iPad: Emma Martin

Ever since elementary school, students in the Barrington 220 district have been given and trained to use iPads. In the transition into high school, many people have converted to different types of technology like a laptop. But for me, the choice has always been clear. I personally prefer the iPad because of the amount of flexibility and efficiency that it offers. The iPad isn’t as bulky and fragile as a laptop so it makes it a lot easier to just throw it in my bag in the morning before school and not worry about it breaking or taking up too much space. The iPad also proves its superiority with drawing, note-taking and signing documents. It is made to be so simple due to the fact that you can use your finger or stylus to create these designs and signatures. Another area of ease provided by iPads is the content consumption. It makes watching videos, reading and browsing the internet more convenient. I see it as a phone but even bigger that offers more benefits. The iPad is also ideal for all ages due to how easy it is to use, hence why it is given to elementary schoolers. Another feature offered by iPads is the ability to capture high quality photos and videos! All of these features without a doubt definitely sways me into always picking the iPad.

MacBook: Alice Teixeira

The choice between a MacBook laptop and iPad is an obvious one. A laptop offers a keyboard that makes note-taking considerably faster, facilitates multitasking through its option for multiple windows and generally makes apps and websites such as Canva or Google Slides much easier to use. It is completely understandable that someone in elementary school would prefer an iPad, as they can’t type efficiently or with precision yet, but as students enter high school and leave this phase, iPads become inconvenient as they no longer fit our needs. Any features that may be lost when transitioning from an iPad to a laptop have a simple solution — phones. It is nearly impossible to find a single student in the entire school that does not own one, and the most significant tools an iPad possesses that a laptop does not (high-quality camera, touchscreen, etc.) can be found on them. By providing students with iPads, the school is essentially giving them a larger version of what everyone already owns, whereas a laptop provides countless new tools that make studying for difficult classes much more doable. That is why MacBook laptops are clearly a superior choice over iPads, and by equipping students with them, schools set students up for success in high school while also preparing them for their future beyond it.