School district approves first iPad purchase
The iPads are coming. Well, at least some of them. The Farmington School Board voted unanimously Monday to spend $303,684 on a three-year lease for 630 iPad 2s, eight classroom carts and software to outfit all of the district’s teachers over the summer. It is the first step in a process that could eventually put one of the popular tablet computers in the hands of every student in the district.By: Nathan Hansen, The Farmington Independent
The iPads are coming.
Well, at least some of them.
The Farmington School Board voted unanimously Monday to spend $303,684 on a three-year lease for 630 iPad 2s, eight classroom carts and software to outfit all of the district’s teachers over the summer. It is the first step in a process that could eventually put one of the popular tablet computers in the hands of every student in the district.
Superintendent Jay Haugen laid out a familiar timeline for the implementation at Monday night’s meeting. First, teachers get the iPads and familiarize themselves with the devices and the ways they can be used in the classroom. Then, next fall, a few early-adopting classrooms get iPads for all students. Once those students are up and running, the program spreads, eventually reaching districtwide.
The district’s original timeline put iPads in every student’s hands by the end of the 2012-13 school year, but Haugen moderated that plan at least a little bit Monday, perhaps in response to concerns among some board members that the timeline was too aggressive. Under the plan described this week the district could still move quickly, but Haugen promised the process would not move forward until the district was ready for each step.
“There won’t be a next step until we’re confident we’re able to do it well,” Haugen said. “If it takes longer … it’s just fine. It’s not a failing. If it takes a couple of years, that’s OK.”
Haugen has said the iPads are a vital piece of a larger plan to customize learning for each student in the district.
The plan got some support Monday from Lynda Ihlan, the president of the district’s teacher’s union. Ihlan has been working with the district technology committee to learn about the opportunities iPads create. While she admits to a lack of tech savvy, Ihlan likes what she has seen.
“I am excited that I can have iPads in my classroom,” she said.
If the district ends up buying iPads for all students next year the total program would cost an estimated $883,000.
Tags: school district 192, news, farmington, education
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