Keith A. Bockwoldt is not an Apple salesman, but sometimes he feels frustrated that this might be the impact he has on educators.
As the director of technology services for Illinois鈥� second-largest high school district, Mr. Bockwoldt has hosted a steady stream of more than 1,000 visitors who want to learn how Township High School District 214鈥�25 miles northwest of Chicago鈥攄eveloped its 1-to-1 computing initiative, which ultimately chose iPads, and the positive impact that device decision is having.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about the device; it鈥檚 about transforming learning,鈥� Mr. Bockwoldt tells everyone who will listen.
But he notices that about half his visitors usually leave convinced that they don鈥檛 need to really use his 12,000-student district鈥檚 process for vetting the effectiveness of various digital devices. Rather, they simply leave the visits 鈥渟old鈥� on the power of iPads.
From Los Angeles to Illinois to Maine鈥攚here Apple products far outpaced Hewlett-Packard in districts鈥� choices through the state鈥檚 bulk-purchasing program earlier this year鈥� iPads are hot. In fact, they command nearly 94 percent of the tablet market in K-12 schools, according to Tom Mainelli, the research director focusing on the tablet market for IDC Research, a San Mateo, Calif.-based firm that provides market analysis of technology.
By the end of this calendar year, total shipments for tablet computing devices in the U.S. education marketplace are expected to exceed 3.5 million units鈥攁 46 percent increase over 2012, indicated Mr. Mainelli, who explained that the research is proprietary and declined to name the runners-up in the tablet race. The figure covers tablets in higher education and K-12, but colleges and universities account for a much smaller proportion because, at that level, most are personal devices.
High Market Share
Apple Inc.'s CEO, Tim Cook, drew attention to his company鈥檚 dominance during an earnings call with analysts in October. He said that such a high market share was 鈥渦nheard of,鈥� and that it was 鈥済reat to be making a contribution to education.鈥�
Education鈥檚 contribution to Apple is also noteworthy: The company set a record in education sales for the fourth quarter, generating $1 billion in revenue with sales of its iOS and Mac products.
However, Apple鈥檚 king-of-the-hill market position in tablets is being eroded by various players鈥攎ost recently by Google, with its official launch Nov. 13 of the Google Play for Education app store, delivered now on Nexus 7 tablets and intended to compete with the educational applications available through Apple. Priced at $229, with a $30 management charge per tablet, the Google device allows teachers to pay using a purchase order loaded on the tablet.
Meanwhile, some high-profile tablet deployments are making headlines, as various issues have arisen that could chill the market.
For instance, the Los Angeles Unified School District recently decided to slow its planned rollout of iPads. The district experienced student breaches of security earlier this year, and other issues arose around device-management policies, the preloaded Pearson curriculum, total cost of iPads and curriculum, and suitability of the devices, compared with laptops, for high school students.
What device to use in a school district is 鈥渂asically a policy decision, and that can change overnight,鈥� said Sam S. Adkins, the chief research officer of Ambient Insight, a Monroe, Wash.-based market-research firm. 鈥淎nd from a citizen鈥檚 standpoint, as a guy who pays taxes, iPads are expensive in light of much cheaper devices now available.鈥�
School business and technology officials often talk about the relatively high price point for iPads.
Mr. Bockwoldt in Illinois鈥� District 214 said his cost for 12,000 students is $429 per iPad, which includes the case and keyboard. In Maine, where the iPad was the most popular product purchased by districts, 39,457 students and educators received iPads at a cost of $266 per year, per seat. And in Los Angeles, where a math and English curriculum was bundled with the iPad, the expense was reported as $770 per device.
Meanwhile, for Louisiana鈥檚 33,000-student Calcasieu Parish public schools, an iPad II costs $499鈥攁 fact that frustrates Sheryl R. Abshire, the chief technology officer there.
鈥淵ou can get a Google Chromebook for $199,鈥� she said.
Ms. Abshire was surprised to get a recent report from Apple stating that her district is the largest purchaser of iPads in the state, especially since the district only has 5,136 iPads, compared with the 30,043 Dell computers it owns. Most of those iPad purchases were made at the school level, using grants or Title I money, not at the district level, she said.
Ms. Abshire accounted for Apple鈥檚 tablet dominance in education by noting it was the first to enter the market, in 2010.
To compare the growing number of tablet options schools can choose, see this table.
鈥淭hey seeded their success by pushing out to [app] developers. It鈥檚 almost like this went viral when teachers saw the content,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he iPad has a deep, entrenched space in the K-12 market because it鈥檚 a good product.
鈥淥ther people are starting to chip away at that,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭he prices are lower, and the content is becoming much more available.鈥�
As a board member for the Consortium for School Networking, a Washington-based association for school technology leaders, Ms. Abshire talks regularly with other education technology leaders. They tell her, she said, that 鈥減urpose and content鈥� are the main factors driving much of the decisionmaking around new digital devices for students.
Tight budgets are an issue, too, as well as maintaining iPads in a Microsoft Windows environment, which is what most schools have, requires workarounds, or purchasing a mobile-device-management system.
Market Predictions
Whether the iPad will maintain its dominant position in education is difficult to predict, experts say.
鈥淎pple has a pretty robust universe, from its devices to iTunes Uto the app store,鈥� observed Jeff Mao, the director of learning technology policy for Maine鈥檚 education department. After 11 years of supporting a statewide 1-to-1 computing program, Maine vetted devices and offered a four-year bulk-purchase option to its districts, which chose to buy 63,585 Apple iPads and MacBook Air laptops, compared with 5,475 Hewlett-Packard ProBook 4,440 laptops, and no HP tablets. Three years from now, Mr. Mao said, Maine will evaluate whatever spectrum of devices meets the state鈥檚 instructional needs.
David T. Vinca, the founder and CEO of eSpark Learning, a Chicago-based company with an iPad-centered learning-management system, is banking on iPads for now, although its back end and systems are platform-agnostic.
鈥淚t鈥檚 our belief that the most engaging educational experiences for students are being created for the iPad,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he iPad鈥檚 dominance has helped us focus and do much better work.鈥�
鈥楻ich, Diverse Ecosystem鈥�
Every quarter, his team reviews the other options available to see if it鈥檚 time to expand the offerings. So far, the company is staying iPad-specific. When a 鈥渞ich, diverse ecosystem of educational apps and content鈥� is available for another platform, eSpark will make its system available for that device as well, Mr. Vinca said.
Susan Einhorn, the executive director of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation, a Bellevue, Wash.-based organization that supports schools in developing and improving 1-to-1 computing programs, disagrees.
She said that 鈥渋Pads are a consumer device; I don鈥檛 feel they鈥檙e really designed for education.鈥� Ms. Einhorn favors tablets with what she calls 鈥済reater functionality,鈥� such as Microsoft鈥檚 Surface tablet.
As a 鈥渢echnology-agnostic鈥� organization, the International Society for Technology in Education does not take a position on specific devices, but CEO Brian C. Lewis observed that, 鈥渨ithin a short period of time, tablets have become almost ubiquitous. What we forget is that, in another three to five years, another new thing will transform not only our world, but what鈥檚 happening in the classroom.鈥�
Mr. Lewis said he has heard too many stories of schools and districts that purchased technology before planning how to use it.
Richard Culatta, the director of the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 office of educational technology, agrees.
鈥淎n important question now is: What form of device makes the most sense? Is it tablets, or tablets with keyboards, or laptops?鈥� he said.
His office is working on a 鈥渃onnected schools鈥� guide for release early in 2014 to help districts and schools sort through 鈥済etting the right device in the hands of students,鈥� he said.
