Ramsey School's iPad Initiative 'Going Well' After First Week

The first week of the Ramsey School’s iPad initiative is “going really well,” district Director of Curriculum Dr. Richard Weiner, said at a Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. 240 iPads were handed out to Smith School eighth graders last Monday, and the school’s teachers and students have been incorporating the mobile technologies into their everyday operations.

“The students are very excited, and they're being very responsible,” Weiner said Tuesday, while giving the board examples of ways the students and teachers have started to use the devices.

“Many eighth graders have already abandoned their paper notebooks,” and are using the iPads to take notes, complete assignments and electronically submit them to teachers, and download textbook material, Weiner said.

Teachers have also started incorporating the iPads into their lesson plans. For example, using the “Edu-Creations” app, which allows teachers to upload lessons, complete with their own voice overs, visuals, maps, charts and simulated chalkboard writing to highlight notes.

So far, Weiner said he’s heard feedback that teachers are using the app both as a take-home resource for students, and an in-class tool when they are absent.

Teachers have been assigning listening to the “Edu-Creation” lessons for homework, and then discussing the lessons in class.

Weiner said students are liking the method because it allows them to re-listen to difficult aspects of the lessons, and gives students “more control and ownership” over the learning process.

“This is a pilot program,” Weiner reminded the board, “But it’s off to a great start.”

The iPads, which were paid for through a combination of grant money, donations from organizations like the Ramsey Adult School and the district's technology funds, were tested last year and have safety precautions built in, district officials said. For example, the cameras on the devices have been disabled.

Board members and Smith Middle School principal Stacie Poelstra Tuesday spoke highly of the process so far, saying it’s a “great initiative.”

According to Weiner, the iPad roll out to the eighth grade class might just be the beginning. He has assembled a 39-member Mobile Technology Research Committee made up of Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers.

Each has been given an iPad and is tasked with looking into programs offered on the iPad and how they could contribute to K-12 educational goals. The iPads, and ongoing professional development for the research, have been paid for with grant money, Weiner said.

Weiner said he hopes to implement a district-wide mobile technology program as early as three years from now.

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