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So it's worth taking a careful look at whether the company will once again create a new category of device that make waves in education -- as it did with personal computers, digital music players, and smartphones -- or whether the iPad and other tabletss might be doomed to remain a niche offering.

Mr. Jobs did mention iTunesU twice when listing the kinds of content that could be viewed on the iPad, referring to the company's partnership with many colleges to offer them free space for multimedia content like lecture recordings. But he otherwise focused on consumer uses -- watching movies, viewing photos, sending e-mail messages, and reading novels published by five trade publishers mentioned at the event. That does not mean that the company won't later promote the iPad's use on campuses, though, since it waited until after iPods and iPhones were established before beginning to work more heavily with colleges to promote those in education.

the biggest impact of the iPad would be in the textbook market.

But the Web is different; it's everyman's encyclopedia. "I gave them specific questions to look up," says MacLean, noting that she had already searched to make sure the answers were there and were understandable and accurate. "They could open their laptops and get it right then, and I would move on to the next activity."

When coupled with professional development, the one-to-one laptop program demonstrably improves student learning. But the amount of instruction that teachers receive is also lopsidedlopsided. The state offers webinars and a training staff, but not all schools make use of them.