iPads and Education

I have a hate / hate relationship with iPads in the classroom mostly because my experience has been that they are severely limited. Not only are the screens easily broken by some of our more exuberant students, most of the apps are a 'cut down' version of what is freely available on a laptop / 'real computer'. On top of this, planning lessons where iPads will be used usually takes me at least three times as long as it should. Sadly, in spite of being aware of the above limitations, my school has thus far refused to recommend that parents not buy iPads for use at school. This is hard to understand given that in addition to the limited functionality, iPads are often more expensive than a basic, fully functional laptop.