Reddit[0] attributes this largely to Chromebooks snatching up most of the K-12 education market from iPads, with Google vaulting ahead while Apple was under-prioritizing that market.
Motivations school districts might have for switching: (1) Cheaper, (2) Keyboards are nice for typing, (3), More resilient over time due to easy software updates, and (4) Easier to debug (similar to prior point; nothing is stored locally, so a 3 minute re-image fixes most software problems)
In addition, folks in that thread think that tablets are generally the worst of both worlds as compared to laptops and phones (phablets?), whereas Chromebook are everything that tablets should be.
I have sadly been witnessing my local school investing heavily in iPads and arguing against it. I think iPads are not only not terribly useful for education, but I think for certain kinds of education they actively inhibit it. Especially the most relevant skills of the future - complex manipulation of knowledge and information (software programming being one but just one example). It is no coincidence: the very thing people like about iPads is that they are explicitly designed to reduce cognitive load by simplifying the entire interface. That reduced load is great when you are kicking back on the couch, but it's essential when you are trying to accomplish something complicated. It doesn't help that they are wasting huge amounts of money (if you are going to buy a tablet for children to stab their fingers at and play games on, at least get a cheap one for half the price of an iPad).
Yes, of course. The poster is sharing information that shaped their opinion. The location is irrelevant.
In such an informal setting, the quality and worth of the source are up to the consumer; particularly when it is such a simple investigation. Do you trust or distrust the source? That belief guides your consumption of the poster's opinion.
Don't think of it as being an authoritative source. "While we're having this discussion over here, another group had a similar discussion and reached these conclusions" is valuable input just the same
Motivations school districts might have for switching: (1) Cheaper, (2) Keyboards are nice for typing, (3), More resilient over time due to easy software updates, and (4) Easier to debug (similar to prior point; nothing is stored locally, so a 3 minute re-image fixes most software problems)
In addition, folks in that thread think that tablets are generally the worst of both worlds as compared to laptops and phones (phablets?), whereas Chromebook are everything that tablets should be.
[0] https://www.reddit.com/r/gadgets/comments/4k234g/chromebooks...