iPads for Kindergarteners: AWRSD to employ 250 part-time Kindergarten teachers at a cost of $350 per child per year. That’s really what we’re talking about when the subject of iPads for Kindergarten students comes up.  

An iPad is just an elaborate set of encyclopedias but by including customized educational applications (apps) will have a built-in teacher that “learns” how its user learns and corrects, guides and educates them much like the oft frustrating auto-correct feature on the iPhone “learns” its user and eventually anticipates the text you want. Often this happens without the child ever knowing what hit them because the activity is fun. 

Educators know best how kids learn and what works for teaching tools and in this arena their voices speak the loudest and they are saying “Hell, yeah!” 

The business of developing educational apps (an industry teachers have been participating in) for iPads is growing by leaps and bounds and the opportunity for curriculum support is unparalled.

To my mind, they must also be loaded and programmed for daily use that must, MUST, be supported and required by parents as part of home/school  supplement. 

Parents should demand the iPads be programmed for weekend, vacation and especially summer use to prevent the summer academic backslide that always happens.

In addition, teachers wouldn’t have to spend the first 4-6 weeks of every school year assessing and evaluating the kids in their classroom so they can develop effective lesson plans.  The data dump from their summer iPad activity would tell them where each child is at and the new school year could take off much faster.  

The US rarely breaks the top 25% for education globally and, most people agree, the biggest contributing factor is our 180 day school year (as compared to the 280ish days of some Asian/European and Scandinavian countries). 

It’s almost impossible to introduce the idea of a longer day/year to a child already in school so the best way is to get them started when they don’t know any better.

Add to that the budget increase that would follow any extension that involves real personnel and the change is much harder to implement.

We keep asking the schools to do more with less. We want great teachers ($) smaller class sizes ($), customized teaching($), the latest textbooks ($),  college prep classes ($), etc. Someone was thinking way outside the box and should be commended for bringing this up for discussion.  

Comments by teachers  have been supportive and enthusiastic as they have the best perspective of  the application possibilities. Also, as an additional benefit, I don’t know the numbers but I would bet all of my husband’s baseball cards that this will contribute to a budget reduction in the line item that includes school copiers and paper and that has to be a big number. I’m not kidding. Any parent who has ever volunteered to make copies for any classroom teacher marvels at the amount of paper/copier/repair expense to keep the average book-free (too much $) classroom going.  This could certainly free up money that could be better utilized elsewhere. 

There’s nothing wrong with being an innovative district and I find fault with the argument that “if this was a good idea someone would have thought of it already and be doing it” or “I didn’t need one when I was in school”. 

As parents we want our children to do and have better than we did, even if we did great, right?  Plus there’s the bigger argument.  Jump forward 18 years to college.  Though we lag on a global stage regarding primary education this country has the best colleges in the world. 

The best of the best want to go to school here and they’ll do almost anything for the opportunity. 

Colleges are businesses--they fill their available seats with those who have the ability to pay and who have the best admissions scores (with an ever smaller percentage for scholarships). 

Some college programs are open to the financially gifted and academically challenged but the top schools want the top students because they want top talent. Top talent = top graduates = top alumni = top endowment.   Next year’s US Kindergarten student will be among the US citizen minority percentage in their college class. 

Right now, this year Amherst College in western Mass has the lowest US citizenship rate in its graduating class--less than 25%. Why is that a big deal?  Because the economic wealth and stability of a nation is a direct result of the advanced education of its citizenship.  

Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum in this country we all recognize that the nations that invest in the education of their people are the same ones that are competing with, and besting, the US in the global marketplace. Education is the silver bullet.

Thoughts on the June 2, 2011 iPAD forum at Oakmont

A forum was held at Oakmont last night to discuss the new iPad for Kindergarten/first grade initiative that has been proposed as a pilot program to start school year 2011- 2012.  There were about 30 people in attendance and included parents, faculty and administration.

The storm outside making itself heard inside the auditorium, and at times that was all we could hear, was a perfect metaphorical backdrop.   Though, to be fair, some of the reluctance that was brought into the meeting by parents was the result of a letter that went out to those affected that led them to believe the program was a “done deal” and they felt their views had been ignored.  It was made clear that discussions are ongoing and the final decision has not been made.

I am always surprised when a presentation is made and everyone hears the same words but comes away with a different interpretation.  This is mine:  The proposal is for AWRSD, through creative use of limited tech funds, to provide iPads for use in K and first grades in both schools.  They anticipate using these tools about 20 minutes a day though I personally think that number is probably a little soft as applications increase.  The 2 options to this program are for parents to buy an iPad for their child from an outside source or to lease one of the district owned iPads at $25/month and own it at the end of 2 years.  Either of these latter choices would enable the iPad to travel home with the child otherwise they stay in the classroom.

There were a dozen or so parents, primarily from Ashburnham*, who seemed to object to the iPad program on 3 main issues  1) cost  2) Why Kindergarten 3) the have/have not perception, by peer students,  that might follow iPad ownership.  For the most part everyone agreed that the student benefits from what technology has to offer are undisputed.  There was, at least, one parent who works very hard to minimize the intrusion of tech/media into her home and seemed to object more on that basis.

The Cost Argument – that pretty much sums it up.  Yes, it is $650 with insurance over 2 years and that is a bite that can be a hardship for some families in this particular economy.  As was pointed out, there is nothing stopping those parents that are so inclined to purchase one on their own from an outside source to enable their child to participate in school use.   Personally, I could justify the expense of $1/day for an iPad that includes an e-reader component given what I spent on books and supporting materials at this age.

The insurance is not wall-to-wall.  It’s not going to cover the iPad being used as a flotation device, a hammer or from theft.  The parent/child assuming possession is assuming the risk.  One parent projected a scenario where bullying or theft could occur on the school bus because  it’s a minimally supervised environment, which is true, and if there’s more supervision needed on that bus that is a separate issue and a monitor may need to be utilized.  Her question was “Who is responsible if my child’s iPad is stolen on the bus or my child is bullied because of it?”  I’m pretty sure the answer would be the same if a child’s prescription eyeglasses were stolen on the bus, the parents of the transgressor are responsible.   As we know, many kids manage to transport phones, DS systems and iPods every day--some of them that young.  It would seem appropriate to continue brainstorming the financial issue.  Maybe an extended lease term to reduce payments, a trade-in value at the end of the lease (people buy refurbished all the time and the incoming or older students may have need for one or a program to pay it forward at a reduced cost to the new user), PTO funds to subsidize costs, scholarship awards etc.   The reality is that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is moving the schools toward the One-to-One initiative and will be mandating a ratio of one computer per child in public schools.   You can be sure it will be an unfunded mandate which means it will be have to be included in the budget.  Parents/homeowners will pay one way or another.

Why Kindergarten? – Why not?  They have no school habits yet--good or bad. It’s the perfect opportunity to engage children on this front using the same arguments used to engage them in reading, cooperative play, socialization, relationship building, motor skill development.  These skills, and many others, are all introduced at pace and in balance and it’s the perfect time to recognize and develop the habit of computer use as a small part of their day and demystify it as an adult/big kid plaything that sometimes get way too much of our attention.

To a child, computer use is like candy.  The desire for it increases with the more restrictions that are applied to it when really it’s balance with education that most people will find work for them.  Wouldn’t it be a great thing to get them in the habit of putting computer use into perspective with their WHOLE active life, something none of us had guidance or education on when computers were thrust on us as consumers.  Wouldn’t this generation be a great opportunity to instill a habit of 1 minute of aerobic/active exercise for every 1 minute of computer time? The earlier that habit can be developed the better and the best way is by school and parental reinforcement.  It’s an unusual child that would choose a computer over a fun filled activity involving their peers and it turns out educators are terrific at making learning look like a fun-filled activity.  Then there is the educational argument--that the personalization and customization of computer use is limitless.  The iPad retains user memory and can be loaded with specialized applications to help those kids who are advancing or struggling to grasp particular concepts and can certainly provide additional classroom support to those kids who have more therapeutic needs.  And it’s a great equalizer in that case--regardless of learning level or needs.  No kids have to go out into the hallway or another classroom for specialized instruction.  When they are all on the computer they perceive each other as all working at the same level.   My preference would be to load the iPad with 260-280 days of instructional activity so that over the course of the summer students don’t backslide and that teachers can access stored data to evaluate their new students instead of the 4-6 weeks it usually takes to evaluate and assess 25 unfamiliar students, much like the argument that was made for “Looping” - that kids and teachers would benefit from the familiarity.

*Ashburnham parents being noteworthy on this issue because J.R. Briggs has a technology lab that K/1 has easy access to and Meetinghouse School does not so there was a perception that that was what was motivating this program and it was suggested that they needed to invest in one on their own.  While that may be a small part of the desire for this program it is not what influenced its conception.   The present and future of technology is wireless and mobile and any investment by any school district on a tech lab is money ill spent.

The Have/Have Not Argument – Perception is reality.  I get it.  Some of them have iPhones, some have Uggs boots, some have new cleats, some went to baseball camp, some went to the Bruins game.   When a child makes those kinds of comparisons they’ve learned that behavior and have accepted that they are less than if they don’t have _____.   That’s a teachable moment it ever there was one. And if someone has the cure for that particular communicable disease, please share it with as many of your peers as possible.  There was a whiff of that infection at the meeting last night.  If it were me, I’d probably be saying something like “I want to see how much you like it or how responsible you are about your other tools before making the investment”  which has the added benefit of being true.

Some parents suggested having only a few and setting up “tech stations” within the classroom for the school year as a pilot program and then reevaluating.  Sadly, staff and faculty are already stretched too thin and prohibit specialized “stations” in the classroom since at this age all “stations” have to be supervised or monitored.   I don’t think anyone really believes this kind of program wouldn’t prove beneficial and was offered as a compromise to delay 100% classroom participation.

At the end of the meeting there was a parent who made a very eloquent plea for moderation and further discussion. It’s also a good time for creative thinkers to stand up and see if there is a way for all of us to come from a place of “yes”.