Pros and Cons of iPads in Schools

The Department of Education recognises the need for iPads to be used in schools.

January 2019 saw the very first piece of UK research on screen time from the Royal College of Paediatrics in Child Health. The reasoning behind this report was because of the way we have all become 'digital natives who grow up surrounded by digital information and entertainment on screens’. They believe that time spent on screens is a necessary part of modern education. This has caused much debate as they have stated that there is not enough evidence to conform that screen time is harmful at any age, thus making it impossible to recommend age limits on children’s usage. Dr Max Davie, who is the Health Promoting Officer for the College of Paediatrics and Child Health stated that parents needed to make an informed decision themselves on an individual basis and to focus more on positive activities such as playing, socialising, exercise and sleep. Davie stated if there was a disruption to these then and only then do they see a risk to child wellbeing. This is welcoming news to many worried parents and teachers as the use of technology in schools is forever expanding.

There are many benefits of using iPads in schools.

-Children and young people love to use iPads. It has been proven that using iPads in the classroom stimulates and encourages pupils in a more positive way than conventional pen and paper.

-iPads have exceptionally good battery life and are good to use all day without the battery needing attention, this is invaluable for outdoor work and work on the go.

- There are numerous educational Apps and the number of numeracy and literacy apps are growing each and every day.

-iPads can eradicate the need for textbooks, which can be a massive saving for schools and good for the environment.

-iPads have great content views and children and young people can watch educational videos, read books and do research.

-iPads are equitable and are user-friendly to students with disabilities. iPads are excellent for children that have communication difficulties and conditions like autism.

- are light-weight and portable and are easily moved from class to class.

-iPads download information fast and they are easy to use by children from a very young age.

The National Literacy Trust and Pearson, published research in 2017 that claimed iPads could help boys and poorer pupils to learn to read as children in poorer households were particularly likely to read on touch-screen computers rather than printed books.

This all sounds incredibly positive, however there are concerns and these have been reported by teachers and students.

-iPads do not support Adobe Flash and Javascript. There are many educational work that needs this so it a definite negative.

-iPads have no USB port. This can be problematic when students want to save work in a different format or need to use a USB.

-iPads are notoriously expensive and schools are having to look at leasing them through companies such as iPads for Education. This has a significant affect o schools’ budget.

-iPads can be distracting and wonder onto other sites, however new software today ‘Apple Classroom’ allows the teacher to see every child’s iPad from their desk, which eliminates this     (iMore, 2018)

-iPads are not designed for sharing and are made to be personal devices. Personal information can't be stored if students are sharing iPads.

Having looked at the negatives and the positives I am confident that the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. iPads are entering classrooms all across the UK at an increasingly rapid rate and have proven to provide phenomenal benefits to both teachers and students. IPads in schools provide a wonderful educational experience and children and young people can research and read reams of online information and research has proved they enhance children’s education.                                               

The future for iPads in schools is certainly looking promising.

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BBC Wales (2017) Tablets in 70% of schools [Available at] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-30216408 [Accessed on 01/05/2019]

Department of Education (2019) Computer Health & Safety [Available at] https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/articles/computer-health-and-safety[Accessed on 03/05/2019]

Department of Education (2010) Department of Education and Early Childhood Development [Available at] https://docsbay.net/Department-of-Education-and-Early-Childhood-Development-Ipads-for-Learning-in-Their-Hands[Accessed on 01/05/2019]

House of Lords (2019) Impact of Technology on the Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young People https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/LLN-2019-0003

iMore (2018) Apple Classroom: Everything you need to know [Available at] https://www.imore.com/apple-classroom-ipad[Accessed on 03/05/2019]

iPads for Education(2019) Options for Schools [Available at] https://ipadsforeducation.co.uk/ [Accessed on 03/05/2019]

National Literacy Trust (2017) [Available at] https://literacytrust.org.uk/resources/digital-technology-and-early-years/ [Accessed on 03/05/2019]

Royal College of Paediatrics in Child Health (2019)