These days, K-12 schools are buying twice the number of tablets as desktop and laptop computers put together. The tablet seems to be the technology of the future -- at least the not-too-distant classroom future. And no wonder: the tablets are less expensive, easier to support, less intrusive in the classroom, easier to use, and easy to take home so that the students' academic day can be extended. They are also, for the moment anyway, as students say, cool.

Like a young adolescent, the tablet market in schools is immature, growing quickly, and unpredictable. New tablets are announced weekly in the press. Operating systems come and go, even on the same device. Cameras, keyboards, and other accessories confuse the choices. Prices go up and down with the barometer. This week's article takes a moment-in-time snapshot of this volatile marketplace, with an eye to ferreting out the educational features of the various tablets that might make a difference in schools.

We'll review each tablet, in order of current market share.

Apple iPad

With 68% of the market, this tablet has led the move to a more mobile device to perform the creation and management and communication tasks previously accomplished by the computer. With a large display, solid operating system, and competitive price, it is no wonder that schools have bought more of these than all the other tablets combined. Add to this the availability of thousands of high-quality educational apps and textbooks, and you find it hard not to choose the iPad.

Samsung Galaxy

This is the best selling of the eight tablets that run the Android operating system - same size as an iPad, with camera and video output, and a similar price tag. But the collection of educational apps and books in the Android marketplace is only a fraction of what's available for the iPad, and of uneven quality. Samsung has just recently begun to sell the tablet directly to K-12 schools, while Apple has been at it since 1978.

Amazon Kindle Fire

This small tablet was designed first of all to read books, but it can also serve as a general-purpose tablet if outfitted with the right Android apps. Its price seems low, but there's a catch: the only way to get things on the Kindle is through Amazon. Amazon loses money on each Kindle it sells, in hopes that people will use the device to buy things from the Amazon store. This model does not work well for schools or students in an academic setting, where books and other content for the tablets are often created by teachers, and students themselves.

ASUS Transformer

This recent full-size Android tablet competes with the iPad and the Galaxy in price and power, but has yet to gain a foothold in the marketplace, especially in schools. It shares the Galaxy's lack of educational applications and books, as well as Samsung's lack of experience selling to schools.

Acer A700

One of three Acer Android tablets, this one is most comparable to the others in this list. Its market share is so small that you've probably never seen one. It shares the weaknesses of the Galaxy and Transformer with regard to the educational market.

Brainchild Kineo

Like the next two on this list, this brand-new tablet was built by a company that sells educational software to schools. The Kineo is sold as part of a package of curriculum software, assessment services, and teacher training, so its unit price may be deceiving. Small in size, it's not a general-purpose device like the iPad or the Galaxy.

CDI Unobook

Another small tablet tied to a proprietary curriculum software package, the Unobook is just beginning to appear in schools.

CurriculumLoft Kuno 3

The third curriculum-package-tablet in the marketplace, this one is full-size, but so new that we don't know how much it costs.

Google Nexus 7

Just announced, and so without any market share or price, this small, inexpensive tablet from the inventor of the Android operating system. Google's market intelligence and global reach could propel this newcomer to the head of the list.

Microsoft Surface

The only tablet on our list running the Windows operating system, this recently announced -- but not yet available -- device comes with an attachable rubber keyboard. Microsoft does not normally make its own hardware, so it will be interesting to see how this tablet fares in the marketplace. Wild speculation on how much it will cost ranges from $500 to $1000.

News Corp/AT&T

Just announced, this device will be able to get signals from AT&T wireless as well as the school's network, so students can work at home. Both the tablet and the curriculum content and the assessment will come as a unified package. News Corp has acquired recently the educational software developer Wireless generation, as well as former NYC education chancellor Joel Klein; this tablet is one of the first fruits of that marriage.

The table below summarizes the comparison of the eleven tablets in our review.

The Role of Schools

If we accept that one of the roles of schools is to prepare students so that they may lead successful and productive adult lives, then the institution of public schooling must become innovative, particularly in the use and integration of technology, if they are to help their students meet the demands of globalization. Leadership is a crucial element of successful reform. Therefore, it is important to study leadership in technologically innovative schools. According to Education Week, Technology Counts, a state survey performed by the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (2007), the percent of students with computers in the classroom in the United States is 49.5 percent. The number of students per instructional computer is 3.8, with the number of students per high-speed Internet connected computer at 3.7. Forty-eight states have a technology plan, 23 states have established a virtual school and 23 states have offered computer-based assessments (Technology Counts, 2007). Despite all the purchasing of computers and the decreased student to computer ratio of 3.8, Cuban (2001), in his book, Oversold & Underused: Computers in the Classroom, tells us teaching and learning have not changed. Schools in America may not be making optimal use of these new tools.

Teachers have been infrequent and limited users of the new technologies for classroom instruction. If anything, in the midst of the swift spread of computers and the Internet to all facets of American life, e-learning in public schools has turned out to be word processing and Internet searches. As important supplements as these have become to many teachers' repertoires, they are far from the project-based teaching and learning that some techno-promoters have sought. Teachers at all levels of schooling have used the new technology basically to continue what they have always done: communicate with parents and administrators, prepare syllabi and lectures, record grades, and assign research papers. These unintended effects must be disappointing to those who advocate more computers in schools. (p. 178).

There are many people who actually are more comfortable with the status quo and do not want the practice of education transformed. For these and others, the terms education and innovation are seen as contradictions. They see most schools operating in the same way for decades. It is understandable how innovation is difficult to achieve in a school environment where tradition has prevailed, since change is often looked upon as something that is undesirable. Often, parents want their children to attend schools that are similar to what they were accustomed to when they grew up. Tyack and Cuban (1995) describe this as the "grammar of schooling". The familiar structure reassures parents that it is a "real school" (Tyack and Cuban, 1995). Schools are limited by the context of the schooling organization itself. Consequently, schools are faced with a limitation on how innovative they can become, based in part on the expectations of parents. These traditional notions of schooling are often glorified and defended. This sort of loyalty to a system, which may no longer work for our children, is counterproductive.

This Study

There are, however, an enlightened group of public school educators and leaders who are not afraid of technological innovation and transformation within the system. It was my belief that the experiences of these individuals needed to be documented in a qualitative study. This is what I have done. My research highlights the work of three leaders whose schools have demonstrated technological innovation. Case study was used and is an ideal approach for obtaining information on leaders and their experiences because through interviews, group e-mails, online questionnaires, observation, and archival data, their stories can be told and their goals and outcomes illuminated. This study illuminates the point that a driving force behind innovation is a commitment to a sense of community and a shared vision for all stakeholders, all this fueled by personal passion. Innovation can be looked at as a state of mind rather than a tangible product. For example, school leaders who have strong beliefs and philosophies, which promote creative thinking, community and relationship building, and risk taking are more apt to have schools that are innovative. Traditional schools might have similar hardware and software configurations but that alone is not innovation. Mindsets and pedagogies of the school leaders contribute to the different results in schools. Leaders play a critical role in creating schools that meet the demands of our globally competitive society. It is a leadership challenge that is embraced by the leaders in my study. Therefore, based on these leaders' experiences, schools/districts can foster their leadership qualities by providing a safe environment for all stakeholders, both adults and children, where risk taking is instilled and encouraged, and where mistakes are used for reflection, learning and improvement. Community and relationship building must be highly valued amongst the stakeholders both inside and outside the four walls of the school building. Higher education administration programs can foster these leadership qualities by focusing on coursework which includes an emphasis on risk taking and on the importance of good pedagogy, including the project based approach. Scenario building is a strategy which might be embedded in such leadership coursework. This would give education administration students the ability to collaboratively engage in conversations about problems, various alternatives, and implications.

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