The iPad Roll-Out

Let’s get one thing perfectly clear from the start. I have not yet drunk from the cup. I think that the iPad is a wonderful toy, a potentially great tool and a good concept. But it is not a computer, and it will not, in its current form, serve as a replacement for one. This is not Apple vs. Windows rhetoric, nor is it an iOS/Android comparison. I don’t ever have the energy for that conversation. I simply feel that by making a device that does not natively support VGA projection and printing to standard network devices as well as an operating system that does not support the “standard” software all these manufacturers have missed the boat in a big way. For what it’s worth, I’ve had a tablet convertible laptop for years and do believe that, conceptually, these devices have enormous potential for fluid, mobile teaching. Far better than sitting behind a desk hooked up by a wire to your projector.

That said, I’m eager to have the cup presented to me, so that I may take my first tentative sip. In time, I hope to see what I’ve been missing, or to prove to myself that I was right at this time. I shall chronicle my attempts, and I will welcome your comments and criticisms. If I’m going down the wrong path, I’d love to hear about it from someone who has trod there before.

So... Here’s what’s going on. Our school, a private 5-9 junior boarding school is going to implement an iPad program for our 5th and 6th graders. As I type, our 5th grade teacher is up at a “teaching with iPad conference”. I’m starting the process of ordering equipment so that she will have some tools to use when (or shortly after) she returns. I’m ordering:

• Enough iPads for the students, teachers and a few administrators (including one for me).
• A Bretford Power Sync Cart.
• Several Apple TV units.
• Several HDMI-VGA converters.

I will set up the sync with one of our old MacBooks. I’ll set up an AirPrint server or buy an AirPrint compatible printer. And that’s it for hardware I think. Hopefully our teacher will come back with a rich list of apps to install, and some novel ideas on how to use them. I’m looking forard to getting this stuff in, installed and tested. And I hope that I learn something new. Because that’s what it’s really all about anyway. For all of us.