In 2011, high schools in 600 districts nationwide replaced textbooks with iPads in schools (Koebler). As technology advances, high schools are experimenting with different ways to teach and learn. As iPads are introduced into the classroom, not much thought is put into the restrictions that need to be enabled for student use. Most students have Wi-Fi connection which allows them to explore any site, use applications that are not related to class, and share information with peers when it is not an appropriate time. Because Apple is a renown company, the iPad has flourished in high schools all over the United States, beating out the Kindle and other types of eBooks. The switch from textbooks to iPads requires strict regulation by the high schools as well as teachers in order for the tablets to be a successful tool in learning. If class time is spent on social media, messaging other people, and Googling answers, class time is no longer beneficial to students neither, nor teachers. A classroom setting no longer has the meaning "to learn" for high school students because the students have all of the power to learn because the iPad is at hand. Some of the applications as well as software on the iPad have failed immensely for academic purposes. iPads are not useful in high schools because of the unintended consequences such as bullying, health implications, unlimited distraction, and cheating, which all lessen the value of high school education and class time because most teachers are uneducated with this type of technology.

Since the iPad has been introduced into schools in 2011, some argue that the iPad is the best substitute for textbooks in all schools. The iPad tablet physically continues to develop as well as the applications that the students use in learning. Mr. Reiff, an English teacher at Roslyn high school in New York, says, "If there isn't an app that does something I need, there will be sooner or later" (Hu). People do not seem to realize that it is not only the educational apps that upgrade, but also the social media apps as well as games advance too. The iPad is light and flat which reduces the stress of students' backs; textbooks were much heavier and gave many students back issues. The iPad is seen as a way to cut spending and go paperless in the classroom, benefitting people from the middle class down and the community as a whole. However, what most schools do not realize is that it is not a fixed cost when buying the iPads for students. There are, "about 5,400 education applications available specifically for the iPads, of which nearly 1,000 can be downloaded free" (Hu). There is not much consideration about the other 4,400 apps that cost money. This is problematic to schools in impoverished areas especially if the school systems are eventually all going to switch to iPads. Not only would this be unfair to impoverished areas, but it could widen the gap between education systems. As there are benefits to the iPad in high school classrooms, there are other issues that one must consider if iPads are introduced into the world of academia. The bigger problem that iPads create is that the education value in high schools will change immensely for students if these devices are continually used. 

There are different health issues that come along with the use of iPads. iPads are starting to be introduced to students at a young age. Many people overlook the health consequences that alter the future for these students. There is a study by the US Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences "that shows people using iPads for four hours or more before bedtime took longer to fall asleep than people who hadn't used them" (Chelala). Not only are students using iPads in class, it is necessary for them to use the iPads for additional time at home due to homework, like preparing presentations or completing a worksheet. It has been noticed that students can develop sleeping issues as well as insomnia with excessive iPad use. Lack of sleep can cause obesity as well as diabetes in students. Not only is loss of sleep a problem, there is also an issue with motion injuries such as neck and back pain as well as eyestrain. Even though iPads would reduce the backpack load, there are still health problems that can be introduced and just as serious. Students use these iPads all day in class as well as at home. This creates pain in the eye and causes blurred vision and headaches after repetition. According to a study in 2007 either, "chronic neck or back pain was the leading cause of not attending work in the United States" (Chelala). These health issues could potentially determine the future of these students. It is also important to acknowledge these health issues because not only do students have iPads, many other students have phones and laptops as well. If children young enough to be enrolled in kindergarten are forced to use these devices, there is no question that these students will be at great risk for these health issues. What school systems must realize is that, all of these devices create health problems such as eyestrain and neck and back injuries and these issues could be reduced if textbooks were brought back into the classroom (Chelala). 

iPads are seen as "weapons in the hands of pupils" in today's high schools (Donnelly, Marsden). As more high schools adopt iPads into the classroom, more issues have been found with bullying. These tablets are being used for the abusive results during class time, when the students are supposed to be in class learning. Cyber security expert, Paul C. Dwyer, heard about challenges with irresponsible use of social media in the classroom. He claimed that students take pictures of people and post them on social media, without permission. Dwyer states that the social media companies are non-responsive to such issues. There is no accelerated process to get these bullying images off the web. Companies do not respond or are slow to high school's requests of taking the bullying images down to protect certain students. What is most concerning is that iPads are newly introduced into high classrooms and this problem is already rapidly occurring. There is no sign that the bullying will decline nor stop in the classrooms. This issue makes high school a toxic environment and a threating place for some students. School is supposed to be a place to learn, not a place bullying exists (Donnelly, Marsden). 

Another issue that arises with the use of iPads in high schools is distraction in the classroom. It is common knowledge that an iPad has much more capabilities than a textbook. Koebler states, "with their fast processor, Internet connectivity, and large touch-screen display, tablets can function as powerful graphing calculators, video players, and photo editors" (Koebler). Some of these functions are beneficial to students, however, the bad counterbalances the good in high school classrooms. The devices are used incorrectly and defeat the purpose of what is supposed to occur. There are thousands of games apps as well as connection to all major social networking sites allowing students to choose what class time is devoted to (Koebler). It is no longer necessarily "mandatory" to listen to the teacher. Students can now occupy themselves in other ways during class. 

Because these tablets have already made their way into the class room, as Pshebniski says, "There's almost no turning back" (Mullholland). Although teachers are trying to find a way to incorporate the iPads in the classroom while teaching, the main issue is that the students are no longer focused on the teacher. Students surf the Web and fail to learn what is actually trying to be taught during lectures. Some students argue that multitasking on an iPad is not a problem while trying to learn, however studies show that is false. A Canadian study asked students to use laptops to take notes during class while doing different tasks as well, including searching the Web. These students competed with other students that were in the same class but taking paper notes on the same information. The results showed that those who used laptops in class scored eleven percent worse on exams compared to the other students that only had a pen and paper. This study can be translated over and related to iPad use in the classroom. Essentially, the iPad has just as many resources as a laptop, if not more, making it just as easy to be distracted. Not only are the students who have the laptop at hand doing worse in class, it was found that students who took notes on pen and paper next to the students with laptops absorbed seventeen percent less information. Not only do these devices distract the student that is using them in place of a notepad and pen, but also distracts other students in the surrounding area (Mullholland). Some high schools refuse to have iPads required in the school's curriculum due to the fact of the possible outcomes of learning. For example, The New York City School District banned all handheld devices including tablets, phones, and blackberries in school (Vu). Tanis Pshebniski, the assistant superintendent of St. James-Assiniboia School Division, is nervous to see what the students' future learning outcomes will be if the technology continues to develop in the next couple of decades (Mullholland). There is stress about losing students' creativity as well as attention in the classroom.

Many of these applications on the iPad that were made for educational purposes have seemed to fail. Los Angeles United School District had no problem adopting the iPads into the educational system. However, the teachers quickly realized that the iPads were not a success and more specifically, the Pearson applications that were developed for education, were useless. People often get carried away by technology and assume that it can do some type of magic like, " ... transplant knowledge into students' brains directly, bypassing teachers" (Tervalon). Tervalon makes the point that the iPad is a new way of transmitting information however, it does not matter how the information is transmitted, the only thing that matters is the information itself in the classroom. iPads are taking away the purpose of learning in a classroom due to the amount of disturbances present. The iPad should never replace the value of the teacher, however, this is how students are utilizing these devices and could be potentially damaging to the worth of high school education in the future. 

Because the iPads are so new, there are still glitches in the system and at times, the iPad is not suitable for all classroom activities and can be rather inefficient. Typing on iPad screens is rather difficult and time consuming. It is challenging for students to keep up in class when there is a lecture and students are required to take notes on their tablet. Students at the University of Notre Dame preferred using laptops over iPads in class because of the reassurance that everything would save as well as the more efficient typing (Hin). Some argue that iPads are not cost effective, and one of the most problematic issues is that the iPad cannot access most of the free educational websites. The iPad does not connect to any website that requires Java, Flash, or ShockWave (Godenius). 

Despite what the media says about teachers welcoming the idea of the iPad classroom, according to a study done by Phu Hoang Vu, teachers have little interest into this development. Teachers are unsure of how to work with such powerful tools that are available on the iPad and there has not been enough experience to perfect the learning environment therefore, there are many flaws and it results in unproductive classrooms. Even though technology is developing, the styles of teaching are the same. Vu stated that, " ... the classroom practice and teaching approach were almost the same as they were 50 or 100 years ago" (Vu). Because the teachers are not trained to work well with technology, this allows the students to do whatever at school. There are little restrictions and the teachers are unable to see what each individual student is doing on the tablet at hand. There was a report done by the U.S. Congress that, " ... only 29% of the respondents to a national survey of education majors felt prepared to teach with technology" (Vu). Many teachers received training on how to operate the actual tablet, but no training on how to integrate this piece of technology into the classroom to be beneficial during class time. In order for the iPads to be used properly, teachers will need to attend different workshops to make purpose of the tablets (Falloon). Since the teachers are not as confident with this type of technology, it makes class time a waste of time due to lack of clarity and lack of experience. 

Most importantly, iPads create bigger problems in schools with academic dishonesty. The issue is that, "today, many students not only access the Internet through desktop and laptop computers at home or at school but also have copious amounts of information at their fingertips via portable devices" (Thomas, Sassi). Because students have unlimited access to the internet, it makes it effortless to take shortcuts in order to finish schoolwork. Nowadays, students Google everything without hesitation. When teachers give worksheets, students' first thought is to search the web. Furthermore, this essentially defeats the purpose of distributing an exercise for practice. The intention of the worksheet is to test the student's knowledge on a particular topic, however, if the answers are being found online, the score the student receives is not accurate. Aside from searching answers on the web, plagiarism is another issue with iPads. Students do not take the time to acknowledge the consequences of plagiarism and copy other people's work (Thomas, Sassi). If technology continues to advance, there will be more ways to cheat and this lessens the value of a high school education. 

In conclusion, iPads are not a solution for textbooks in a high school setting. There is no promise that the development of technology will slow down, but in reverse it is expected to grow in the future. High schools should continue to remember the serious consequences and issues that the Apple iPad contributes in the classroom. There are much more serious matters that the iPad creates rather than reducing the weight of backpacks and becoming eco-friendly. The environment and back pain are issues to address, however what society does not see is the chaos that iPads create in the classroom. iPads are altering the way that classrooms are set up for learning as well as creating larger problems. Students go to school to learn and it is important that the educational values do not change. If iPads eventually replace textbooks in all schools for all students, serious health issues could arise. Also, students should not feel victimized or threatened when going to school. It is nearly impossible for this bullying issue to stop if teachers are unaware of how these tablets can work. The teachers are not educated enough to realize the damage that iPads cause in the high school setting. This allows the students to do whatever one may desire, as well as distract themselves as well as others in the classroom. Since these devices are so new, there is no guarantee that everything will run smoothly in the class. Technology can benefit high school classrooms when the glitches and trials are done. A different tablet or device is a better solution. The iPad cannot be continued to be used in high school classrooms. If this trend continues into the future, the amount of information that students try to learn and retain will continue to diminish. The future of America's high school students is important and iPads need to be taken out of school systems until they are a better product in order to guarantee a greater education. 

