Bean Blog

The iPad’s just 2 months old, but there are already loads of great educational apps ready for use in schools. But while many of the apps are pretty impressive, schools are wary.

Why?

Until Apple gives K12 schools better ways to purchase apps and manage iPad/Pods, I can’t see how they will be deployed in large numbers.

The closed nature of the iTunes store, a lack of enterprise management tools and the “single consumer” model are significant barriers to adoption in K12 education. For example, the current environment means that a school has to purchase and install apps one by one on each device, and has no way to view overarching metrics on classroom usage as a whole. And who wants the job of making sure they’re all charged or keeping all those nice big touchscreens clean?!

Addressing these significant administration issues is important for iPad adoption, as is the need for app developers to be thinking through learning skills as they emerge uniquely on a new platform. It’s a true paradigm shift.

For example, the current offerings of interactive text books are very static. I look forward to a publisher taking a hint from Marvel’s comic reader for usability (not that we want to encourage comic reading in the classroom).