Schools putting iPads in classrooms

NEW YORK, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- More U.S. schools are turning to the iPad as a teaching tool, using games and animation to teach subjects such as math and history, observers say.

In New York, Roslyn High School on Long Island gave 47 of the tablet computers made by Apple to students and teachers in two humanities classes, and the school district says it plans to eventually provide iPads to all 1,100 of its students, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The tablet computers will replace textbooks in class and at home, allowing students to turn in papers and homework electronically while communicating with teachers.

"It allows us to extend the classroom beyond these four walls," said Larry Reiff, an English teacher who posts all his class materials online.

Some educators and parents worry schools are rushing to the technology before its educational value has been confirmed by research.

"There is very little evidence that kids learn more, faster or better by using these machines, Larry Cuban, a professor of education at Stanford University, says. "IPads are marvelous tools to engage kids, but then the novelty wears off and you get into hard-core issues of teaching and learning."