Improvement/Rational - As technology goes the Ipad is always on the cutting edge. Our school now has one for 2 of the special needs kids. There is another school in our district that has a class set of them. There are some high schools in the district that have them for online reading. This would be a great way to spice up the lessons.
Concern - We have a young staff now and they would get used a lot, but what happens when the staff moves and new staff come in do not want to use the Ipad. Also the concern is now 3 Ipads in 3 years, how fast might they get dated and would the cost be worth it?
Using it for a reader for a student to borrow? And take home? What are the security measures there? Is it worth the potential problems? Is it worth buying books for the reader that you might have to replace in the future again when the Ipad is outdated?
Improvement - 25-30 Ipads at about $500 each. It is a lot of money. It could be a big PAC purchase as the PAC likes to make big ones like this so they can see the difference.
Timeline - This is a couple years away I think. But it is something that needs to be looked at. Some staffs have been doing Ipad workshops. Schools are slowing coming around to the idea of Ipads, but the costs are what are holding it up. Yes, a digital reader is much cheaper, but it is just that, only a reader, you should just put the money in books. The Ipad is much different.
Communication Plan - I want to start talking to the staff about this. Putting the good ideas in their heads. I also want a pro d day with the Ipads. Bringing over class set from the other school and giving our staff a chance to play and see how great they can be. Once they get that chance it will be much easier to talk money and a timeline for getting some. We have a pro d day in May and I have already mentioned doing something like this to the pro d chairperson.
Challenges - Convincing a group of people to buy something that will be out of date a year after you buy it. Will this really affect the product? Will we use it? How great will it be? Will they collect dust? What kind of training can we have to help us be better teachers and use these products to help our students learn in a different style.
