Ramsey Set To Roll Out iPads To Middle Schoolers Next Month

The Ramsey School District is preparing to hand out iPads to every student in the eighth grade. The “iPad Initiative” is set to kick off this October, district officials say.

The initiative was tested last year and will be a pilot program this year. All eighth grade teachers have already gotten the devices, and students will receive them next month. The idea is to give the tablets to students to use as “personal devices” that can enhance the learning experience for students both in the classroom and while working on homework at home, school officials said.

“We are using mobile technology on a daily basis,” Smith Middle School principal Stacie Poelstra said. “We need to figure out, what are the best apps for our kids? How can they use the technology?”

New District Curriculum Director Dr. Richard Weiner said the iPads will help prepare students for a changing workplace. “Ramsey is one of a core group of districts that are leading the way in [using mobile technology in the classroom],” he said. “The Apple Corporation is consulting with us to determine the educational potential.”

A committee of teachers and administrators in the district have already “done a ton of background work on the infrastructure,” Poelstra said. The iPads will be connected to a web filter compatible with the one being used on district computers, and the cameras on the devices will be (at least initially) disabled. “We are keeping all of the safety issues in mind,” she said.

The iPads are meant to augment and add to the current curriculum, not replace it, she said. While students may be handing in papers on the iPad, using the Dictionary.com or graphing calculator apps, “we are not fully taking away the pen and paper.”

The iPads, which were paid for through a combination of grant money and donations from organizations like the Ramsey Adult School, will be under scrutiny by district teachers and administrators this year. “The teachers are integral to this process – trying new apps, investigating the best ways to use [the iPads]”, Poelstra said. “They have already done so much, and we know we will learn a lot in the course of this year that will help us determine how to proceed in the future.”

According to district officials, the potential for iPads in the future of the district is big. In a few years, iPads could be a part of the curriculum for all older kids in the district, and may reduce the number of computers Ramsey schools need to purchase, officials said.

The iPad Initiative is part of an “evolving curriculum” meant to help prepare kids for the future, Weiner said. “We have to teach our kids critical thinking, problem solving, and all of the skills we’ve always taught them, while being able to incorporate the use of technology,” he said. “That’s what they are going to need in the workplace, and we need to start developing those skills here.”

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