MONROE - Seventh and eighth grade students at Monroe Middle School will use iPads as a learning tool after the Monroe School Board approved a plan to purchase 400 of the electronic devices.
The recommendation from district leaders was to expand the iPad one-to-one deployment to seventh and eighth graders for the 2013-14 school year. Monroe Business Manager Ron Olson said the plan to purchase 400 iPads with protective covers and possibly a two-year AppleCare deal will cost $200,600.
The board also approved a $100,000 donation per year for the next four years ($400,000) from the Colony Brands Foundation, Inc.
"I think (the donation) will accelerate this by one to three years," Monroe School District Superintendent Cory Hirsbrunner said of the one-to-one iPad deployment. "I am grateful for this donation."
Olson said the district could use $75,000 from the curriculum budget, up to $50,000 from the technology budget and up to $130,000 from last year's fund balance from projects that were slated for last year, but were not booked until July when the new budget cycle begins.
The donation made board member Brian Keith's decision easier.
"This donation helped me make up my mind that this was the way to go," Keith said. "It would have been a lot tougher to vote on this if we don't have this donation and we have this high dollar amount."
Board member Les Bieneman was a proponent of the iPad plan and he wants to speed up the target date to use them in seventh and eighth grade classes.
"Why wait another year?," Bieneman questioned. "We know this works. We hear from the students. Why can't we have this going by March 1?"
Monroe Middle School Principal Lynne Wheeler said the district wants to roll out the iPads the right way and give teachers time to use them as tools in developing curriculum. It's possible the iPads may be used by the end of this school year.
The district implemented iPads with each sixth grader this year. Monroe Middle School Principal Lynne Wheeler said using the iPad as a learning tool has helped teachers differentiate instruction to students at different ability levels, increased the engagement and ownership of learning by students, and improved communication.
"It's about using the technology in a way to integrate into the curriculum and not become the curriculum," Wheeler said.
In a survey on the iPad deployment, 91 percent of students said it has made them a better learner, and 73 percent said they are more likely to complete homework. In addition, 84 percent of parents said that the iPad deployment has had a positive impact on their child's learning.
There are 154 of 176 students that have used their iPads to check Family/ Student Access, a management system, where students can review missing assignments and see how they did on a test or quiz.
Board member Michael Boehme questioned if there was an impact on test scores and student achievement since the district implemented the iPads. Sixth grade students have used the iPads for one semester. There is not a lot of data yet.
"There are so many factors with student achievement," Hirsbrunner said. "It's hard to say this is the one factor in student achievement. There are many factors that go into student achievement."
Wheeler said there is research that shows the more ownership students have in their school work, the more academic success they have.
"We can draw some conclusions," she said. "The reality is the world functions digitally. Teaching them how to problem solve, communicate with the technology before they go into the world is a huge piece."
Wheeler said training the parents is a key piece that takes time.
Olson said the district will review other third party warranty options for the iPads. The cost of the AppleCare program is 20 percent that of the iPad. Olson said the district may purchase 5 to 10 percent stock of spare devices up front and then save 10 to 15 percent. Since the district has only had to use the warranty to repair and replace three iPads, they may go this route.
The district's technology department will tag each iPad, set it up for the network, set up firewalls and put aps on each device.
Olson also outlined a three-year technology plan. Olson said the priority this summer is upgrading the wireless for the high school for one-to-one deployment. The cost to upgrade the high school for wireless is $100,000 to $120,000, Olson said.
Olson said the district could use technology budget funds to get the wireless upgraded. District leaders are studying technological one-to-one options for the high school including MacBook Air laptops, iPads, Chromebooks, laptops, netbooks and are even considering having a bring-your-own-device policy at the high school. The district is considering purchasing 65 MacBook laptops for teachers at the high school next year, in addition to professional development training for $124,280.
Olson said the district is waiting to implement a high school rollout for the 2014-15 school year. The district also plans to provide wireless infrastructure at the elementary schools in 2014-15. Olson said the expected cost is $30,000 to $40,000 per school.
"We want to take another year and talk to other districts," Olson said of developing a high school one-to-one tech plan. "I might tell you something I think is the best now and then next year I might tell you something different."
The recommendation from district leaders was to expand the iPad one-to-one deployment to seventh and eighth graders for the 2013-14 school year. Monroe Business Manager Ron Olson said the plan to purchase 400 iPads with protective covers and possibly a two-year AppleCare deal will cost $200,600.
The board also approved a $100,000 donation per year for the next four years ($400,000) from the Colony Brands Foundation, Inc.
"I think (the donation) will accelerate this by one to three years," Monroe School District Superintendent Cory Hirsbrunner said of the one-to-one iPad deployment. "I am grateful for this donation."
Olson said the district could use $75,000 from the curriculum budget, up to $50,000 from the technology budget and up to $130,000 from last year's fund balance from projects that were slated for last year, but were not booked until July when the new budget cycle begins.
The donation made board member Brian Keith's decision easier.
"This donation helped me make up my mind that this was the way to go," Keith said. "It would have been a lot tougher to vote on this if we don't have this donation and we have this high dollar amount."
Board member Les Bieneman was a proponent of the iPad plan and he wants to speed up the target date to use them in seventh and eighth grade classes.
"Why wait another year?," Bieneman questioned. "We know this works. We hear from the students. Why can't we have this going by March 1?"
Monroe Middle School Principal Lynne Wheeler said the district wants to roll out the iPads the right way and give teachers time to use them as tools in developing curriculum. It's possible the iPads may be used by the end of this school year.
The district implemented iPads with each sixth grader this year. Monroe Middle School Principal Lynne Wheeler said using the iPad as a learning tool has helped teachers differentiate instruction to students at different ability levels, increased the engagement and ownership of learning by students, and improved communication.
"It's about using the technology in a way to integrate into the curriculum and not become the curriculum," Wheeler said.
In a survey on the iPad deployment, 91 percent of students said it has made them a better learner, and 73 percent said they are more likely to complete homework. In addition, 84 percent of parents said that the iPad deployment has had a positive impact on their child's learning.
There are 154 of 176 students that have used their iPads to check Family/ Student Access, a management system, where students can review missing assignments and see how they did on a test or quiz.
Board member Michael Boehme questioned if there was an impact on test scores and student achievement since the district implemented the iPads. Sixth grade students have used the iPads for one semester. There is not a lot of data yet.
"There are so many factors with student achievement," Hirsbrunner said. "It's hard to say this is the one factor in student achievement. There are many factors that go into student achievement."
Wheeler said there is research that shows the more ownership students have in their school work, the more academic success they have.
"We can draw some conclusions," she said. "The reality is the world functions digitally. Teaching them how to problem solve, communicate with the technology before they go into the world is a huge piece."
Wheeler said training the parents is a key piece that takes time.
Olson said the district will review other third party warranty options for the iPads. The cost of the AppleCare program is 20 percent that of the iPad. Olson said the district may purchase 5 to 10 percent stock of spare devices up front and then save 10 to 15 percent. Since the district has only had to use the warranty to repair and replace three iPads, they may go this route.
The district's technology department will tag each iPad, set it up for the network, set up firewalls and put aps on each device.
Olson also outlined a three-year technology plan. Olson said the priority this summer is upgrading the wireless for the high school for one-to-one deployment. The cost to upgrade the high school for wireless is $100,000 to $120,000, Olson said.
Olson said the district could use technology budget funds to get the wireless upgraded. District leaders are studying technological one-to-one options for the high school including MacBook Air laptops, iPads, Chromebooks, laptops, netbooks and are even considering having a bring-your-own-device policy at the high school. The district is considering purchasing 65 MacBook laptops for teachers at the high school next year, in addition to professional development training for $124,280.
Olson said the district is waiting to implement a high school rollout for the 2014-15 school year. The district also plans to provide wireless infrastructure at the elementary schools in 2014-15. Olson said the expected cost is $30,000 to $40,000 per school.
"We want to take another year and talk to other districts," Olson said of developing a high school one-to-one tech plan. "I might tell you something I think is the best now and then next year I might tell you something different."