Only Half of Students' Free iPads Survive Year at British School

Last year, the Honywood Community Science School in Coggeshall, Essex, had a brilliant idea to help student learning: hand out free iPad2 tablets. So, at massive cost to the British taxpayer, they fulfilled their vision, giving iPad2s to 1,200 students. The students were allowed to take the devices home with them.

One year later, half the devices are broken. 489 of the 1,200 devices were shattered beyond recognition. The Daily Mail reports: “Pupils said in some of the younger classes, around half the class had broken their tablet at least once, and some as many as three times. Despite the threat of confiscation after three tablets, ultimately none were taken away from pupils.”

Parents had to pay a small fee for device insurance, but the school will swallow the vast majority of the cost. The devices alone represented 2.3 percent of the school’s annual budget. The school maintains that exam results are up and attendance is up.