Quote:
Originally Posted by
mstone 
Actually I would have disagree with this assessment. If you have looked at your children's textbooks you might be able to understand that they would contain many gigs worth of data even in their static representation. Add the interactivity and video available through iBooks Author and you won't even fit one equivalent textbook in 8GB. One of two things need to happen in my evaluation. One: the textbooks need to be delivered via a web browser, or two the size of the onboard storage needs to increase dramatically.
Of course there is the alternative that we discontinue all public education and parents can opt to send their children to charter schools and pay for the high capacity iPad themselves.
I think the 8GB rumored iPad mini is for people who don't have a lot of media needs and also have a small budget.In addition the smaller screen is not as useful for education as the full size iPad in my opinion.
I'd have to agree, but perhaps for different reasons. I see the future use of the iPad in schools to allow individualization of materials and content, and support for numerous education apps. In order to allow for individualization, online assessment and access to materials based on the assessment will be important. Apps which allow content to be pushed by the teacher, and live monitoring of student progress will also take iPad resources. For our little folk, the size and weight and cost will be very important, as will some degree of future proofing. Schools and parents will not be purchasing new iPads even every 2 years and it will be expected that the kids use their iPads over multiple years.
The least expensive iPad minis will be for seniors and as a competitor to the Kindle, Samsung, and Barnes&Noble devices. The cheapest iPad minis will allow schools to dabble in the new technology, but it would not be expected to be adequate longer term.
At this point, the iPad environment is not available to build and support what is required for a fully integrated learning environment. No LMS (Learning Management System), no assessment tools, no individualized push technologies, and no content that would cover the educational standards, and no pedagogy and training to integrate the iPad into the curriculum. The future is promising but many years into the feature.
