iPads for every student

1. PROS

1.1. Truancy Lower

1.2. Parent Teacher Association participation goes up

1.3. Discipline problems go down

1.4. Student participation in classroom activities increases

1.5. Seemingly infinite number of Apps that are designed for educational purposes, many of which are games

1.6. Through grant programs, school systems can get brand new iPads at a very affordable cost per unit ($50 each in the Jasper City School system)

1.7. All textbooks can be stored in one small tablet

1.8. There are numerous Apps to assist with IEPs

1.9. There are also Apps to assist with ELLs, such as iTranslate

1.10. For Social Science teachers like myself, it improves historical thinking through improving access to primary sources in the classroom.

2. CONS

2.1. Not all students can pay even the discounted price and additional accommodations must be made

2.2. Students often lose or damage the iPads

2.3. Students often forget to bring their iPad to class or do not charge it properly beforehand

2.4. Students inevitably will use their iPad in distracting and off topic ways while in the classroom

2.5. Servers are often overloaded, even after school hours, by student requests