Chromebook or iPad2?

Now that Apple has dropped the price of the iPad 2 to $379 we finally have a real horse race as we begin to pick a device for our one to one pilot program.  At a similar price point, we can now truly compare both devices in the most important areas - compatibility with curriculum and resources, access to new resources (i.e. apps), functionality of the device, and the ability to easily manage thousands of devices.  Both devices have advantages and disadvantages.  Both devices will serve our needs.  Both devices will do most (but not all) things we want to do.  Both devices will require us to give up something we really want to do because it simply will not do everything.  In the end, though, we won't go wrong with either one.

We are still responsible for choosing the BEST overall device.  At the end of the day, everyone involved in the one to one program will have to stand up and say that we made teaching and learning better and that we spent millions of dollars responsibly.

My personal opinion is that teachers should be able to choose the device their students use next year.  What better way to test a device's compatibility with ALL the web sites, electronic books, videos, learning management systems, interactive activities, and virtual science labs that we use in ALL of our classes than to put them to the test with actual students for an entire year? We know we will get some Chromebook users and some (i.e. MANY) iPad users, and whichever device that is not chosen in the long run won't go to waste.  There are plenty of other uses for Chromebooks or iPads in the library, in check-out carts, or in classrooms that are not yet part of the one to one program.