IPads Hit Metro Atlanta Classrooms

BUFORD, Ga. -- State officials are talking to Apple about a pilot program that would bring iPads to classrooms in several middle schools. Some metro Atlanta schools have already gone high-tech.

Buford City Schools is one of the first school systems in Georgia to use iPads and iPods for all grades, from kindergarten to 12th grade.

”Textbooks are outdated by the time they arrive in our schools, Assistant Superintendent Allision Miller Johnson told Channel 2’s Lori Geary. ”This kind of digital textbook will never be outdated. It can be updated weekly, daily, hourly, if that’s appropriate.

This is the first year for the program. Principal Joy Davis said the digital devices don’t necessarily replace textbooks but add to them.

”If you want to teach a child about China, don’t talk to them and have them read pages from a book. Give them some guiding questions and let them explore about China. Let them do a virtual tour on the handheld device, Davis said.

GA Daily News has leaed state lawmakers are looking to test iPads in a pilot program at five middle schools across the state. State Sen. Tommie Williams told Geary they’re currently in talks with Apple.

”For $500 per kid, they’ll supply an iPad, completely wi-fi the system, provide all of the curriculum on the iPad and train all of the teachers, Williams said.

Williams said the state spends $40 million a year on textbooks which quickly become outdated. Part of the money to pay for the iPad program would come from grants from the federally funded ”Race to the Top program.

For now, students in Buford City Schools aren’t allowed to take their iPads home, but that could change.

”We’ll require insurance, and if they lose it, Apple will replace it. I think we would probably look at the parents to have some skin in the game to make sure their kids are not negligent, Williams said.

Administrators said even though they currently don’t have insurance on them, it’s not an issue.

”We require children to pay for textbooks if they lose them, if they drop them in a mud puddle, if they destroy them, Johnson said.

Buford City Schools is leasing all of the Apple products for three years, at $165,000 per year. At the end of the contract, the school system can buy all of the equipment for $1.