3000 iPad2 tablets in Catholic high schools

 Imagine being in a science class and, instead of listening to a lecture on wind turbines, students click on the “Our Choice” digital book, raise their tablet computers and blow into the microphone and make a graphic of a wind turbine turn on the screen.

That’s just one example of the interactive capability of the new iPad 2 tablets that eight archdiocesan high schools will be using in the classroom this year.

“When you talk about having things like this, the possibilities are endless,” Justin Gibson, Information Technology director for the Archdiocese of New Orleans said. “(The iPad is) cross-disciplinary. You can bring it to any class and find a way to use it.”

Three thousand iPads have been purchased for eight archdiocesan high schools – the Academy of Our Lady, Archbishop Chapelle, Archbishop Hannan, Archbishop Shaw, Holy Rosary High, Pope John Paul II, St. Charles Catholic and St. Scholastica Academy. They replace Lenovo tablets bought in 2007. Teachers will be trained to use them by Apple representatives.

Research done

 The switch to iPads began nine months ago, Gibson said, when the Office of Catholic Schools, the Information Technology office and high school presidents, principals and technology coordinators in the 1:1 computer program met to evaluate the pros and cons of various computer platforms – tablets, notebooks, Netbooks and iPads. Two main factors were considered: functionality and cost.

 What made the iPad “a killer device for educational technology,” Gibson said, was its versatility, design (weighing 1.3 pounds with a 10-inch screen), quality (low failure rate, no moving parts, sturdy construction), long battery life (10 hours) and price point ($500 for a base unit versus $2,000 for existing computers).

 “It is not a piece of technology with a single purpose like a clicker or an e-reader,” Gibson said. “The iPad has the capacity to be a collaborative, productive, communication and learning device all in one convenient, mobile platform.”

Salesian Sister Michelle Geiger, principal at the Academy of Our Lady, embraced the iPad 2. She ordered enough iPads with a wireless Bluetooth keyboard for incoming eighth and ninth graders and all teachers.

 “We’re very excited about it,” she said. “It’s the direction that computers are going. Apple was well ahead of the game. … It has capabilities over the laptop and has tremendous educational apps that will truly enhance learning. The technology is where the kids are. It will bring what they are learning in the classroom and connect it to the real world and make them excited to want to learn more.”

Integration in the classroom

 Enhanced instruction on just about any subject is just a click away for teachers through iPad’s AppEcosystem of 90,000 applications. More than 11,000 apps are education-based for grades kindergarten through 12, Gibson said. He demonstrated the ease of the Evernote application to take notes, record sound and capture pictures, and various science apps that bring astronomy and physics alive in the classroom. Schools will have the capability to limit or block students’ access to certain apps.

Gibson believes the iPads will challenge and engage today’s students who are already immersed in technology. He thinks the familiarity of iPhones will make the iPad easy to learn, considering it’s also visual-based and extremely intuitive.

  “You just have to know how to use your finger and know where you want to go,” he said. “The really cool thing about this device is that it doesn’t come with any pre-designed baggage about what it can do. The device can be tailored to fit any purpose you want to do that a laptop cannot.”

 Dominican Father Charles Latour, principal of Archbishop Hannan High in Covington, approached the advent of iPads with the question of how his school could maximize technology and student learning simultaneously. Teachers and students will be given instruction on its usage and care. He thinks teachers will use the device as an additional instructional resource.

 “The teaching remains with the teacher,” Father Latour said, allowing the ability to integrate some old-school teaching methods with new.

Ease for teachers

 It also allows more teacher mobility; teachers are no longer tethered to a projector to give a presentation. Gibson gave an example of a coach bringing the iPad 2 on the football field loaded with his playbook and tailoring exercise plans for players based on position through interactive apps such as iMuscle. Engagement is the key feature of iPads.

 “When you think of all the things kids are bombarded with every day, this device will help them do the things they want to do but enhance the educational part,” Gibson said.

 Gibson said he learned that the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Catholic Schools is on the cutting edge of digital-age learning technology while attending theInternational Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) convention in June and asking others about their technological advances in the classroom.

 “I will say that what we have achieved in the past six months is ahead of most districts and schools in the country, and our current deployment (of 3,000 computers at eight schools) is one of the largest in the United States … in a 1:1 format,” hesaid.

To address the need for information storage, Gibson said his department created the ArchDAV drop box that’s free to all archdiocesan schools. It’s tied into the archdiocesan e-mail system, and teachers can create shared folders where students can drop their assignments.

  This is the first wave of iPads in the school system. Gibson predicts an explosion as other schools realize the classroom potential, especially in kindergarten through eighth grade where it really “shines” to reinforce classroom lessons.

 “We haven’t even scratched the surface,” Gibson said. “This is only 3,000.”

Christine Bordelon can be reached at [email protected].