Apple devices have helped us look at just about every part of life in a different light, and education has been no exception. Every day, it seems like a new educational innovation for the iPad is coming along and changing the way schools operate.
The change, in turn, is prompting schools to invest. A recent study from Futuresource Consulting found that K-12 tablet sales are exploding worldwide, helped in part by one-to-one iPad programs. In 2012, tablet sales increased at a rate of 340 percent, to more than 3.5 million, and sales are expected to double again in 2013.
That trend is due to success stories like that of Essa Academy, a school in the northwest of England, which Apple recently profiled in a video on its website. The school deployed iPads and iPod touches to all of its students and teachers, and the result was an impressive increase in the number of students earning passing grades, which rose from 28 percent to 100 percent over several years.
“The iPad has revolutionized my lessons,” said science teacher Catherine Chadwick. “It's gone from chalk and talk, and a few scruffy textbooks to more exciting lessons. We photograph, video and search the Internet, and all these things can happen one lesson. We learn from each other and it's just brilliant.”
While the benefits of one-to-one tablet programs can be substantial, many schools hesitate at the cost, recognizing that a few broken iPads can immediately make the program more expensive than they bargained for. With special one-to-one program rates on iPad repair services, iResQ makes it affordable to keep devices in students' hands and running smoothly, enabling schools to take advantage of the changing educational climate.