Apple has long been associated with education - partly because Apple made moves in that direction very early on, partly because Apple's perceived ease of use, again early on, appealed to teachers both to learn on themselves and then, in turn, as a platform they could teach to students.
Even in far away New Zealand, educators at schools, universities and polytechs were (and still are) strong Apple users, and various support networks have existed over the years to foster this. iPads aren't the cheapest tablets, but they still increased the profile of Apple in education. They're cheaper and more portable than MacBooks and, with the Retina versions, both more readable and more powerful.
Apple has sold 10 million iPads to schools around the world, and some New Zealand schools at both ends of the decile rankings have gone all-iPad, or in some cases have launched agnostic bring-your-own-device regimes. Of course, the New Zealand example pales into insignificance compared to rollouts like that of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which did a US$30 million deal with Apple last year to equip 35,000 students across 47 schools with iPads. iPads were approved by unanimous vote from the Board of Education which favoured Apple, contending that Apple offers the better product in the face of protestations from Microsoft to avoid a 'one-size-fits-all' solution. Partly the board pushed the acquisition along to accommodate impending state and federal computer-based testing of students.
Of course, mass adoptions like this just add to the efficacy of the Apple platform. Teachers will develop, or cause to be developed, apps they need and want, and a whole ramp of kids will have their first tastes of 21st century computing on iPads. This should lead to more app development and demand from Apple, pushing the cycle to ever greater revolutions. But it's not all apple trees waving in the breeze - in the LA example, problems quickly appeared: students hacked their way past the tablet's security and parents raised concerns about being liable for iPad damage. The program ran into cost overruns and soon, the iPads were recalled. Pundits reckon the process was simply too fast - as a Macworld article points out, there's a right way to do it, and that involves taking your time. When 1200 iPads were distributed in Burlington, Massachusetts, officials took 15 months choosing devices, adopting policies and training teachers before any reached students. San Diego created a five-year technology plan, with the first tablets used in just ten of the city's schools before wider adoption began in years four and five.
While New Zealand begin to do rollouts on the scale of Los Angeles, iPad is already a significant player here. There are over 75,000 education-specific apps in the app store, some that enhance the curriculum and some that fit directly into different curricula.
