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Apple has recently updated the Terms and Conditions for iTunes and the App Store. In addition, the company has announced the App Store Volume Purchase Program. In the past Apple had no mechanism for downloading an app more than once, so schools would purchase an app one time and distribute it to all their iPod touches, iPads, and iPhones. This arrangement made app purchases for class sets of handhelds inexpensive but was not properly compensating app developers.

Ten years ago, Stanford’s Larry Cuban noted that computers in the classroom were being oversold and underused. In short order, the iPad craze could take the same turn. My lesson from ZIS is that we should make sure we have teachers who understand how to help children learn from the technology before throwing a lot of money into iPad purchasing. It wasn’t the 600 iPads that were so impressive— it was the mindset of a teaching staff devoted to giving students time for creation and reflection. Are American public schools ready to recognize that it’s the adults and students around the iPads, not just the iPads themselves, that require some real attention?

One of the best decisions our team made last summer was to pre-install Casper (5) profiles on all of our iPads. We pulled the student IDs from our ASPEN (6) student information system, logged each student into Casper and installed the four profiles needed for our plan. The profiles took Safari web browser off the iPad.

As we progressed through the year, we discovered that these tools took a lot of time to create something we were trying to move away from in the first place. The reason for moving away from textbooks is that they offer a myopic vision of a world that is ever-changing. Simply viewing a textbook on an iPad does not change or innovate learning, nor does it use the iPad to its full potential. If your plan is to digitize a standard textbook, save your money and renew your textbook licenses.

This year we are incorporating K-12 digital portfolios along with revised information and digital literacy standards. Every BPS student will have a Google Apps for Education account that they will use in conjunction with the Blogger (15) application to begin creating their Life of Learning portfolio

While it may seem obvious, all the iPads in the world are useless without fast WiFi and plenty of power outlets. What’s more, many schools forget that teachers need their own iPads, and must become avid users, too. Speirs reminds educators, “You have to think through how it is to actually live with this device.” Finally, Speirs cautions teachers not to be intimidated by parent and faculty expectations, to gradually introduce the iPad rather than rushing in. Teachers and school administrators may wish to refer to Ruben Puentedura’s excellent argument for tech in education and to the NMC Horizon Report. And look for inspiration in existing iPad pilots.

While it may seem obvious, all the iPads in the world are useless without fast WiFi and plenty of power outlets.

For instance, one might suggest that more efficient classrooms through the use of technology could allow for a shortened or staggered school day to serve more, smaller classes. But, according to Brovey, “It is difficult for us to imagine a school structure where [class time] becomes more fluid.”

by producing videos that demonstrate how products designed to educate children and build their life skills really work from a user perspective.