MacBooks To Replace iPads In Maine State Classrooms

Apple has long touted the iPad as being a learning tool where due to its interactivity and apps, students will be able to learn from it in new and exciting ways that books don’t really quite offer. However it seems that over at the Maine Department of Education, Apple has recently offered to swap out the school’s iPads for MacBooks at no extra cost.

By going back to laptops, it seems that this would be slightly “older” form of education as laptops have been used by many in classes over the past few years. Apparently the reason for reverting back to laptops is because students and teachers showed more favor over laptops than the iPads and overwhelmingly so.

According to the survey, it was found that students and teachers from grades 7 through 12 preferred laptops, with 88.5% of teachers favoring the laptop over the tablet, and 74% of students who felt the same way. Auburn School Department Technology Director Peter Robinson, who conducted the survey said, “The results are pretty darn clear. The findings made the decision for us.”

As far as teachers are concerned, this is mainly due to the fact that the students seem to be treating the tablets as a toy where they play games instead of studying (no surprises there). According to one teacher, it is claimed that the iPads “provide no educational function in the classroom. Students use them as toys. Word processing is near to impossible. I applaud this change.”

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Computers, Tablets
Tags: Education, iPad, Macbook