The race to be the go-to technology in your classroom is more than heating up. It’s on fire. Like, someone grab a fire extinguisher because the race is ablaze. The two biggest contestants in this race are, not surprisingly, products from Apple and Google.

Both Apple and Google are in a high-stakes race to own the education ecosystem. They’re going about it in different ways but their goals are the same: to have their products used by the next generation.

Apple wants to basically lock new users (e.g. schools, districts, states, countries, etc.) into the Apple ecosystem by offering high-quality hardware and apps.

Google is more intent on offering low-cost hardware (they don’t even make most of it) and instead focusing on the software side. They want to offer free enterprise-quality web tools and apps that are incredibly effective. For some reason, neither company offers the ‘perfect’ option but they are offering some great products.

See Also: Can you run a classroom with an iPad?

When I say ‘products’ what I mean is hardware. Let’s examine the most popular education technology tools in classrooms today. The Apple iPad and the Google Chromebook. The former offers reliability, ease of use, and mobility. The latter offers a cost-effective way to use Google (and other) software. So, really, the biggest differece for most schools at this point is the price tag.

But is it more than the price difference? There’s a great discussion video from Lesson Planet that dives into the many things you should consider when trying to choose between iPads and Chromebooks in the classroom.

See Also: The beginner’s guide to Chromebooks in the classroom

Watch the video if you’re making this tough decision right now. Heck, just watch the video to be a more informed consumer – it’s quite good. Enjoy!

So which would you choose if you ran a school district? If you ran a country? Weigh in by mentioning @DailyGenius on Twitter sometime!