What should be considered when selecting iPad for school?

[KevTN]

My youngest daughters school is going to phase in iPad 2 into their school for their txt books and such.

I am trying to decide what type of questions I need to research out and ask the school to make sure I get her the right one. She is entering the 6th grade and I would like for her to use it through the eighth grade or later (LOL). Now she is only 11. She does have an ipod touch for a couple of years and an iPhone. so she is familiar with this OS.

the only things I think of asking is how much video content vs. print will be used. (storage size)
and if the school has an agreement with mac for a flash app for free for the students.

Do has anyone have any of their children who's school has done this?
what is your experience?
Anything you would do different?

Anything else someone can think of...

Thanks

 

[Pettythief]

What insurance company is covering those iPads?

 

[KevTN]

Each parent is to buy their own for each child.

 

[dturner]

I assume/hope the school has WIFI otherwise you will need to get the 3G model. The only other thing to consider is storage. All iPads are the same except for these two factors.

 

[KevTN]

Yes they are installing wifi this summer

 

[dturner]

Yes they are installing wifi this summer

OK, great. So the only thing to consider is storage space.
I wouldn't think you would need over 32GB, might even get by with 16.

 

[KevTN]

Thanks for your input

 

[patrickj]

Does the school provide a list of which text book apps are required / what size they are? And how many need to be used / on the device concurrently? That would help determine storage space needs. If my daughter's school was doing it, I'd also love to see a list of recommended apps, apart from required text books.

 

[KevTN]

There are a couple of parent mtgs this summer to ask these questions. The headmaster is saying that it is not required this year but next year it will be. In a phone conversation with him he told me that he hopes to have a netter idea of how many instructors are using this technology next year.

 

[patrickj]

Cool. I think the iPad is a great educational tool, and there are tons of good educational apps for it by now.

 

[KevTN]

It will be interesting for sure I like it because the costof the books will be greatly reduced and she wont have to carry a hundres of pounds of books on her back.

 

[glsda]

At the parents meeting ask what size storage they recommend buying. If they are introducing them into the school they should have the answer to that question. I have never regretted having to much storage but on the other hand not having enough could prove to be expensive.

 

[KevTN]

Well fate, good family,, or all the above. Well my daughters grandfather bought a 64gb ipad2, had not opened it yet and was unsure if he wanted it. (he primarly wanted an ereader). Well we ran into him yesterday, and my daughter started telling him how school is switching to an ipad and we were looking at them. Well one thing led to another and he said if we would buy him the large screen nook he would trade us. We did throw in a nice cover...

So it all worked out...LOL

fyi I didn't know the nook has free lifetime 3g with it.

Thanks for all your input.
Kevin