Background information: My wife teaches writing at a college and has a few online classes. She wants to get an ipad or surface pro 3 so she can do her online grading at home. We do have two computers at home but we also have three children under 12. In the past teachers have requested an ipad and the request was approved. There is a new dean and he has not approved an ipad purchase. Also, she has applied to Graduate school and plans on attending in the fall of 2015. It will be a low residency program, and she will only need to visit the campus a few weeks in the summer. She would use the ipad or Surface pro 3 for her schoolwork and also to Skype with her teachers (our home computers do not have a camera). And lastly she co-wrote a textbook that has not yet been published, but they have a custom edition published for teaching their classes. She could also use the ipad or surface pro 3 to do revisions and such for the textbook. We itemize our taxes and usually get a tax refund.

Question: If we purchase an ipad or Surface Pro 3, will we be able to deduct this as an un-reimbursed business expense or continuing education expense?

If the answer is yes, then since we usually get a tax refund, will our refund increase by the total amount of the ipad or surface pro 3 deduction?

Also, would accessories like a case, charger and keyboard be deductible as well, or only the ipad?