Florida School Will be Giving Students iPads Instead of Textbooks This Year

From idownloadblog.com:

Typically, gadgets are frowned on by teachers and affiliated staff (or as I like to call them, education enforcers). But that doesn’t seem to be the case at Lake Minneola High School in Lake County Florida.

According to the SunSentinel, Lake Minneola will be the first public school in Central Florida to purchase an iPad for every student. The move is part of a state pilot program designed to save money on textbooks, and offer a new approach to education…

Administrators used capital funding to pay for the 1,750 iPads, which costs nearly $700,000. The school must report the costs and savings associated with the program at the end of the year, as well as how the tablets improved student learning.

Teachers have already begun planning lessons on the slates, with a slue of educational apps and iBook-formated textbooks. Educators are especially excited about the iPad’s ability to quiz students running specialized software, and calculate classroom results within seconds.

The whole state of Florida will undoubtedly be watching the progress of the high school, as all Florida public schools are expected to completely adopt digital instruction materials by 2015. Teachers, students, and even parents seem to be excited about the digital transition:

“I think it’s great as far as the technology side,” said Lori Sokoloski, whose two sons will get iPads in the fall. “I think they’re more apt to go on the iPad and learn than to open a textbook.”

To be honest, the iPad does present itself as a remarkable learning tool. Unlike a computer, an iPad is easy to pick up and start using, and rarely displays off-putting error messages. It’ll be really interesting to see the effects it has on the student’s grades.