Why iPads?
I'm constantly being asked by students, parents, even family and friends, why our district decided to buy iPads for all the secondary students. The answer everyone expects is something to do with money: the textbooks cost less, we use less paper, etc. There's also the "green" aspect, that by using digital documents instead of printed ones, we are doing less harm to the environment.
While both those answers probably were a part of the decision process, the biggest reason for supplying iPads was to "level the playing field."
Before the iPads, the amount of resources a student had at home depended on the amount of money their family made. It just stands to reason that the more money a family has, the more technology the student will have access to in their home. At the other end of the spectrum, the less money a family has available, the less resources.
So, now with the iPad, everyone has access to the same resources. Everyone is on the same "field," and everyone has the same opportunities for success!