Apple vs. Android in Education: A Beneficial Competition

Many of the postings and the articles that I have read so far about this debate of apple vs. android seem to be biased based on personal use of either device. It makes sense, because if you have invested money into a device, chances are you at least looked into it and decided you liked it better than the other options. Or maybe you didn't have much of a choice in what to use, but you are used to it and that is what you stick with. It seems with this debate no matter what each side says there will never be a "right" answer. Even when it comes down to use in education, I see mixed results. So I picked an article that I thought outlines the differences in a simple way (by the way they give the edge to android- "What works best for Students- Android or Apple?"). A few of the differences include-

• Cost- Android devices are cheaper in general
• Apps- Apple's education apps "work better" and are easier to find. Android has more variety, but may not work well across all android devices
• Usability- Android is more customizable and is easier to transfer files, but apple is easier to use in general
• Aesthetics- You can make an android look however you want it to and use widgets to access apps right on a home screen. The apple is limited on what you can customize.

They give the edge to android because it can be customized, it is cheaper, and google is starting to develop more services and apps.

Personally, I use an android phone. I had “tested” an iphone a while ago when my friend got one. They let me “play” with it before I decided on which phone to get. For me, an iphone was too simple, I like the ability to customize my android. But when it comes to what I would use in my classroom or what I would tell other teachers to use, I would say, it depends. Again, no definitive answer.

I think it comes down to money and what the tool will be used for. If android steps up and makes more educational apps that are user friendly, then that can only benefit education. I see this debate as a good thing. If educators demand good apps for educational use and can pay for it, then the developers of these apps for apple and android will have pressure on them to keep making good applications for educating people. So if a school can get ipads and they have what the teachers are looking for then great, if they are looking to save money and hope google comes through with more ed apps, then go for an android. Either way, I hope the competition between the two results in greater ways to use these tools to help education in general.