September 20, 2011 – First, it was just an idea. Now, about three years later, more than 200 students in the Stillwater Central Schools are using iPads on a daily basis.
The one-to-one iPad program, which was piloted beginning with one classroom during the 2010-11 school year, has now grown to include every student in the fifth- and sixth-grade classrooms in the district.
“If we’re preparing students for the workforce, they must be computer-savvy,” said Stillwater Elementary School Principal John Goralski. “The first thing the majority of people do when they get to work in the morning is turn on a computer.”
The district’s educators see iPads as much more than a gadget. While using them has improved student interest in lessons and attendance in some cases, they believe they are a “tool for student engagement,” said Middle School Principal Patti Morris. “If we’re preparing students for college and careers… this is what they’ll be using.”
Students are using the iPads throughout the day and in a range subjects from math, to social studies to English Language Arts. For example, during the first week of school, fifth graders used them to create personalized presentations that their parents could watch when they sat down at their child’s desk at Open House.
Daily use of the iPads varies depending on day, topic and goal of any given lesson. The iPads, educators say, helps the students gather the information, and then the teachers’ instruction helps students analyze and synthesize the information. It can lend itself to project-based learning as well, because students can use applications on the iPads to create a project.
The iPad program has been funded primarily through the district’s regular budget, although the Stillwater Education Foundation has awarded grants for some of the iPads in the lower grades.
Before piloting iPads, the district piloted mini laptops, called NetBooks, for a year. However, troubles charging them and bugs made them fairly unappealing to use. And a regular laptop, or NetBook, only gives students access to the Internet, and standard computer programs.
One of the draws of the iPad are the applications, called “apps,” which are computer software programs designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. For example, students may use an app to help them learn vocabulary, see interactive versions of the solar system or create a presentation.
“I think the iPads help students develop a lot of different skills at a young age,” said Geoff Bizan, a fifth-grade teacher in Stillwater, who piloted the iPads in his classroom before all fifth and sixth graders got them this year. “It also keeps their attention and they want to learn more.”
Right now, students are only using the iPads during school, and all students have signed an acceptable use policy that has been in place for all of the district’s technology, including computer labs.
They build independence, higher-order thinking, technology skills, and creativity – qualities that are essential at school and later, at work.
And in addition to fifth and sixth graders, all special education classrooms have a set of iPads. Some classrooms in the lower elementary grades have iPads that they are able to use as well, although at a one-to-one ratio.
“I think of iPads as a collection of educational resources: internet, word processing, research, educational applications, audio and visual media tools,” said sixth-grade teacher Stephanie Buyce. “They are motivational- kids work harder, get more done, and we can often track progress immediately.”
Administrators are monitoring the expansion of iPad use, ensuring that students are getting the most out of the tool as well. “It’s really just like a textbook,” Goralski said. “A textbook that gives you access to the world.”
