By Sam Elliott
All Hamilton Southeastern elementary school students will begin using iPads as a learning tool at a 1:1 ratio next school year after the school board unanimously approved the rollout plan and recommendations presented by Supt. Dr. Allen Bourff and Assistant Supt. Dr. Jan Combs at the board’s March 23 meeting.
The meeting was relocated from the Administration Center next door to a bigger space at Fishers Junior High to accommodate the large crowd of parents and teachers with a vested interest in and opinions on the matter.
Sixteen members of the public spoke on the issue, with a majority supporting the use of iPads at the elementary level while some expressed concerns on the logistics of the rollout, the amount of time students will spend in front of screens and the level of responsibility children need to care for an expensive tablet device.
Bourff and Combs delivered a presentation to the board addressing many of the concerns they had heard from parents while developing the elementary iPad rollout and its place in the district’s overall HSE21 education plan.
The rental fee for an iPad for a student whose family doesn’t already have one they can use will be $90 per year — down from the current $125 fee for students at the intermediate and high school level. That rental fee will include insurance, a case and charger for the iPad, and parents can choose a monthly payment option for as much as $10 per month. When the school board sees recommendations for next year’s textbook and general fees in May or June, Bourff said his staff will be recommending fees nearly $90 less than this year’s.
Elementary students will not be permitted to use their iPads during lunch, recess or on busses should they be taking their device back and forth between school and home. Students in grades K-2 will leave their iPads at school unless parents opt into letting the devices come home.
Screen time will be limited in the classroom, too, as the devices are not intended to replace students’ traditional pencil and paper school work and will be used on and off throughout the day.
“The emphasis on those devices would be on creation or production, not consumption and not gaming,” Bourff said. “This is not a real departure from where we’ve been to this point (with pilot classrooms), but I want to emphasize that these devices are to be used as instructional tools, not as gaming devices or just communication devices.
“There will be days we use the iPads more than others, particularly when the students are producing movies, let’s say,” he added. “But we’re not looking at any option that would strain their eyes or produce some of the dangers of excessive screen time. If parents don’t want those screens at home, we don’t want them at home either.”
Teachers will be receiving continued professional development on using the iPads with their classes, information on apps used by teachers will be passed onto parents and advisory councils will be formed of teachers, parents, administrators and school board members to provide feedback and insight on their use.
“I’ve seen what a powerful tool they can be in the hands of each student,” board member and former teacher of 14 years Michelle Fullhart said. “During my two years I used them with my second graders, I saw the tremendous impact on how my students learned, how much they learned and how I could monitor their progress.
“Those two years were, I would say, the most tremendous growth years for me as a teacher. Everyday I came home knowing something new,” she added. “I’m so excited for all K-4 teachers to feel that same way.”
