Must Read: No niche for iPad: Why I returned mine

Topic: iPad

Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

Summary: Nearly ten-thousand original iPads were donated by upgrading customers, to give to economically deprived schools a chance to own one for their classrooms.

Zack Whittaker

By for iGeneration |

A project has seen nearly ten thousand first-generation iPads offered to teachers -- who are members of the Teach for America corps -- after Apple asked customers upgrading to the iPad 2 to donate their original tablet.

Many who decided to upgrade to the new iPad either sold their first-generation tablet or traded it in to offset the cost, while others found that Apple's offering for teachers around the United States was a better option.

Teach for America is a corps of teachers recently out of college, who commit to working in deprived and less-economically viable places. Former Apple chief executive Steve Jobs' wife, Laurene Powell, sits on the board.

While the aim was to enable every student in the scheme, which runs in over thirty states, the Apple branded tablet is still a great help to teachers -- and students alike -- in the classroom.

Though so many high-profile and wealthy schools can afford to give an iPad to every student, the scheme falls short. But to enable as many classrooms as possible, even if it is just one device per room, to make the interactive experience of teaching and learning better, it is certainly a push in the right direction.

It may sound fickle, but technology is something that resonates with the younger Generation Y and Z nowadays; two generations only 'sibling-aged' apart which has been brought up on connectivity and interactive content. Simply having one in the classroom can be an incentive to children in particular to finish their work as quickly and as accurately as possible.

But the iPad alone, or any other tablet for that matter, cannot solve the problem of lack of reading. Technology can inspire and go on to motivate. But kids aren't stupid. They cannot be coaxed into reading with a flashy Kindle, or begin to enjoy solving equations because they are done on a tablet-run application.

Technology is often the key to modern education and engaging children. But the innate problems with education as a sector cannot be solved by a tablet.

Related:

Topics: iPad, Mobility

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25 comments
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  • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

    Sorry Zack, I just don't see the benefit of iPads (or really, any computing device) in a school setting outside of actually teaching them to use one, for the same reason as you said in this article: they like technology. Specifically, we like doing whatever we want with that technology. Every computer course I took in grade school and every course with a computer in front of us in college had rampant problems with keeping attention of students because they had a device which provided a multitude of distractions in front of them.
    Aerowind
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

      @Aerowind

      Just the other day I read about a trial program at a university where the iPad was shown to improve results and lower textbook costs.
      rfoto
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

        @rfoto
        I also read the other day that iPad helps fermentation of beer and makes wine taste better.
        paul2011
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

        @rfoto
        Was this at apple university? And was the "improve results" their ability to get hit by a car for not paying attention. And the lower textbook costs because they used the ipad to get to amazon to buy used text books?
        rengek
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

        @rfoto , the only trial program I know about is the University of Adelaide's Faculty of Science in Australia, where textbooks were being replaced with online editions and notes were being posted. But it's not like you can't do that with a normal laptop, or computer for that matter. There isn't anything an IPAD can do that can't be done with existing equipment for cheaper anyways...
        krustykanuck
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

        @rfoto I think nobody have read this link. There are really some schools using the iPad. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Many-US-schools-adding-iPads-apf-1245885050.html?x=0&.v=2
        jologskidoo
        Reply Vote

      • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

        @rfoto

        A study conducted by apple for apple. Thes are media devices and don't belong in the class. I'd much rather have my kids writing and reading from a book and not a device. Apple isn't even enterprise caliber and it never will be. I'd rather see kids using productive tools...not toys!
        Rob.sharp
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

      @Aerowind Not yours specifically but have to laugh at all the posts here that basically say "I can't see the benefit and don't like Apple so there must be no benefit at all". If you can't open your eyes enough to see through your own bias then why comment? Does it somehow make yourself feel better? The iPad isn't an all around perfect device by any means but I can see many instances where it would be beneficial to teachers and students alike.
      non-biased
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

    This is the good marketing of the Apple of the old days. Apple got their product into the class rooms and that brand familiarity is the only thing that kept them going through the lean years before ipod
    carlson1@...
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

      @carlson1@...

      Yep I can remember Apple IIs gathering dust in classrooms.

      I've said it before:

      Combination boat anchor and fish lure.
      tonymcs@...
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

        @tonymcs@... You may have said it before but what makes you think anybody is listening this time when you know they when you said it before ;-)
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

      @carlson1@... You do realize don't you that this same argument applies to MS with Windows, just change classroom to office.
      non-biased
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

    When the original iPad came out, I was asked at work if I wanted one. I declined based on all on the deficiencies and rumors of the next one. I did get an iPad 2.
    Zzznorch
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

    Give a kid an ipad and you know what they will do?
    A. immediately download some games and play it all day. huh read what? you can read books on this thing. yeah ok maybe later. one more level of angry birds
    B. leave it in the cafeteria along with his jacket and left shoe and remember he left it 3 days later when he decides to play some angry birds.
    c. walking home from school, the ipad gets ripped out of his hands but older kids and/or get run over by a car because he was playing angry birds.
    rengek
    Reply Vote

    • Please stop with your insights. They are too sad to read

      @rengek If you have provided examples from your life's history, I apologize to you and pity your life to this point

      Suffice it to say, your examples illustrate a reality that I am not familiar with. (Although I have known "a" case where a homicide was committed against an 11 year old child because a gang of children his age wished to have his new Christmas present jacket. True tragic story.)

      Again, if the actions portrayed in your post were drawn from personal experience, please accept my heartfelt sympathy for you and the neighborhood you dwell in. It must be filled with delinquents and children destined to become failures in society.
      kenosha77a
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Finding a use for all those first-generation iPads

        @kenosha7777 What do you expect? Pretty much every poster on this thread that said something negative would have love the program and sign it's praises if the devices was either Android based or Windows based depending on who it was. Doesn't matter to me what OS it's running, I see the benefits and think it's a worthy program. Of course I'm not a small minded hater so I can see beyond my bias.
        non-biased
        Reply Vote

  • Meanwhile - back on topic...

    The negative comments here reflect views that are not really an understanding of the spirit of the program. It is not necessarily relevant whether you believe in the usefulness of these products or the intentions of the organisation. The point is that they are being provided to the underpriveliged schools to students that might not otherwise have such a benefit.

    Im not an Apple fan, I use a Macbook and iPhone for work and am still trying to like them. Nevertheless, I can still acknowledge the altruistic intention of this program.

    I attended an iPad2 demonstration at a Melbourne private school recently which showcased the amazing program content that is becoming available on the tablets including teaching programs for students with physical and mental disability.

    I came away with a new-found respect for the platform in an educational context, despite the cynicism that I held at the start. It is not the product that is the focus here, rather it is how we can get the most out of using it - whatever its limitations.
    andmark
    Reply Vote

  • Meanwhile, back on topic

    The negative comments here reflect views that are not really an understanding of the spirit of the program. It is not necessarily relevant whether you believe in the usefulness of these products or the intentions of the organisation. The point is that they are being provided to the underpriveliged schools to students that might not otherwise have such a benefit.

    Im not an Apple fan, I use a Macbook and iPhone for work and am still trying to like them. Nevertheless, I can still acknowledge the altruistic intention of this program.

    I attended an iPad2 demonstration at a Melbourne private school recently which showcased the amazing program content that is becoming available on the tablets including teaching programs for students with physical and mental disability.

    I came away with a new-found respect for the platform in an educational context, despite the cynicism that I held at the start. It is not the product that is the focus here, rather it is how we can get the most out of using it - whatever its limitations.
    andmark
    Reply Vote

  • apple profit machine

    I recently purchased 30 iPad 1s for my school plus a MacBook plus a $2700 security cart for all of this. Apple couldn't even comp me a $30 VGA cable for the iPads.
    So what did they do here? The got other people to donate their old ipads. Big whoop. Maybe if they made the ipads truly affordable I would applaud. But here ,apple, the 2nd wealthiest company in the world, got other people to donate their ipads they could have sold to defray the cost of their new iPad to give it to charity. Those screen wipes they used to clean the ipads must have put a huge dent in Steve's retirement fund.
    apple is one of the stingiest company's around. Maybe if they matched the donated ipads I would be really impresses. What did this gimmick cost them? Not much. Apple, rotten to the core.
    mikep123
    Reply Vote

    • apple profit machine

      @mikep123

      I agree with you to a big extent where the stinginess of Apple gets mentioned.

      My thought:
      I don't really know much about the details of the project and Apple's involvement, but as far as I understand from the blog, it <b>appears</b> that Apple is the one actually credited as the honorable (a simple anotation where Steve Job's wife gets mentioned) simply because they (indirectly)asked their customers to donate their own paid for but (now) redundant ipads. If his wife is so grand, humble, etc. why doesn't she persuade Apple / Steve Jobs to create a program to trade-in the old units for that same group of customers and use that amount towards a new ipad2 purchase for them? Naturally, the trade-ins should only apply to this particular program and / or people. As a result, Apple may then donate the traded-in ipdas to the program themselves and deservingly collect all the credit and the laurels for the gesture. Other than that, why do the customers (while Apple mostly receives the praise) have to do it on behalf of Apple?

      Not much I suppose, but my understanding nevertheless.
      fo128
      Reply Vote
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