Ummsamiyah Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 What have you found? Does it enhance your education or hinder it? I am seriously thinking about getting either ipads or (more economically) used mac laptops for my kids to use. as i plan next year i feel like i will be using quite a few online classes. right now we have one computer in the house. what do you guys think? is this opening the door to problems? TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Lulu* Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Well, if you are using online classes the laptop would be a must. We are finding the iPad to be very useful here, but we primarily use it the two days we school on the go. The only issues I can see is a child playing games instead of doing assignments or surfing the web unsupervised. Basically, inappropriate Internet content aside, it is just offering a high tech alternative to staring at the wall for 20min or pulling your eraser into 1,000 little bits instead of doing your work. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amo_mea_filiis. Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 I'm in the process of reducing all electronics. I can't wait for the school year to be over so I can send back dd's laptop! I personally am not requiring anything be done electronically. We have math rider, and they can do that for fun, but nothing required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kari C in SC Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 My 13 year old dd uses her laptop a lot with school. She has Teaching Textbooks for math and IEW for writing. She watching the IEW dvds on it and then types up her work on it. She also uses google quite a bit for research. My 7 year old will be starting Teaching Textbooks next year as well. He also uses Reading Eggs. So, I can't imagine not having laptops for them to use. I have been known to make my dd take the laptop in the car and do her math on road trips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trilliums Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 We have one ipad and although we all enjoy it, our homeschooling is not greatly enhanced by it. Probably the dictionary gets the most use. Having it for outings is convenient, but then it is usually used for fun activities that do not require too much concentration. I love that Khan academy has an app. Unfortunately, you cannot do the practice problems on the app. The ipad offers variety, but generally is limited in some way. DH wants to get each child the next ipad, but I am thinking we would be better off having another laptop. My kids are starting to do more typed up reports and online researching. We have a PC, but are thinking of switching to MACs. Depends on a lot of variables for your particular situation, including, but not limited to: the ages of your kids, the number of kids in the family, and the propensity for kids to get side tracked on the computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvasMom Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 We use iPad games for fun and ds loves Reading Eggspress but I do try to keep the techie stuff to a minimum. Partly just because the mainstream education world thinks technology is soooooo important in education, I want to minimize it. Maybe it's just the rebel in me. Haha! I do think that paper and pencil is the simplest, best way to educate so I like to stick with that most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiddenJewel Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 We live in a world of technology so I feel it is important that my dc know how to use it. We use the iPad for MEP math with our younger set to save on printing costs but other than that I like elementary to be paper and pencil. My high schoolers use laptops daily for research and writing. If I had to choose, I would go for a laptop although having an e-reader for text and other books is handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rieshy Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Because of my dh business the kids all have hand-me-down computers. The computers range from the 12 yo who works on an almost 13 yo iMac to 17 yo who works on a newer PowerBook laptop. I prefer the laptops- they stay plugged to the wall in our schoolroom. I have a older iPad. I day dream of the kids all having iPads so our den won't continue to look like a computer lab. But besides the money- why replace working free computers?- we have two kids doing OSU German online and it isn't compatible with our iPad. So if you are planning on online classes make sure your iPad would work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CupOCoffee Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 We are laptop users here as well. My kids currently to two subjects online: Khan for math, and a site for Bible study. I will probably incorporate more things on the computer as time goes on. There are 4 people and 3 laptops in our house (plus a desktop, but that is upstairs). My kids have not had any issues wasting time playing games, or going to inappropriate places on the internet; they are closely supervised by my DH while using the computers and the out-of-sight computer (in DS room) does not have internet access. My kids have each also been working on novels (a sort of continuation of NaNoWriMo) which they type on the computer. ~coffee~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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