A local private high school has recently made iPads a requirement for upperclassman to own and use.
My question is what is the primary benefit or usage for iPads in schools that laptops or books cannot provide.
IMO laptops are too bulky and awkward. When I just need to take a quick note or look something up quickly I turn to my iPod or iPad. I hate to bother unpacking my laptop, turning it on, and waiting for it to boot just to do something quick.<p>For longer periods of use though I certainly prefer the laptop. Books are dead as far as I'm concerned. I prefer ebooks on the iPad because I can get errata updated more frequently and easily and it's easier to annotate, highlight, etc than a book.