There is a real danger that iPads are going to be the latest in a long line of products that schools have purchased more because of their marketing impact than their educational use.

Grown-ups love iPads, which means parents love iPads. Parents love the idea of having had an iPad at school. Parents are undoubtedly taken in by the iPad-loving school: "The British School in Paris Prep School has issued iPads to every pupil from age 3! what a forward-looking school!" So, let's buy some iPads! Parents will love them!

A word of caution: we've been here before.

Photo credit: kjarrett

There has been a great discussion forum within our school system about iPads, Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs) and sharing student's work. It started with a question from a teacher just wanting to connect their iPad to the IWB. What then followed was an in-depth discussion about classroom practice and workflows.

We have all spent time and energy creating resources for our IWB, but is it time we move to new technology? We can in fact connect our iPads to an IWB via the VGA Adaptor, but would you choose to if you had other options?