iPad Academy is a great blog, and to celebrate it's 50,000 visitors, they posted this list of "70+ starter apps". It's a great resource for getting started with iPads.
When we teach iPad workshops, we like to begin with "tap and hold" as a skill. While many folks have already figured it out, the concept is new to a majority of the educators whom we work with. This is a great post describing some of the results.
If you are looking at setting up, managing, and deploying multiple iPads in your school, the the iOS 5 Deployment Guide walks you through configuration profiles, Volume Purchase Pricing, and deployment options. Thanks to iPad Academy for posting the link to the PDF.
This article from I Education Apps Review lists out a series of apps to use for creating custom digital content. Not all are free, but the list presents some interesting options.