I was recently able to visit Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, MA, where I used to teach, to observe how their 1:1 iPad program has worked out this year...Here's what I found.

Here's an image from the CSHS website (spellman.com) of the students using their iPads this year. As you can see, they are not completely paperless...and they are aware they're being photographed!

Spellman chose to implement a 1:1 iPad program this year for multiple reasons:
-battery life of iPads
-uniformity of platform
-commitment of Apple to education
-an acknowledgement that "this is where education is going" and a commitment to preparation for college, where iPads are used more prevalently

They chose to lease iPads to the students rather than to require them to purchase iPads out of sensitivity to the finances of families as well as the fact that it would give the school some control over the Applications and other content on the devices. Spellman can monitor the applications on the iPads through use of a system called Casper.

Additionally, I learned that the students tend to have a diminished commitment and sense of ownership when it comes to the iPads because they are leased and not permanently theirs (Note that they must also purchase insurance through the school).

From the beginning, Spellman made it very clear to teachers that the iPads would not be destroying their oh-so-diligently prepared curriculum maps--the iPads would serve the curriculum and not the other way around.

They created this website to monitor progress in their initiative (it contains both a "hard copy" book list and an iBook/ePub/App list which was given to students over the summer--this gives you an idea of how many "old fashioned" textbooks they are using compared to books on iPad): http://www.spellman.com/s/190/index.aspx?sid=190&gid=1&pgid=1516

The teachers I spoke with gave me a range of reactions--everything from "I could not teach without the iPad" to "The iPad is the worst thing that ever happened to the classroom." I think it all depends on how consistently teachers use it and how confident they are.
When it comes to classroom management, they said that the management isn't more difficult, it's just different. Instead of watching for the signs of someone texting under their desk, they need to watch for someone playing on their iPad when they shouldn't be. Some have resorted to having certain times during the class period when iPads should be closed or put away.

Ultimately, though, teachers have to remember that we know how to use the iPad for education, while students don't--they think of it as a toy. We have to use this to our advantage!

If you're interested, I have a few e-mails from faculty and staff members at Spellman that offer their reflections on the initiative. Let me know and I'll share them with you (mdowd@bishopfeehan.com).