iPads for Madison, WI schools purchased with Microsoft lawsuit settlement funds

How about we take the money and hire some more teachers.

The extent to which Steve Sande will go to bash Microsoft is sureal. As if Apple isn't making "too much money" by overcharging consumers? Don't make me laugh...

Wow...a bunch of flat Earthers here. I guess you folks would rather the band department have the students construct their own instruments instead of taking the risk of breaking the expensive store bought ones. I assume the schools district will purchase rugged cases for the devices.
If you are just Apple haters that's understandable but until someone else makes a better device the iPad is the best on market. The iPad will be able to be placed in a desk drawer or out of the way where a PC would take up a lot of permanent space in the classroom and would consume great amounts of electricity. I can't see how this is not a win for the district and students. MSD should be applauded for this move.

oh, OH MY GOD it's happening! what will we do? we have to stop them from making this horrible mistake.

save it, kids. the move to iPads is inevitable. Pundits be damned.

So we're stealing money from Redmond and depositing it into Apple's coffers which largely benefit China? Congratulations on setting this country back even further.

I think schools need to really think this through before adopting all of these iPads and other tablets.

I can definitely see how kids are more engaged, mostly because they like technology/electronics and playing with toys...but...

to say that the iPads are much cheaper over traditional PCs needs to be thought through. Maybe they're cheaper upfront, but how about long term investment? If you're paying almost 500 dollars for a single iPad you're right around the cost of a computer to begin with.

Then you need to look at the fact that you have kids using these, kids that tend to break things easily. Not to mention the wear and tear of everyday use - these will wear out faster than a computer sitting on a desk. Now you get the pay again to replace them.

What about batteries? Apple's insane obsession with built in batteries means that schools can't easily replace a battery - off to Apple it goes with a nice price tag attached. And with the amount of use and abnormal charging cycles you can bet that the batteries will wear out quicker than the batteries in iPads of home users.

There's just a lot more to look at than "the kids were engaged". Did kids not learn before iPads?