Schools

RVC BOE Roundup: iPads in the Classroom?

Trustees discuss the idea and hope to implement it by next fall.

Administrators in the Rockville Centre school district say they'd like to implement the use of iPads — the handheld tablet computer designed by Apple — in the classroom for teachers and students by the fall of 2011.

Chris Pellettieri, assistant superintendent of curriculum, explained that the district hopes to purchase about 550, 32-gigabyte iPad 2's for teachers and students at all learning levels by this fall. He added that Apple offers a small discount for educators who purchase the tablets, and if they're bought through Nassau County BOCES, the district could save as much as half on the total cost. The total value of the iPad purchase would be around $350,000, he said, but the cost to the district would be in the range of $175,000 to $200,000.

Pellettieri said by purchasing the tablets, it would not only expand how lessons are taught and how students can learn — pointing to numerous free, downloadable teaching applications available — he said the district could save money in a variety of ways. Paper costs, along with copying and printing expenses, buying textbooks and graphic calculators, he explained, would all be reduced.

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The district would control what is downloaded on the iPad — as it does with its laptops in the district — and would have a firewall set up to prohibit students from visiting inappropriate sites, Pellettieri said. Students would not be allowed to take the iPad home, he added, and there is a tracking mechanism in the tablet that can be used to locate them if they are misplaced.

Superintendent of schools, Dr. William Johnson, said that the school will still use desktops and laptops, in addition to the iPads, but "the balance will change dramatically," he said.

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The iPads would not be assigned to particular students, Pellettieri added, but used in the same context as laptops in the computer labs.


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