NRHEG School Board

By REED WALLER

Staff Writer

A proposal for a “1:1 iPad Initiative” engendered lively discussion at the March meeting of the NRHEG School Board last Monday.

“With $5,000 technology grant money from HickoryTech and $5,000 return from the Panther Card,” declared Supt. Kevin Wellen, “we are halfway toward another class of iPads.”

The goal is to supply an iPad to each student, which would make the education process mobile and close to paperless, and would make current technology available for student use.

The iPad would be the student’s companion for the school year, would go home with him/her every night, and would host his/her daily work, projects and materials.

The NRHEG Technology Committee and staff have visited with other school districts doing similar programs, and did a site visit to Heritage Middle School in West St. Paul, which is doing a 1:1 program with iPads for grades 5-8.

The Committee found that all districts preferred the iPad over the tablet, unless the iPad’s price tag (approx. $100 higher) put it out of their budget range.

Initially, the district would purchase enough iPads for two grade levels, and follow up by purchasing for another grade or two each year, to keep up with the advancing students.

Why?

“This is what they’re used to,” said board member John Harrington. “Their phones are computers, they’re at home with these devices.”

With an iPad replacing a share of their textbooks, reference books, notebooks and labs, students would be interacting directly with the modern world the way they will need to be doing when they leave school.

“They don’t have to learn a particular teaching style,” Harrington said.

iPad based learning can be integrated with the Lexia Reading Program and with JMC student record management, and Apple is currently working on integration with MCA and NWEA testing.

Cost savings in labs and paper would be considerable. Daily planners would be obsolete.

Advantages to students

Student feedback has included comments like “I can finally get organized,” and “I can do projects I never could have attempted before.” The instant access to interactive reference and tutorial material, search capabilities, and reduced dependence on cumbersome and frequently outdated textbooks and reference materials is only part of it. The other part is the increased efficiency of working paperless, not having to physically collect and organize notes and materials.

Research materials or purchased apps could be downloaded to the student’s home computer, or vice versa. 

But it won’t be necessary for students to have computer or Internet access at home, with their ability to download all they need during the school day.

Starting out

The initial cost would be for two grade levels of iPads, approximately 150, and would depend on the model of iPad selected.

Current prices are:

iPad 2 16GB @ $379 $56,850

New iPad 16GB @ $479 $71,850

New iPad 32GB @$579 $86,850

Add 150 cases @ $30, 150 basic sets of apps @ $30, and development costs of $4,500 (which could be shared with other districts), and the totals are:

iPad 2 16GB $70,350

New iPad 16GB $85,350

New iPad 32GB           $100,350

Wellen told the board that the New 16GB iPad is probably adequate for the district’s needs.

“The additional 16GB (in the 32GB iPad) is advanced graphics support,” he explained. “We may not need that.”

Apple’s free synching software will synch up to 200 iPads.

Issues

After the initial investment, each subsequent year the district will add another grade level or two.

“So this will be an annual expense of between $20,000 and $30,000?” asked board member Lis Kormann.

“Yes,” Wellen answered, “Just like textbooks.”

“But what is the life of the technology?” asked board chair Rick Schultz. “How long before they need to be replaced?”

“Apple says two years,” said Wellen.

“That’s a lot shorter than a textbook,” Schultz remarked.

Harrington pointed out that Encyclopedia Britannica will no longer be available in printed form, and others may soon follow.

Wellen told the board that apps for textbook authoring have started a trend whereby digital textbooks can now be created by collaboration and shared. Textbooks are available for download at an annual fee.

“Who knows what we will save just in paper costs?” Wellen said. “Lessons could be e-mailed.”

“Students are going to be taking these things home,” a member said. “What about damage?” 

Wellen laughed. “How many kids do you know,” he asked, “who, in two years, have broken their phone? They take care of them.”

Wellen suggested that a $40 to $50 annual technology charge might be the answer to some concerns. In addition, an insurance plan could be made available so that students wouldn’t be faced with more than $50 to replace their iPad if it becomes damaged.

“What if a student’s parents won’t commit?” asked Harrington.

“Then they can’t take the iPad home,” Wellen suggested. “They’ll have to come in before or after school to do the work.”

Each student would have an individual account with the district, wherein charges and download fees would be tracked. The student would own the apps he/she downloaded, while the district would own the apps loaded by the school.

“What if a student has their own iPad at home?” asked Kormann. “Would they be able to use that?”

No one was certain. “There’d be some hoops to jump through,” Wellen offered.

“What do we do when the grant money is spent?” it was asked.

“We have to look into the future,” said Wellen. “We need to have the fees, and to make sure there’s a little bite if they should abuse (the iPads).”

No action was taken at the meeting.

“All I need from you tonight,” said Wellen, “is to find out if this proposal is an absolute ‘no.’ If so, we’ll stop now.”

No board members expressed any opposition to continuing the discussion.

“We built this fund balance and we can afford to do this,” said Wellen. “If you’re not comfortable, let’s keep doing it one classroom at a time.”

“But if our test scores start skyrocketing, and this is why,” he added, “you can believe I’m going to be coming to you and saying we need more than just one grade level a year.”