The iPad for education is gaining huge ground.  Here are 8 examples of how it is winning over the education sector…

Apple’s Magical Tablet

It’s only been a few months since Apple’s “magical” tablet computer was released to the public.  And since that time it has gone far beyond it’s original intended purpose of simple media device.  Due to the fact that there are now over 14,000 apps (14,103 as of this writing according to appshopper), it has made it possible to do just about anything you want with the “magical” tablet.

Wanna be a DJ? Learn music? Be productive at your business? Learn a language? Learn to cook? It’s all possible with the wide array of amazing apps you can get.  And each day these apps get better and better.

The iPad for the Education Sector

As it turns out there is a huge market that is poised to embrace a device just like this:  the education market.  Why? Because of the very fact that you can have one device for all your learning needs.

Imagine being able to walk into a College bookstore and instead of getting a bunch of expensive and bulky books/learning aids, you simply download everything you need to your iPad.  Now you can study, take notes, communicate and collaborate with your fellow students using just one device.

And this isn’t just wishful thinking. Here are 8 ways that the iPad is winning in Education:

• Setton Hill University (Pennsylvania) has committed to giving each of its 2100 full time students an iPad.
• George Fox University right here in Oregon recently announced that it would be giving its new students the choice between a Macbook or an iPad.
• Oklahoma State University will be piloting an iPad initiative with 125 students in five different courses during the fall term.
• The University of Maryland is providing iPads to 75 incoming Honors students in the fall.
• Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop High School was the very first high school to provide an iPad to each of their 320 students
• Northwest Kansas Technical College is going to provide an iPad to every student who registers for the Fall 2010 term – and they will be providing their content via iTunes.
• Sacramento Country Day School has announced they are giving iPads to every sixth grader at no cost to the parents.
• Monte Vista Christian School already gave 60 of its AP students iPads with eBooks preloaded.

The real story will be the ways in which education is using the iPad to assist in the students’ learning endeavors.  Simply giving one away is not going to do much.  However, when you give one away and then provide educational content and integrate that into the learning experience then you can only imagine the possibilities.

I’d say that it is definitely poised to win big in the education sector.  We have only began to scratch the ‘magical’ surface.

How do you feel about it?  Would you use it in school? Would it be a benefit?