[muhfuhkuh]

Critics have had the same contention about laptops. In fact, they're even more of a distraction for teachers because you have to flip it open, obscuring the students' face from the lecture, like erecting a wall of inattention (or at least obfuscation). At least, with the iPad, it will likely lay flat like a notebook or binder.

[theBobMcCormick]

And the critics were right. For the most part, computers in schools have been an expensive distraction, wasting money that could have been better spent on things proven to improve student performance like textbooks, better teacher/student ratio's, facility upgrades (hard to learn without good heating/AC), etc.

IMHO, the root of the problem is that just having computers (or ipads, or whatever) in the classroom doesn't magically educate students through osmosis. You need an actual valid plan for how you're gonna use the computer. Where does it fit into the lesson plan, what activity is time with the computer replacing, etc. And unfortunately that usually seems to be lacking.

The rush to buy computers and iPad's for classrooms never seems to be based on a solid educational plan, it's all about administrators and schoolboard members wanting to show of the "exciting accomplishment" of equipping all the classrooms with something shiny and impressive looking.