iPads

The iPads are officially in Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms across the county. With this initiative this gives each Kindergarten and 1st grade classroom four (4) iPads and two (2) MacBooks. [1. The MacBooks that have been removed from the classrooms will be put on carts.  The carts will be distributed county wide so that each school will have approximately have the same laptop-to-student ratio.]  Each iPad came with a base image that was assembled by the elementary ITRTs and the elementary content specialists.  With the unveiling of the new iPad operating system in October of 2011, we are hoping to put the control of the content that is found on the iPad into the hands  of the classroom teachers that have them.

A website has been developed that explains the Apps that can be found on the iPads currently.

Amy Spiker, a 1st grade teacher at Longdale, introducing her students to the "App of the Day".

The ElemApps site also gives a description of each App and the directions on how to use it.  As we will discover, the kids don’t need a lot of instruction.  The touch feature is very intuitive for the students that are entering our schools.

The cases for the iPads will be arriving shortly and they will be distributed as soon as they are received.  In the meantime, HCPS would like to have the iPads out in the classrooms and more importantly, in the hands of our students.

If you are teaching in a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom, don’t fret.  There will be opportunities to use the iPads with your students as well. As we have already heard from HCPS administrators, the future of computers in our classrooms may be with “tablets” instead.