Using the iPad to take notes is fine. That’s not the issue. The issue is schools using them as educational tools to replace textbooks.
Kids know these items as toys for playing games, accessing the Internet, email, Facebok, Twitter and the like. The mindset is already there and trying to convert that mindset to use the device as an educational tool wil be an uphil climb.
In the long run, I think it is a diservice to the kids and serves as a distraction from the learning environment.
I understand what you are saying and do agree with you about districts using them as a replacement for textbooks. Nor should they be provided by the schools.
Where I disagree with you is what I perceive as a broadbrush condemnation that all kids see them only as toys/entertainment. Today’s kids have been exposed to them in a learning environment for nearly as long as they’ve been in school, even when they don’t have access in the home.