New possibilities are always present; it’s not bad to slowly stroll into the future. But it wasn’t a small, valiant step that they took. It was a huge leap. A plunge. And they fell.

This semester, schools across the nation are starting to distribute iPads to their students. In the past RRISD has considered the idea. But because of a recent “hack” at many schools, some are starting to doubt the positives of the switch to iPads in schools. In my opinion, I believe that the cons heavily outweigh the pros.  

First of all, the iPads may be cheaper than other very tech-savvy electronics, but netbooks still cost less and are more user-friendly. If a school already has netbooks, like Canyon Vista does, it’d be pointless to do an overhaul switch for iPads. It wouldn’t be an effective use of money. The total cost of iPads for some districts have ranged from $30 million to $1 billion.

A “hack” into the iPads shows that students are unsatisfied with the limited usage and displays how bad the security is. Why release these iPads if the district doesn’t carefully place the restrictions? According to Fox News, the students didn’t really hack into the system, they merely removed their “profile” in the settings section that the district set up for them. The profile blocked the user from visiting certain sites and downloading games. If the schools wanted to release such a bulk of expensive supplies, they should’ve had more planning. Handing a student an iPad and telling them to only use it for school purposes isn’t such a smart idea.

Shoving iPads into a school isn’t going to do much. Sure, everybody wants an iPad, it’s great for relaxing, maybe reading a book, watching a movie, or playing a game. But any addictive game is not the same thing as learning. It is hard to try to engage students with something educational. Also, teaching a student with an iPad in a bland fashion will be no different than just telling a student to read a textbook.

I don’t think it will put schools ahead of the game if they just hand everybody iPads. Sticking to the same way of learning is typically similar, and a lot cheaper. If they do want to use iPads, I suggest not letting students take them home and making what they teach more interesting. If the student would need to use the iPad for studying, they could stay after school. The teacher could also supervise to make sure they don’t try to “hack” into the system, or they could also just make their security better. With these solutions, they could steadily tie learning together in an intriguing way.

Rushing mindlessly into a huge decision will often cause you to feel a pang of regret. Thorough planning will swipe the obstacles away, leaving room to roam and fulfill everything to its full extent.