A faculty member at Penn State gave up his computer for a month for an iPad. He writes and interesting blog about the experience.
This post has a link to a series of apps that seem to be appropriate for special education
A list of useful free apps that enhance the iPad's educational impact
List of free education apps from iTunes
lots of sensationalized stuff about banning iPads - in fact no ban universally, just limited places where the devices don't connect or dont function as expected on the network.
Great step by step for adding a word document to Pages word processing app
GREAT meeting capture and note taking tool
During the 2010-2011 school year, every GFW High School student will have access to an iPad tablet to use in their classes. Students can use their iPad as an organizational tool to track assignments, homework and class projects, create on-line presentations, use word processor for class papers and projects, run a variety of applications to enhance their learning experience in class, and read electronic books, test, newspapers and magazines. The school district allocated $267,748 to its technology fund to become what is believed to be the first school in the country to have the devices at a cost of $479 each. The money will be used to by 320 iPads with extended, two-year warranties for students and staff, create Wi-Fi infrastructure including routers and access points plus professional development (staff training). Students like using iPads in school, according to the article written April 2010.
This institution serves Kindergarten through High School. Instead of building a library and science lab (the school has neither), Kevin Teasley, president of the GEO Foundation claims that it's more economical to buy iPads and utilize that resource. Students at Pikes Peak are completing frog dissection. However, it's not done with physical scalpels and the aroma of formaldehyde - it's virtual.
As part of the Title IID Grant, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) offered 15 iPad Mini-Grants to elementary or high schools within the district. Each Mini-Grant was valued at over $20,000, in which schools received 32 iPads, 1 MacBook Pro for syncing purposes, $200 iTunes credits for applications, and a storage cart. In addition, eight sessions of professional development were provided in order to learn how to integrate the iPads within classroom instruction. This grant was intended for schools who were receptive and open to trying innovative technological ideas/methods.
This elementary school is a literature and technology magnet within the Chicago Public Schools. According to the article written on August 17, 2010, which was before the school year, the school planned on using the iPad to differentiate instruction according to individual need, and encourage critical thinking through multimedia apps and collaborative tools. One app that the school saw a desire to use was Question Builder, which helps elementary-aged children learn how to answer abstract questions and create responses based on inference. The other was iWriteWords, which teaches handwriting. I initial plan is that the students will only use the iPads in literacy centers, small areas in the classroom where students work alone or together to explore literacy activities while the teacher provides small-group, guided-reading instruction.
A pilot project in four California school districts will replace 400 students’ eighth-grade algebra textbooks with Apple iPads in an attempt to prove the advantages of interactive digital technologies over traditional teaching methods, according to an article written on September 8, 2010. California Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss teamed up with education firm Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the pilot, which will take place at four California school districts. Students from these districts will be randomly selected for the program to receive iPads loaded with digital versions of their textbooks for the coming school year. Their progress will be tracked and compared against that of their classmates using traditional textbooks to determine the potential benefit of a switch to digital technology.