Computelec: No place in education for iPad
- 01 June, 2010 08:27
- Comments 15
A Victorian Government initiative to rollout 500 iPads to students in a trial should not concern non-Apple channels or notebook providers, an education reseller claims.
A recent report revealed the Victorian College of the Arts as one of several schools to receive iPads under a new Victorian Government trial and claimed students were highly positive about using the iPad during school time.
Computelec is one of the largest specialist ICT providers in Australian education and stands to lose out should the iPad begin to cannibalise tablet or netbook PC rollouts to educational institutions. However, its CEO, David Labozzetta, claimed the iPad lacked the functionality of a fully-featured tablet or netbook, and struggled to see the place it would have in schools.
“We don’t think it will help with education,” he said. “I won’t say the trial is doomed to failure, because I don’t know what the Government was looking for in terms of outcomes, but if it doesn’t add value to schools, it’s not something they’ll take on.”
Labozzetta was similarly dismissive of the potential for e-readers, such as Amazon’s Kindle. Like the iPad, Amazon and competing vendors don’t use a channel strategy to go to market, but have also been put forward as having potential educational applications. Labozzetta said e-reader devices lacked the features to cannibalise the tablet market.
“Obviously, there’s a lot of hype around these devices at the moment, but we don’t see an impact in the long run,” he said.
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Comments
James Pope
He has no idea what he is talking about. LOL!!! He is in for a big surprise :-)
Mark
Interestingly these comments come from someone with great experience in the education space but they also have the most to lose if the iPad does do well. From what I am seeing there is a great deal of interest in the iPad within the education sector.
Hamish
Entirely vision less. Trying to fit the iPad into the space that the notebook currently occupies without understanding that there is a whole new space emerging. Jobs' iPad along with the Android based tablets will take over the education market and probably the wider Internet client market.
Mickey
I think iPads are actually quite limited in what they can do at the moment, so I totally disagree with you Peter. There could be room for both in some capacity, but I do think netbooks have a very strong place in education.
The Siant
These devices have certainly caused a great deal of hype in the e-reader & education space - but to say at this stage they are the panacea for replacing traditional hardware laptops/tablet devices is a big call.
At this stage the technology is still in it's infancy, and I tend to agree with Mickey in that they will probably both have a place in the coming years. Its tends to be the case that the more intuitive a device in terms of accessibility to the broad masses has a converse relationship with functionality in a broader sense - ie, having a great looking intuitive GUI actually limits the higher end functionailty that is traditionally available through something like Office 2010 (OneNote or Word/Excel etc).
I personally take a wait and see policy - in my mind, the big questions aren't really so much about the technology persay, but the backup and support these devices have longer term - if you cant get the replacement parts, then the educational benefits are truly limited.
Adam
The laptop'd days are numbered when it comes to placement in schools. As a teacher, I know iPads will be creeping into my school as soon as the money rolls around. Laptops are simply too inconvenient and frustrating (unless they're Macbooks). And the thought of a ten hour battery in the iPad is surely enough to put the issue to rest.
Tony
There is no way the iPad will replace laptops for education. The iPad has its limits due to Apple ensuring you can only obtain approved apps from their app store, will you be able to install the latest copy of Photoshop, MSOffice, AutoCAD etc NO!!. How is a student going to type 3000 word assignments on an iPad, they will have RSI by the time they get to uni. No doubt the iPad will get used on the school bus or train to listen to music, read books, surf the web but that is it, all it does is fill the gap between an iPod and the iPhone.
Chris
He is actually quite right. Working in a school of over 2,500 computers, and personally going through that school myself using laptops. I know and see the Ipad's functionality and features and it is very limited compared to the ability of tablet laptops like he said. Also repairs and cost of repairs, Apple are renouned for outragious pricing. For example a friend was quoted $1000 to fix a cracked screen. When I could fix it including labour for $350.
The processing power of the Ipad simply is not their, nor the functionality, such as the basics of a USB port.
I personally own a mac and pc, so i am not bias, but i support Computelec's theory in not providing Ipad's... Not to mention that there are exact equiviliants for less than half the price!
chris
To Adam's comment above. You are clearly just one of those "I LOVE APPLE" people... saying that laptops are inconvenient and frustrating, then saying unless its a mac... Really what you are against is the windows OS. Everyone knows that Mac is made for "Simple" people or people doing graphic design.... And battery life, most new laptops have 6-7hrs battery life, and if you can afford ipad's, im sure you can afford power points in class rooms.
Not to mention from a networking point of view... Have you even considered the ability to restrict activity/apps on Ipad's?
And i double agree with Tony's entire comment!..
Great for reading books, additional resource for teachers(ONLY) or Uni lecturer's, but not suitable for child educational purposes.
Rob
The iPad will be as successful as the iMac, iPod and iPhone because of one thing that the IT industry is lacking, innovation(maybe a few other things).
The naysayers are predictable and frankly nauseating. The same thing was said about virtually every groundbreaking product Apple has released in the last 12 years. It doesn't have a floppy drive, it's too expensive, doesn't have enough applications, who would want something that doesn't interface with my Zune, it's made for "simple" people?? ridiculous!!
AK
You can now run Windows 7 on an iPad with Xen Desktop or any application with Xen Apps. Now this becomes a dual purpose device. My concern is the support and warranty supplied by Apple. Only time will tell. Dell and HP are also entering this market. Exciting times.
jimmy
ipad got so many problems,but still can't stop people buying.
Why?
I guess just outlooking attract many,and some Personalize setting make you more comfortable.
Specially,it never similar with any others,so if you are conditioned to use Apple stuff,you are in.
Chris Howard
It's amusing reading all the doomsayers 4 months on. They have been proved comprehensively wrong.
And forget the iPad, and think about the form factor. This thing is selling like hotcakes because this is the form factor people have been desperately wait years for to be done right.
The iPad may ultimately fade into single digit marketshare, but the form factor is here to stay - and take over.
Brendan
Funny I'm currently looking at my schools netbook purchase options. Only one option locking us into a 4 year lease, no choice to purchase outright. How conveinient for everyone profiting off this arrangement. I'm sure companies have plenty to lose. Concerns me why the education department choose to not look after our interests.
Gary
Meanwhile in late December, all objections have subsided significantly!!!
Photoshop is available, open office is available(free)
Dropbox and ever note provide connectivity
In Government schools ULTRANET is poised to replace shared drives in schools...
Plenty of call for a fully featured computer with a large screen, not a netbook, so desktops will remain, though fewer in number
And the flash issue, largely gone, although a niche for programming remains, however ALICE also free seems likely to replace even that.
Seems most objections are from vested or those with conflicts of interest...or huge investments in dinosaur technology..which is where many schools remain.
Bunsen burners are only used in schools....most other places have adopted new technology.
So just as some school science is more museum than relevant, computing can be too!
It's not relvant for ATAR scores as recall is the main skill tested in year 12 exams...computers do not necessarily assist with that...
Computers are most useful for learners at grades 2~8...perfect for a simple tablet...eagerly awaiting android(still) and mobile win7(still)...the iPad does the job quite well
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