We recently conducted a parent informational meeting to review the 1-to-1 Initiative. Over 70 families including students attended. To read more go to
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/sauconvalley/mc-saucon-valley-ipad-meeting-20120605,0,4489775.story
Saucon Valley holds information night for parents of seventh-graders who will be the first class to receive the devices.
Saucon Valley School District officials got an earful of questions
from parents of students who will be the first to get iPads when the new
school year begins.
The district is launching its "One to One"
program with students entering seventh grade. Eventually, all students
in seventh to 12
th grade will have the Apple device to use in school and to take home at night.
On
Monday, the district held an information night to allow parents — and
students— to ask questions about what would be uncharted territory for
the district.
For more than an hour, attendees lobbed questions about computer
security, use of the device, access to the Internet and insurance the
district will require parents to purchase if students opt to take the
device home.
During a discussion on the goal to turn learning into a paperless process, one mother asked, "When will this [the
iPad] be the only thing the kids will have in their backpacks?"
Instructional technical specialist James Colbert answered, "It could come as early as the end of this year."
But the district isn't just throwing the kids — or their parents — into the high tech pond without life preservers.
Middle
School Principal Pam Bernardo told the crowd of about 75 parents, and
at least as many youngsters, that the first month of the 2012-13 school
year will include 30 dedicated blocks of instruction, including what the
district is calling "digital citizenship" on acceptable use of the
device.
Students will also learn how to download apps, although
what can be grabbed from the district's Internet "cloud" of information
will be controlled and monitored. And kids will learn it's a tool, not a
toy or handy gaming device.
It's the future of learning for this
Class of 2018, Bernardo said, referring to the year the upcoming
seventh-graders will graduate. "I know that sounds scary," she said.
In
a demonstration of how the iPad works, Colbert, acting as a teacher,
corrected a geometry problem fellow instructional technical specialist
Rita Chuhran put into her iPad's "drop box." Within moments, Colbert
sent it back with "Nice Try!" along with nine out of 10 points in her
favor and a smiley face written across her work.
All of this was captured on a large screen projection of the iPad's image so parents could see it working in real time.
Students
will be able to download their daily assignments while at school, take
their iPads home, work on their screens, return to school the next
morning and put their finished work into their teachers' drop boxes.
Can
other students access another's work and mess with it? The parents
learned that strong access controls through a "mobile device management
system" and passwords prevent such access.
Bernardo told the students they should start thinking of passwords they would be comfortable with — "ones you can remember."
Most
of the questions centered on insurance for the devices. Parents wanted
to know how much it will cost, whether their homeowner's insurance will
cover it and other similar questions.
Bernardo said the district
is offering insurance through its carrier and it would cost about $34
each school year to cover damage. Lost iPads are not covered, but the
district's system is able to locate missing devices as long as they are
turned on, officials said.
Bernardo said students and parents
should treat the new devices the same as if they were textbooks issued
to the kids. They would be responsible for replacing lost devices.
No
parent or child at the meeting objected to the district's new
direction, dubbed "One-to-One," meaning each child gets his or her own
iPad.
After the meeting, when asked if she has received any
negative response to the program, Bernardo said, "Some have asked if
they could 'opt out' and several families don't allow their children to
use the Internet, but we will make accommodations for every student. The
nice thing is accommodations can be made easily [with this system]."
Parents
learned that the seventh-grade initiation is a pilot program and what
the district learns in the first year will be used to shape it for the
future.
Tony Nauroth is a freelance writer.
Copyright © 2012,
The Morning Cal
