Students Trade Book Bags for iPads

Being a student at school is going to get easier this fall.

That's because every middle school-age student will be toting an iPad instead of worksheets and planners.

The school plans on leasing 52 iPads for three years.  That comes at a price tag of $8,000 each year, but the device will knock a few items off the annual supply list, offsetting the yearly $100 fee each middle school student is charged for things like graphic calculators and planners.

“We will not have assignment notebooks on our supply list,” said Sharon Webster, the technology coordinator and algebra teacher at the school.  “Instead teachers will post assignments online.  They’ll also no longer have graphing calculators on their list."

And that simplification extends beyond doing homework. St. Eugene's computer lab regularly faces a packed schedule. So instead of opening another computer lab, equipping kids with iPads is a more cost-effective approach.

Students can create presentations and do research on their personal iPad without a trip to the computer lab.  They can even take the devices home to continue working, an option students didn't have before because of the labs lack of mobility.

“We had a parent meeting and talked about everything,” said the school’s principal, Rebecca Jones.  “Eventually, this will be a cost saver.”

Totaling $24,000 over three years, Jones says the money for purchasing the iPads is coming from the parish, the school’s capital campaign budget and the $100 technology fee each student is charged. Even the pastor at St. Eugene church will be handing out pamphlets explaining the usefulness of iPads. Jones hopes it will attract some parishioners looking to donate.

Without any hesitation or concerns from parents about the $100 technology fee, the school board moved forward, approving the iPad lease.

“The process has actually been really quick,” Jones said.  “The idea came up in December at a school board meeting, and it wasn’t until January that we put the committee together.  We pretty much decided we wanted to go ahead with it in late March.”

Right after spring break, two lucky students got to try out the new devices.  Seventh-graders Joe Hudak and Mac Wolfe each worked with Webster, testing how the devices operated and fixing some technical glitches along the way.

“They gave me, and other teachers, some really valuable feedback,” Webster said.  “There are tons of note taking software out there, so I keep making them try new ones.  They’re going to be the users, so it’s really helpful and it makes us more prepared.”

While teachers and administrators are evaluating the feedback to prepare for the full release in fall, the two students admit it has been a pretty good time.

“It’s really fun because I don’t have to carry around as many books as I used to,” Wolfe said. “I can do most of my work on this, like taking notes, but it’s much different than typing on a keyboard.”

The other student testing the devices agreed, but said typing on the iPad was an improvement over traditional note-taking methods.

“I actually think it’s easier to take notes on it than writing or using a keyboard,” said Hudak.  “I mean, you get used to it quick, and it's way faster.”

Between typing up an example sentence and pulling up their homework schedules, the two boys agree that they love the technological improvements.

“We type our language arts stories on them,” Wolfe said. “We did a few homework assignments on them, too.  Mrs. Webster would email them to us, so we’d click on them and it would automatically open in an app.”

Although students are buzzing about when their turn will come, currently only students in the sixth, seventh and eighth grades get to use the iPads. 

"It’s all about simplification and being more organized," Webster said.