I *KNOW* kids who use iPads do better and learn faster. My 6 year old is considered to be 2-3 years ahead of the rest of his year on both reading and writing. I can attribute a lot of that to him using an iPad at home. He taught himself to search for whatever he wanted. At the start he would enter 60 character search terms into Google with no spaces between words. Amazingly it always found what he was looking for. Gradually his spelling and ability to write coherent sentences with properly spaced words has come on by leaps and bounds. My 4 year old is, if anything, ahead of him. They both have the incentive to read and write because they immediately find out about anything that piques their curiosity. I feel sorry for kids who don’t use one. It is no coincidence that East Asian countries have the world’s best education these days. Places like Korea have already replaced text books with tablets. And it’s having a big effect already.
As for limiting the use of such technology, yes, it should be limited. We don’t like our kids to use them more than about 2 hours a day. They get plenty of benefit from that, and they also have plenty of time for a more traditional life. 

Robert is absolutely right. Kids do learn better. My oldest (now 23) received a V-tech when he was 6 for reading and math skills — old technology by today’s standards. In first grade, our son was reading at the 8th grade level. I

I’ll play the devil’s advocate for a moment. It’s great if technologies such as the iPad are helping children increase their reading and math aptitude. But who’s teaching kids about respect? Who’s teaching kids about teamwork? Who’s teaching kids about “life laws” such as the Law of Cause and Effect? With the latest bullying incident of a 68-year-old grandmother, perhaps, technology is helping kids to ‘emotionally detach’ from the ‘real world.’ If parents don’t teach their children right from wrong, how to respect themselves which will lead kids to respect others, and other soft skills, how will kids survive in the ‘real world when they reach adulthood? What will happen to our society? What will happen to the U.S.? Why are some parents relying on technology and teachers (for that matter) to teach their kids EVERYTHING? Where has the responsibility of the “parent” gone? If people have no desire to raise children, if people have no desire to be responsible or be held responsible for the upbringing and education of children, they don’t have to have them. It’s not fair to children, and it’s certainly not fair to society who pays for it one way or another.

iPads open up a whole new world of opportunities for fun and exciting learning. Enjoying HOW you learn is the first and most important step. The iPad will give you that boost!

How we educate young minds is very important. Providing them with a mix is the key. Technology plays a very important role. Schools are investigating how they can engage students. Technology seems to be that tool that has been always been inserted into the conversation. However the most important component of this experience will be the applications (or apps) and what adults do with students while they are using these tools. Learning is NOT passive. 

http://www.appsineducation.com

We must keep in mind that correlation does NOT indicate causality. It may be that kids who use tablets score better on reading skills because those parents are promoting a reading environment in MANY ways, not just by tablet use. And those other ways of promoting reading – access to books in their home, trips to libraries, encouragement and praise when kids read alone, reading WITH our kids – all these contribute MUCH more than technology. Be careful to keep building PERSONAL CONNECTION with your kids. Technology will often usurp that if we aren’t very diligent about it. I used to let my kids play video games only 1 hour per day. They said “Dad, we have games that the levels are so long they can’t be completed in 1 hour! So we must start over each day and we will NEVER get past those levels”. Should I cave and allow more than 1 hour per day? NO! I used that as a lesson opportunity in financial matters as well – I taught them to “Save Up” for 2-4 days, play NO video games the 1st few and then they would have enough hours to complete any level they needed. It worked. :)

Great advice. I like it.