Are 1:1 iPad programs worth it?

It has long been a frustration for educators —who have seen with their own eyes the transformative power of 1-1 iPad programs— that there are so few studies on the subject.

Educator James Jackson decided to do something about it.

Where Jackson got the data

When Jackson was Director of Digital Transformation at Shaw Education Trust, he decided to search his own organization’s data for answers while working on his dissertation “Is moving to a 1:1 device strategy for learners harming or improving academic performance?” at North Wales Management School at Wrexham Glyndŵr University.

Shaw Education Trust is a sizeable educational system, incorporating 30 schools. This gave him a rich source of data.

Made possible by Jamf

And thanks to Jamf, the Trust had several schools already set up with 1:1 iPad programs, in addition to schools with many-to-one and those who hadn't yet started programs. Jamf made it easy to the schools to implement iPad programs that took advantage of the rich educational immersion opportunities that Apple products had to offer. And also thanks to Jamf, Jackson was confident that students and networks would remain safe and secure.

The results were nothing short of jaw-dropping.

1:1 iPad programs steeply increased student achievement.

The primary finding was that students improved an astonishing average of 370% after beginning 1:1 device programs.

• Students enrolled in 1:many programs improved an average of 76%
• Changes in approach to teaching and learning combined with a device were more beneficial than in places where schools introduced devices with no change in teaching methodologies
• 92% of teachers felt that using iPad helped their teaching and lesson planning substantially
• 85% of students said their work had improved with 1:1 devices
• 90% of parents believed iPad helped in educating their child

The ability to compare schools with one another and the fact that the trust contains schools at every level also allowed Jackson to look into which grade levels seemed to benefit the most, and how students with no change in their educational approaches compared.

Backing up Jackson's numbers

A recent Forrester study cited in Jamf paper backs up many of Jacksons’ findings: Apple devices can improve collaboration for students and teachers.

Take a closer look for a deep dive into the rich data!