week till half of them are robbed.

I'd imagine they are insured anyway

Gilldog · 29-08-2011 06:14PM

What does a twelve year old know about taking care of an ipad....get their grubby little finger marks all over them.

Samich · 29-08-2011 06:14PM

Sanitary pads would be of more use to them.

bijapos · 29-08-2011 06:15PM

How does it work, do they take them home at night, if so I can see a few of them being nicked on the way home from school? Do they write on them or do they still use copybooks? Interesting idea all the same and worth a trial at least.

Thinking about it I wonder how long until a parent sues the Dept of Education for injuries their child suffered by jabbing at it with their forefinger all the time and hurt to the eyes caused by the bright screen.

Oscars Well. · 29-08-2011 06:16PM

mackg wrote: »

I'd imagine they are insured anyway

You're probably right.

Sky King · 29-08-2011 06:18PM

Surely even cheaper again would be to issue the notes in PDF format and let each kid (or parent) get them printed and bound themselves.

Each 'book' would cost about a fiver. I can't understand why they don't do this.

What the hell changes so much every year they they need new books? What is so special about the syllabus that a teacher can't write it in word format.

God, it would even be worth the government getting the 10 best teachers in the country to write them every year and pay them 100 k each for it than giving it to fking Folens for fk sake.

29-08-2011 06:20PM

I remember in 6th year having to bring in two school bags full of books if I was staying in school for the day. Anything that reduces costs and also reduces the weight put on kids' backs is a good thing imo.

Saaron · 29-08-2011 06:22PM

What if they get stolen? Broken? Lost? ...

alex73 · 29-08-2011 06:23PM

School here in Mayo already issued them. Its the way to go really if we are to position ourselves to be the leaders in information technology.

But... Ipads are expensive A book at most 50-60 euros to replace. while the ipad min 400.

Mike 1972 · 29-08-2011 06:23PM

Gilldog wrote: »

using material from Edco Digital which is automatically updated during the year

What is this obsession lately with updating textbooks ?

Is 2 + 2 not = 4 anymore ?

alex73 wrote: »

But... Ipads are expensive A book at most 50-60 euros to replace. while the ipad min 400.

Why does it need to be an iPad anyway ?

Are there no cheaper models on the market ?

Gummy Panda · 29-08-2011 06:24PM

Why iPads?

I thought an android tablet would be a cheaper option for schools (unless Apple is doing them a deal).

Mr. Rager · 29-08-2011 06:25PM

Look, I'm in 5th year, and if these were introduced in secondary school, I can guarantee ye I'd only be lookin' at porn during pass maths

Mr. Rager · 29-08-2011 06:25PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Why iPads?

I thought an android tablet would be a cheaper option for schools (unless Apple is doing them a deal).

Google fanboy

me too

alex73 · 29-08-2011 06:26PM

Sky King wrote: »

Surely even cheaper again would be to issue the notes in PDF format and let each kid (or parent) get them printed and bound themselves.

Each 'book' would cost about a fiver. I can't understand why they don't do this.

What the hell changes so much every year they they need new books? What is so special about the syllabus that a teacher can't write it in word format.

God, it would even be worth the government getting the 10 best teachers in the country to write them every year and pay them 100 k each for it than giving it to fking Folens for fk sake.

To be honest if you are going to issue PDF format files then the IPAD is spot on perfect.

Also with ibooks there are thousands of free books that can be downloaded, If you are doing Macbeth its already free on ibooks.

Ireland should be leading the way here.

PCPhoto · 29-08-2011 06:26PM

Saaron wrote: »

What if they get stolen? Broken? Lost? ...

cant believe someone hasn't said it yet ....

Won't somebody please think of the children !!

Professey Chin · 29-08-2011 06:27PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Why iPads?

I thought an android tablet would be a cheaper option for schools (unless Apple is doing them a deal).

Cause very few people whod actually sign the cheques would know theres more out there then what the tv tells them

Itsdacraic · 29-08-2011 06:28PM

It's grand until they go to sit their junior cert and realise they have forgotten how to write.

alex73 · 29-08-2011 06:28PM

Mike 1972 wrote: »

Why does it need to be an iPad anyway ?

Are there no cheaper models on the market ?

yes, but to be honest, nothing comes close to an ipad... and you would be better having 1 standard in the classroom.

Samsung are releasing some good tablets, but they are being blocked for copying apple.

TouchingVirus · 29-08-2011 06:28PM

fjsanchez wrote: »

Look, I'm in 5th year, and if these were introduced in secondary school, I can guarantee ye I'd only be lookin' at porn during pass maths

Kids, aim high and stay classy!

bijapos · 29-08-2011 06:28PM

fjsanchez wrote: »

Look, I'm in 5th year, and if these were introduced in secondary school, I can guarantee ye I'd only be lookin' at porn during pass maths

You'd soon stop once the teacher has called you up to the board a couple of times to explain something.

29-08-2011 06:28PM

Good move.. Bags were a killer weight back in the day.

jc84 · 29-08-2011 06:29PM

The problem with iPads is that apple seems to be going down the same route as the Iphone which would make them old and or obsolete within a couple of years, with 1 released every year thats 6 releases during the students school lifetime, hows that gonna work, but otherwise I think it's a great idea and only wish they had these when I was going to school as I love my ipad

snooleen · 29-08-2011 06:29PM

Sky King wrote: »

God, it would even be worth the government getting the 10 best teachers in the country to write them every year and pay them 100 k each for it than giving it to fking Folens for fk sake.

My secondary school geography teacher made books of notes for us, more like example answers as he found that the massive textbooks (of which we had to have 2 due to geography having different options) didn't explain in any way how to write an actual answer or outline what was required of you to do so, they just had easy to follow diagrams. The rest of the information was in random articles.

We just studied his books of notes. The information was that from the books, it was just put in a way that was easy to understand and exemplary of what was being asked of us in the exam paper.

Morlar · 29-08-2011 06:32PM

Itsdacraic wrote: »

It's grand until they go to sit their junior cert and realise they have forgotten how to write.

These are non-backupable aren't they ? What happens to the student when one of these crashes the week before exams, whole terms everything gone. It looks like a good idea but isn't it also a massive single point of failure ? Not to mention them being dropped, stolen, damaged, lost, frisbeed across the room etc.

Mike 1972 · 29-08-2011 06:33PM

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I thought an android tablet would be a cheaper option for schools (unless Apple is doing them a deal).

alex73 wrote: »

and you would be better having 1 standard in the classroom. .

So that Steve Jobs can commercialise the classroom in order to create a nice little monopoly for his $hitty company

Quazzie · 29-08-2011 06:33PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Good move.. Bags were a killer weight back in the day.

I'm off to check E-Bay to see if there is any of these for sale yet?

ipads issued to school children..

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