From the beginning, the apple of Apple’s eye was the education market when the first Apple IIs started blanketing school computer rooms. And now, the iPad is the “standard” in the classroom. In July, edweek.com reported that schools bought 1 million iPads in the second quarter of 2012, outselling Macs 2 to 1. It’s the powerhouse of the education market, as more and more schools see tablets as a replacement for textbooks and netbooks. They can be more cost-effective than constantly purchasing new textbooks. Plus, they are user-friendly and have the "cool" factor that a textbook doesn't.
Overall, the iPad dominates the market with 61.5% of the worldwide market (even though it lost a couple of percentage points in the fourth quarter of 2011).
Like all Apple products, iPad has a high price point—and its challengers are pushing lower pricing as a benefit. The base iPad 2 comes in at $399. So what else is out there?
The latest is Amazon’s Kindle Fire 2 with a base price of $159. It’s the first sub-$200 tablet that has been recommended by Consumer Reports. The Kindle Fire HD comes in at $209. Consumer Reports applauded it as “among the best 7-inch tablets on the market” with the longest battery life in the category. However, it cannot do two-window multitasking.
Other tablets in the category include the Kindle e-Readers, Barnes and Noble’s Nook, Pandigital’s e-reader, and Sony’s e-Reader.
Consumer Reports also praised the new Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, an Android 10.1” screen device that allows for two windows to be open at once. It also includes a stylus. While “it nearly matched the iPad overall and had a long battery life,” the Galaxy’s price is on par with the iPad, starting at around $499.
LAPTOP online magazine declared the latest iPad as unbeatable. “A jaw-dropping Retina display, fast 4G LTE speeds, improved camera, and an unbeatable selection of apps make the new iPad the best tablet, period.” Mark Spoonauer, LAPTOP’s editior-in-chief, blogged his list of top iPad alternatives. He includes the Samsung Galaxy 2 10.1-inch and 7-inch as well as the Kindle Fire HD.
- Google’s Nexus 7, $199. He calls this Android-based tablet the “best 7-inch tablet yet.” However, it lacks a slot for a microSD card, so no expansion options.
- Like the Kindle Fire 2, it combines price and performance.
- Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet, $299, “another great performer for an affordable price,” LAPTOP labels it. This one does have a microSD slot.
- The Acer Iconia Tab A200, $349. Another one noted for solid performance at an affordable price. Acer’s Iconia Tab A700, at $449, offers long battery life and excellent display, but gets marked off for weight and running hot.
- ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity TF700, $588. Another Android tablet, this one gets thumbs up for battery life and speed as well as its suite of apps. ASUS’s Eee Pad Transformer at $499 also made the list.
- Lenovo’s ThinkPad Tablet, $599 comes with a digital pen, as well as a full-size USB port SD card reader.
Fancy new hardware, though, is not the silver bullet to improve learning, says Mehdi Maghsoodnia, CEO of Rafter, a provider of cloud-based course materials. Blogging on forbes.com, he warns that the cost of content together with the cost of the hardware isn’t necessarily saving money—e-textbook sales are still less than 5% of all textbook sales. But, he notes, learning on digital devices is an “unparalleled opportunity to open a whole new world of content and discovery to students.”
Read Maghsoodnia’s commentary here.
Additional ISM resources of interest
ISM Monthly Update for School Heads Vol. 10 No. 4 Web Resources on Key Topics
ISM Private School News Vol. 10 No. 2 Educating Kids About Social Media—21st Century Technology in the Classroom
Parenting online. Kids Love the iPad, Parents Love These Top Education Apps
