Does your dc's school use iPads?

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

If so, are they individual devices taken home by pupils or are they a set of iPads used for specific lessons? If they're individual iPads, how are they paid for (and how much?). And are they adding value to lessons in a way which things like interactive whiteboards can't?. My dc's school wants to introduce them and there's been a bit of a parental revolt... so interested to hear experiences from other schools

[NicknameUsed]

No. The school can't afford them.

[Cocochoco]

No thank god. It's ridiculous.

[Twinkletowedelephant]

School have iPads enough for a class at a time to use.
Ds has autism and is allowed to 'play' on iPad (usually math games or if he's far ahead of the class angry birds)when he has completed work especially if he doesn't want to do it or doesn't see the point

It's a useful tool for the teachers to use

[littleducks]

My dcs primary has a set. They remain in school and I don't think achieve much

I have seen in used other schools and don't think they hold much value

The exception for that general rule is for rewards or to adapt lessons things for SEN children (ie a child at dcs school was registered blind and had an iPad as she couldn't see the interactive whiteboard)

[PickAChew]

DS2's primary has 2 sets - one it's had for years and one more recent, plus a personalised one just for DS2, who has SN. Mostly paid for by grants - something HT is very good at obtaining for various things!

[AtiaoftheJulii]

No. They have lots of laptops so if a class need them they can use them.

[7to25]

My sons school has them (private secondary)
I remember their introduction and lots of parents were dubious but they seem to be a success. I am not a tech person but the school has special software to interact with pupils.
It is great for homework and for sports information for the kids etc.

[SAHDthatsall]

Yes DS school uses them and they are very useful and used all the time. The school arranged an insured package so you could buy one through that or you could just buy your own with minimum specs required. Plus a case. Been a pretty good success from what I have seen.

[DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen]

Ds's primary school had them,the kids used them from reception onwards,they remained in school.

Now ds is at high school they use their phones.

[LIZS]

DC school have them, one each which you can buy when they leave. I have mixed feelings tbh as although it is great communication tool it isn't so great for writing essays and coursework and encourages over dependence.

[exexpat]

DD's school has them - private secondary, so they are issued 'free', i.e. included in the fees, and the children bring them home every day.

DD seems to have mixed feelings about them - some of the software they use seems to be useful, but there are regular technical glitches (some things you can only load/update while on the school wifi network for security reasons etc). Also they are difficult to type on for longer pieces of work, but if you use a home windows PC to do school work it is not always compatible with the iPad software. They also do not seem to have replaced textbooks to any great extent, which I thought was one of the main ideas - she still has a massively heavy backpack full of books to take to school most days.

I think really a lot of it depends on what the school expects to use them for, and how well trained all the teachers are in keeping up with the tech side of things to make the best use of them.

[JerryFerry]

My year 4 child takes his own iPad to school as do others in his class. For those without, there are devices to share.

My teenager takes her own Microsoft surface pro as do all the other students, it is a requirement.

Do I think it enhances their learning? A bit, yes, once the school gets the hang of managing the technology or charging, secure storage, technical issues.

[Badbadbunny]

At our DS school, some departments have bought ipads for use in their lessons only. They're a pain in the arse. DS hates them. Basically, all they use them for in lessons is to look at online text books, which my son finds really hard because of the small size of the screen (smaller than the text book page) so he has to constantly re-size to read, and then flipping from section to section, to the index, to the answers, etc is a right pain. He'd far rather use a paper text book as flipping between pages/sections is far easier. Trouble with most online text books is that they're just a pdf version of the book itself, so just an image with no hyperlinks etc. IF, and it's a big IF, there were some decent online resources written specifically for use on a tablet they'd be far more useful. As it is, we've actually bought paper copies of the online textbooks which my son finds far easier to use. Luckily, most departments didn't go down to ipad route and continue to use paper text books!

[Badbadbunny]

And don't get me started on the awful MyMaths online app. If you get just one question wrong, you have to go through the whole damn section again, doing all the questions types you previously got right, which just wastes a hell of a lot of time and demoralises the poor sod doing it.

Not to mention that it doesn't help prepare you to write full answers on an exam paper - it actually encourages you to scribble rough workings or use mental arithmetic so you risk losing marks in an exam if you don't show your workings properly, at a time when it's said that getting the answer right won't get you full marks anymore if your workings aren't clear!!!

And while I'm on a roll, what's the point of the school setting up an online homework system if the teachers can't be arsed to put the homework on it and then hand out detentions like smarties when the poor kids havn't done the homework that wasn't put on the online system????

At the moment, the technology is being used in a lazy half hearted way.

[user1475865714]

At DD's school they all have individual iPads which they take home. They are insured by the school and they do use them in lessons I assume, as she frequently prints stuff off from in on our home printer. I quite like it tbh.

[Noitsnotteatimeyet]

Thanks - this is an independent secondary and they want to start with Y9. We're being asked to buy the iPads through school - they have allegedly negotiated a good deal but the educational discount is only about £20 which considering the numbers of orders seems a bit stingy. There's also compulsory (and expensive) insurance which doesn't cover against loss (theft and damage are covered) which given the general airheadedness of most Y9s is surely going to be the most common reason for needing a replacement....

I'm not against appropriate use of technology in schools but I'm not convinced yet that this model is the one to go for ..

Any more experiences would be great

[nocampinghere]

Surbiton High are massive users of ipads
afaik they have replaced all textbooks
their exercise books are now "learning journals" - not full of pages of exercises which are all done on the ipad
useful for watching (educational!) videos, web links etc in class - better than trying to see the whiteboard

they are handed out free (well in the fees) to all new girls on day 1 of yr7 and are their's. But the school has full control of what is loaded on and can see everything if they want to.

i hear it's good, they get a lot of input (maybe a test school? not sure) from the google educational dept.

[CaesiumTime]

My DCs independent secondary uses them. They are paid in addition to school fees with a contract with the parents so we own the iPads. It is mandatory.

The insurance, devices and robust cases cost £30 per month for each child on a 4 or 5 year contract, I can't remember which.

I am still undecided as to what I think of them and this our 3rd year using them.

[petitdonkey]

My children's school (independent) goes from 5-18. All pupils are issued an iPad in yr 3 and from yr5 they can take them home. There is no additional cost to us, the insurance is also covered. The initial novelty wears off and now they are very much part of their school 'kit'. I teach at the school and have mixed feelings about how necessary they are but they can be very useful for research etc. My Yr 8 son does some of his homework on his but also has to do lots that is handwritten. He will be moving to a school in yr 9 that doesn't provide the tech but apparently most children will bring their own laptop or iPad.

[Lemoncurd]

Ours (state) have to take their own 'device' and have done for about 3 years now. It was to have a full keyboard so they suggest Chromebooks rather than tablets. They do a lot of their homework etc on them and access texts instead of having textbooks. They are supposed to take them to school everyday but it sounds like in reality that doesn't happen.

[BelfastSmile]

DH is a teacher, and points out that, while iPads are expensive, they're cheaper than employing an extra teacher, and give the school something to show off about on Open Night. He thinks they're pretty pointless.

I think it would make much more sense, if the school insists on using devices like this, to go for Android - much cheaper and more flexible (eg you can have multiple users signing in, so could have a teacher account and pupil accounts on the same device). They're also compatible with cheaper accessories, and don't tend to become defunct so quickly. But iPad sounds flashier, I guess.

[mouldycheesefan]

There is a secondary school near me where the whole school is iPad enabled and every child has one. They have win a lot of awards for technology so I guess this is the future.
Our primary have 30 so that each child in the class has one when they are working on them.

[noblegiraffe]

I was about to ask why this school is about 4 years behind the times.

iPads for all in the classroom has already been mostly abandoned. A fad that didn't deliver for the expense.

[mimbleandlittlemy]

DS's state school uses them. Parents pay £20 per term for 3 years then the ipads are assigned over to the parent. If you can't afford the £20 per term there are ipads available for use in school.

Some teachers use them a lot, some teachers don't use them at all. My ds is now in Y10 and they hardly use them but they did use them quite heavily before that.

[Rosieposy4]

Noble, could not disagree more.
I teach at state secondary with ipad for all scheme. Parents pay per month, those students entitled to pupil premium get them free.
Prior to that we had a very limted number of IT suites, they were mostly always booked so you never get a slot, if you could then inevitably one of two of the computers would be not working, or missing a mouse or something so you had to have 2 kids at some stations.
The ipads are great, they act as electronic planners, with notifications for homework, you can easily contact a single student, a class, a year group etc with an email as you know everone will get it and read it.
The online textbooks we use are fab, they have lots of extra resources avaiable online to the student, including ones for revision that mark the students attempts so they get instant feedback. Every student has access to these, previously we had 16 GCSE textbooks for my subject, that had to be shared amongst 2 year groups and 9 sets per year. Mostly when you attempted to book them someone else wanted them too. The students could not take them home to use.
You can use them to share worksheets, and have students complete work on them and mark it on the iPad.
I get my students to make movies on them to demonstrate understanding of difficult topics.
They can easily do 3-5 mins of Internet research without having to move to an IT room.
They can watch different clips/videos dependent on their level, ditto worksheets, much less obvious to others if they need a more supportive approach
They all always have a miniwhiteboard with a functioning pen and rubber, because it is on the iPad.
There are fantastic revision apps available
Etc etc etc
Our behind the times school is in the top 5% nationally for progress 8.
That is not to say this could not happen on tablets, but i think all the kids need the same device to make it work properly.