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The rocky launch of an iPad initiative in a California school district has led some to question whether the benefits of the devices are worth the cost. At issue is the decision to pay $4.3 million for 6,300 iPads for seventh-grade students, plus the cost of iPad covers and related software. While teachers and other supporters say they are enthusiastic about the potential benefits of iPads in the classroom, the district is not tracking whether students' grades have risen since the technology was introduced.

"A study is being conducted at three Queensland kindergartens to examine the educational benefits of iPad use for pre-school children."

The study looks at the use of iPads at the Longfield Academy, where a large scale 1 to 1 iPad program was implemented last year. A brief overview of this groundbreaking study is provided.

"A new survey from the Learning First Alliance and Grunwald Associates suggests that parents of young children, girls, and students who are required to use portable or mobile devices in school are more likely to see the educational potential of such devices."

In this blog post, David Andrews, a teacher in the United Kingdom, writes about the pros and cons of using iPads in the classroom, rather than laptop computers. Among the benefits, he writes, are usability, superior audio-visual tools, electronic books and tools that enable creativity. The downside, Andrews writes, is that the devices are not compatible with Adobe Flash and Javascript, do not facilitate multitasking and have poor word-processing capabilities.