Why The iPad?

38 Reasons We Chose iPads for St. Lucy’s Priory High School

St. Lucy’s Priory High School has long known the importance of technology in contemporary education. Accessing the extensive and growing volume of knowledge available on the Internet, we have incorporated computers in our classes both in our computer lab, and resource center. Students today require a 21st century mobile education tool to access, collect, synthesize, and produce evidence of their learning. The iPad creates a level digital playing field for all students to succeed.

After our research, we concluded that the Apple iPad provides the ideal mobile computing device best-suited to our educational environment and curriculum at St. Lucy’s.

eTexbooks lower cost. Many books are just $15.
iBooks – The “Big” publishers: McGraw-Hill, Pearson, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, which together provide 90% of the textbooks available to schools, are all currently partnering with Apple to sell digital versions.
Reading textbooks and other long-form materials on the iPad is more comfortable than on a traditional laptop screen.
eTextbooks lighten the backpack load over traditional textbooks.
Teacher created content worldwide is made available for free on iBooks.
All books can be easily stored on the iPad in the iBook’s library
The iPad’s small size fits conveniently in student lockers and backpacks.
There are currently over 170,000 education apps designed specifically for the iPad. A robust app developer community create great inexpensive or free educational apps.
This broad developer base provides numerous discipline-specific apps, such as the 3D Brain app useful in psychology, science and health classes.
iPad (iOS) Apps are much less expensive than traditional computer software.
The iPad’s instant on/instant off capability preserves class-time for meaningful learning activities.
Long battery life means that students can make it through an entire school day without recharging.
High resolution retina display is easy on the eyes creating a comfortable viewing platform for all day use.
There are fewer pieces and components on the iPad than on a traditional laptop, reducing maintenance expenses.
iOS is the most secure and virus-free platform. Unlike PCs, Apple has many security checkpoints to prevent viruses and malware from infecting your devices.
iPads allow for easy face-to-face interaction, avoiding the barrier between students and teachers that occurs with a traditional laptop lid.
Easy note taking in class annotation of documents.
Handwriting on the iPad’s screen with a stylus is useful for in class note-taking and annotation of documents.
The built-in camera takes quality pictures and movies and is easy to use for in-class activities and projects.
Drawing apps – utilizing the iPad’s screen work in a variety of disciplines.
Calculators available for science and math
Dictionary and Thesaurus – built directly into all reading apps for immediate access.
Apple Classroom – Classroom management of iPad by teacher. Teacher control makes for a better focused classroom learning environment. Students can be locked into specific apps to focus on their work or show their work instantly on our Apple TVs.
iTunes University – Tens of thousands of lessons are being developed by Teachers the world over and are available free.
Students will have access to thousands of free public domain ebooks available online at any time.
Strong and easy to use security features to find lost or misplaced iPads.
Ability to use fingerprints to quickly unlock the device, keeping it secure.
Writing and turning in assignments is easy and always available online. No more lost homework or forgotten papers.
Easy to use, intuitive to learn. Students understand them. Today’s kids have grown up with these devices and they get them intuitively.
iPad is green and helps to save the environment by reducing worksheets, hand-outs, school supplies, paper books, paper textbooks, &homework sheets.
Students engage in active rather than passive learning, stretching their ability to think.
iPad provides quick connection to Apple TV for sharing and presenting in class
Is a time management and productivity suite.
Apple is dedicated to education, developing content and streamlining workflow for teachers and students.
Welcome to the future. Mobile devices are more ubiquitous than desktops worldwide. They are being used in business and commerce and they are the future now.
Teachers and students can immediately access curriculum, information, announcements and literature electronically.
iCloud provides additional delivery options, access from anywhere on the go and tons of storage space.
In case of a break, the device can be replaced quickly with another unit from the student’s personal iCloud backup.

The iPad is not meant to replace a computer… it is meant to replace notebooks, pen & paper, day planner, dictionary & thesaurus, some textbooks & classic books, in class handouts, transmission of materials between teachers and students, lost homework, numerous resources & reference books. Your home computer can be better to create complex presentations, documents and eBooks. Other actives such as learning to touch type can also be easier on your personal computer. You should view the iPad as an enhancement to your home computer.

Want more? Read another’s perspective: 31 reasons why you should be using iPads in the classroom