About the iPad Initiative

Why the iPad?

• Mobility—light, compact and with a long battery life
• Convenience
• Unobtrusiveness
• Individualization and personalization
• Reasonable cost (compared to laptop)
• Ease of use—intuitive
• Creativity
• Collaboration
• Hands-on learning
• Ownership and responsibility
• Organization
• One tool, fewer steps
• Multi-modal—helps students with different learning styles, connects skills
• Shows real-world relevance of all disciplines

What can the iPad do?

• Organizer and scheduler: organize class materials, homework assignments, athletic schedules and visits to Math Lab and Writing Lab
• Reader: read The Great Gatsby, highlight, annotate and post questions to classmates
• Note taking: take a picture of the board, add notes, highlight main points, record the teacher's lecture and send to sick friend at home
• Research: search the web and find appropriate sources (books, databases, journal articles, web sites) for a US History project, collect and organize sources, maintain a running bibliography and share with a teacher
• Presentation: create an iMovie with two classmates, insert it into a presentation, share it with classmates, and wirelessly project it onto the Smartboard
• Project creator: video a project partner kicking a soccer ball to her teacher, plot the trajectory of the ball, graph the results, share with classmates to help explain the laws of physics
• Textbook: access text and other media at any time and reduce the weight of a backpack
• Student Response System: provide teachers with instant feedback and respond even when speaking up in class is difficult

How have students responded to classroom iPad use?

• "I like how we use technology in class. It puts things in a new perspective and makes you think differently."
• "I feel that the iPad projects were very helpful, as I enjoy the hands on projects and feel like I can dig deeper when doing those types of projects."
• "I really enjoy working on the iPads and creating visual projects that are hands on. It helps me understand and analyze the material better."
• "I like taking notes on the iPads because it is easier to organize and more efficient."
• "The project on the iPad helped me to learn how to organize my thoughts in a clear way - which helped me later organize my thoughts in an essay - and it was fun to have to be creative and use general themes for this project while still practicing how to write a strong thesis."
• "The iPads are fun and they reinforce what we are learning. I think it's a good tool because I'm learning how to use the technology while also helping myself with what we are learning."