iPads at high school to help diversify learning,
teach responsibility
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Presque Isle High School students are getting acquainted with new iPads this week and will soon be taking them home — if their parents let them.
Ben Greenlaw, PIHS principal, hopes that parents won’t be frightened by the prospect of the Apple devices coming home for students to complete assignments, watch presentations and maybe play a video game.
The iPad is “a tool that will help student engagement and provide unique learning opportunities,” said Greenlaw, who’s now in his second year as principal and sixth year at the high school
All 568 PIHS students have been assigned an iPad, joining as estimated 40,000 K-12 Maine students from Houlton to Boothbay using the tablet computers.
It was a good year to start, Greenlaw said. There were district funds available to purchase the iPads and “the long range plan is to go 1-to-1 across the district,” Greenlaw said, noting that seventh- and eighth-graders currently have them.
During the first two weeks the iPads will remain at school, while parents decide whether to let their students take them home. Parents have to pay a $25 fee for students to take them home and promise to meet a $100 deductible to fix any damage that occurs.
How many benefits the iPads bring depends on teachers, parents and of course students. “It’s a huge shift,” Greenlaw acknowledged.
In some ways it will be an education experiment, with teachers being given flexibility to incorporate video, visuals or assignments using the devices.
One potential benefit is to help teachers best direct their energy, Greenlaw said.
“We’ve got some teachers who are tech wizzes and want to try to do the latest, and others that are a little more leery. We just kind of said, ‘Start where you are and be willing to try things and then grow off as you gain confidence,’” Greenlaw said.
“Some students might be pretty advanced in what they’re learning; some might need a little more support. It’ll be easier for a teacher to differentiate.”
Teachers can give those who are ahead of the lesson extra videos to watch or advanced reading, while they prioritize 1-to-1 learning with certain students. “Or vice versa, a student who is further behind could have access to information that they wouldn’t have normally that’s maybe a little more engaging.”
In physical education, students can use an iPad app to rate their golf swing, for instance, or track their daily exercise and activity, Greenlaw said.
There are worries about students using iPads to do things they’re not supposed to be doing, from watching inappropriate movies to bullying.
“I am concerned. It’s going to bring up some issues that we haven’t dealt with,” Greenlaw said. “We have to teach them to use it responsibly, and deal with the students who don’t meet our expectations.”
Students will be able to email each other and take photos and video with the iPad cameras, but social media use will be blocked.
They can use the devices to play games on their own time or read and watch videos they’re interested in. The school’s Internet network has website content filters, and although the device can’t block content at home, the devices’ history will still be tracked.
All in all, Greenlaw said that the school leaders and teachers will have to be prepared to adapt to get the most out of the new technology.
The potential for social and personal problems among students already exist because at least half of the high school already has smartphones, Greenlaw estimates. Most also have access to computers and the Internet at home or elsewhere.
“We’d be burying our heads in the sand if we didn’t get iPads” because of the potential downsides, Greenlaw said.
