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| iPads Blooming Prairie High School has just gotten an upgrade. They have new iPads that the teachers and students will get to use. The principal, student, and teachers will tell us how they like the iPads. Junior, Zach Renyolds said how excited he was when he learned everyone was getting iPads. “At first I didn’t like the idea because I was so use to pencil and paper. I didn’t want to deal with the technology part because I’m not use to all the new technology these days. Technology and I don’t work well together.” “I like the iPads because they cut down on paper. They also don’t make you run around the school to use a computer. It is right there in front of you. You can also access homework anywhere. My favorite thing about the iPads is that you don’t have to use or take home textbooks. They are all on the iPads. iPads make a book bag a lot lighter when you don’t have 6 textbooks to take home.” “ Also I think it is a good idea to stay with the iPads because they are easy to take care of than a bunch of papers and textbooks. The technology part isn’t as complexed as I thought it would be. And it is good to stay with technology.” The teacher interviewed is Mr. Bruns, and how he liked the new iPads. “When I finally knew we were getting iPads I was excited for the opportunity to use them in all my classes. I was also excited for the challenges of the iPads. So far in school I like the iPads because they have helped students by letting them have technology that they didn’t have before. I like how we are saving a lot of paper with the new iPads.” “ My favorite thing to use is Edmodo app. It is easy for the teachers to post assignments. The students also have an easy way to ask a teacher for help outside of school. The last question on this interview was; should we keep the iPads or go back to paper and pencil? “We should keep using iPads because of the time and investment. The technology will improve and we should stay with the new technology.” Mr. Olson is the principle of the High School, who wouldn’t want to know the reasons we got the iPads this year. “Getting the iPads was the Board and my decision. We decided that it is the current trend, and that the technology is changing all the time. We want to stay with the trend for students to get better jobs and also for new learning ways. We didn’t want to be one of the last schools to get it.” Why are we getting the iPads now and not earlier in the years? “It was matter of finding the right technology for our students and staff. The technology with the iPads is changing all the time and we felt like the iPad 2s were the technology we needed. The financial part was there for us also to afford them all.” How did we get the iPads? “Process of what we needed for the building to be up to date with what the iPads needed to work all around school. Again with the infrastructure. We also need to see the cost of the iPad cases, and the cost of teaching and how to use it. We also used a saving account called capital outlay reserve for our money. We used this to get the iPads instead of going into the general funds which we get from government. We’re hoping to save 20,000 to 30,000 dollars a year in textbooks. Also 10,000 dollars in printing per year. That will help put money towards the iPads on this 3 year lease we have.” What is your favorite thing about the iPad? “Personally I haven’t used the iPads as much as I should. I have a laptop, iPod, and a smart phone. I’m learning to use the iPads but the part I really like it how big the screen is. Makes it easier for me to read and see. But it’s hard to use the iPad because I am busy a lot. My family uses them tremendously. I use the iPad in meetings to take notes to save on paper, but I have my phone on me all the time which is an iPhone.” The last question: Why didn’t the elementary get iPads or even just 6th graders? “The Board wanted them in the high school. We have a 3 year lease but we might get iPads down there sooner than 3 years. If we can prove that the iPads make education better or even easier than we will definitely put iPads in the elementary. But it also cost $100,000 each year. That is the difficult part of the iPads. That is all sorts of points of why the iPads are helping students, staff, and even the principal and how they are great for our school. |
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