Auburn School District Decides All Kindergartners Need iPad 2 (VIDEO)

A Maine school system may be adding the iPad 2 to its list of mandatory kindergarten classroom items, with the district footing the bill.

The Auburn Schools Committee voted unanimously to provide all kindergartners with an iPad 2 next year. Each subsequent kindergarten class would receive individual devices as well, CNN and WGME report.

It would cost the district about $200,000 next year, with Apple cutting them a deal by charging $475 per iPad. Superintendent Tom Morrill says the district will find the money in the budget and through grants.

"What we're seeing is that this is an essential tool -- even more important than a book. It's a learning tool they need to have."

Skeptical community members say the kids are too young to take care of an iPad and that they simply don't need it.

WATCH:

Comments

[CocoLopez]

10:41 PM on 05/01/2011

Kudos to Apple. Like any good drug dealer, they know to get them hooked young.

[khepner]

03:08 PM on 04/25/2011

Hi, I am pleased to see that we are educating our children on the benefits of the ipad for school and as a source of information. However, please be careful with the use of this product by children who may be predisposed to seizures. My 16 year old son was given an ipad as a gift and we thought it was great! He is visually impaired with a few other special needs issues and at first we thought it was a great tool with the easily changeable fonts, backgrounds, etc. He did, however, suffer a seizure about 2 months after receiving the ipad and another about 2 months later. He had not experienced seizures prior to this year. We are not sure what trigger the seizures, but we are limiting his use or the ipad as a precaution. I believe it may be affecting his ability to sleep soundly which in turn could be a trigger. I just want parents to know that you have to monitor the use just in case your child could be one of the few it could affect this way. I am not saying "no" to the ipad. Just use moderation with it's use especially in such young children. Thank you.

[Neil Zwillinger]

08:36 AM on 04/14/2011

this is a brilliant idea....not only does it put young children on the cutting edge of technology, level the playing field between economic classes, it opens the world to young minds in a way that never existed before....another real benefit of students using ipads or any tablet device is that kids wont have to carry twenty pounds of aging textbooks on their backs each day...one of the purposes of education is to encourage and continue the kind of wonder and awe that young children possess....this goes a long way in that direction..

[saaba]

03:23 PM on 04/12/2011

I have two kids, and trust me-- less is more! No matter what cutting edge, intricate toy I got for them, they enjoyed it for a short while and went right back to playing with the basics-- legos, wooden blocks, sketch pads, crayons and clay and a big-ass, empty cardboard box. I bought into the leapfrog games craze and it didn't help at all...they barely got used. Doesn't matter because they're both now avid readers of REAL books and will become more proficient on the tech products with time, as they grow into them. Kids aren't robots and they have so much energy that they actual prefer to do more fun, hands-on activities...and that's the best way to learn, not sitting dumbfounded in front of a screen!

[Uhgg]

09:17 PM on 04/11/2011

How about teaching them how to use a pencil and paper first 5 and 6 year old's do not need an iPad they need to learn basics how to write and add at that age

[pickle541]

12:29 PM on 04/12/2011

They are using pencil and paper. It's easy to figure that using the Ipad (which is a computer, essentially. We want tech in classrooms, right?) is going to be used instead of teaching the basics. That's not it. It will be used TO teach the basics and practice them. I've seen all kinds of programs that allow kids to learn letter sounds, trace them on the screen, and practice them while sustaining attention. That's exactly what you'd want to see your child doing- engaged, learning, practicing.

They are also learning how our 21st century technology works. You didn't have it in kindergarten because the technology didn't exist. Maybe mimeographs or photocopying did. I bet you saw tons of copied worksheets, or maybe played games like the Oregon Trail and or word processed your term paper, because that was tip top technology in schools 30 years ago!

[Acert]

01:23 AM on 04/14/2011

1.) Don't talk about word processors as if they're just part of the past; they are still here and they aren't going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
2.) Even if the iPads are beneficial, which they may or may not be at that age, they are most certainly NOT essential.

[sneakurs]

04:18 PM on 04/11/2011

How come Etch-A-Sketch wasn't mandatory?

[Linda Voegler Granite]

11:31 AM on 04/11/2011

I currently teach elementary band (grades 4-5), not kindergarten, so I can't give rationale for using them in a kindergarten classroom. I can give the rationale for the iPad grant that I recently submitted.

- I can continually review my instructional tools, cheaply and easily add new apps to the iPad. In a computer lab, this is significantly more difficult. Software purchases take forever to get approved, and there are not a lot of Web 2.0 things out there that work in my classroom.
- I will lose little-to-no time in moving from work in my classroom to work on the iPads. If I want to work in the computer lab, I have to sign up to use it... pack up the kids, travel down the hall... log everyone in. You lose a tremendous amount of precious instructional time.
- I can differentiate my instruction in ways that I never dreamed impossible.

[WoBuYaoTweet]

05:55 PM on 04/11/2011

That may be decent rationale for why a TEACHER (read: responsible adult capable of reading & operating a computer) might need one, but not for students, especially kindergartners!

As school property in particular classes for use by older elementary, junior high or high school students, maybe... but there's absolutely no excuse for blowing $200K on these to give them to 6y.o. kids who will invariably ruin them with finger paint & apple juice before breaking them on a desk, leaving them on the bus or dropping them down a storm drain. iPads certainly have potential as educational tools, especially in art & music classes that receive less funding year after year - but c'mon, kindergarten??

...Never mind the negative effects of beginning constant LCD-screen exposure at such a young age.

[Linda Voegler Granite]

10:30 AM on 04/12/2011

Finger paint and apple juice? Wow, I don't think you are aware of what today's average kindergarten curriculum includes. They are supposed to be reading by the end of kindergarten... finger painting isn't an educational milestone.

[inf2007]

09:45 AM on 04/11/2011

The iPad empowers parents to have a creative and stimulating engagement with their children. Early learning, under the age of 5, has been proven to be critical success factor in children's academic success. What was expensive and required several books or CDs are available small apps on a single portable device. Reading to your children when they are young is an amazing way to build their confidence and increase their intellectual curiosity. Modern research proves that parents who read to children are giving them a huge advantage even before they start schooling.
The iPad will have a huge impact on the way the next generation of kids learn and absorb knowledge. It is even a great learning tool for young children and for parents to instill good early learning habits in kids. Lots of inexpensive great apps out there.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-kids-early-learning/id429447180?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-deep-blue-kingdom/id425904157?mt=8

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/an-amazing-day-at-the-zoo/id420420133?mt=8

[saaba]

03:28 PM on 04/12/2011

Geez, you don't need to have an iPad to have creative, stimulating engagement with your kids. Where have you been the last, I'd say, 5 million years? If anything, tech products are taking away that engagement we had with our kids and making them less creative. Creativity comes from within.. not by pressing buttons or pointing and clicking.

[El Chingaso]

06:42 AM on 04/11/2011

A sad, sad day for the Auburn District's taxpayers. A plastic box is just...a plastic box with little pictures & sounds. An I-Pad, or whatever, is "not" an essential tool for any kid in kindergarten. It's a little toy that distracts from genuine exploration and learning -- and the Auburn District's purchasing process should be fully vetted.

[Amanda Molnar]

03:52 PM on 04/11/2011

Our family has an iPad and I consider it one of the best learning tools for our children. They practice their math and can load their spelling words and look up anything on it

[RhysJ W]

02:00 AM on 04/11/2011

"we're seeing is that this is an essential tool"?????... I made it through kindergarten ok and I didn't even touch a computer....

[Kat Posing]

01:31 AM on 04/11/2011

I'm a software engineer, and I can tell you that this school district has been sooooo suckered!

Why?

1) Initital hardware purchase is basically a gateway drug. You've bought the first one and put it into the hands of a 5 year old. Potential lifetime of that piece of hardware, unless it's basically a military style toughbook: 6 months. It's not like a desktop. It can be dropped, stepped on, thrown, fought over, banged on, ect.

2) HARDWARE: Next generations of iPads - how long since the original iPad? What is the hardware lifecycle? How long will they support a specific version of the product?

3) SOFTWARE - Educational software specifically for that school district, networking software, child appropriate games, Operating system upgrades, upgrades on the software after the os upgrades.

4) ACCESSORIES - Covers, screen protectors, headsets, chargers, docking stations, replacement batteries (iPad has to be sent back to Apple for replacements at $100 each).

People of Maine, when was the last time YOUR federal and state government cut education funds? Laid off teachers and staff? Oh, wait. I get it. You think you'll be able to shift teaching from teachers to parents if the lesson plan is sent via the iPad. Fewer teachers will be needed because the kindergartners will sit quietly in on the iPad and learn the lesson, which will self correct. Like how they learn on their xbox, PS3, Wii, and Nintendo DSi. Wow! What a plan!! Save money will still providing highest level of

[iamvalid]

11:43 AM on 04/11/2011

Amen, Amen. School districts went through this same bull back in the late 80's, mid 90's with Apple. Teachers were actually telling parents that they should purchase only Apple computers for their own households. Her is a clue for the Maine school district. If a teacher really feels that they have to have iPads to educate children, point the teacher in the right direction. Perhaps retail sales.

[Linda Voegler Granite]

11:57 AM on 04/11/2011

Oh my, I wish my district would go back to Apples. In my 8 years teaching on Apples, I could count the crashes and problems on 1 hand. In my 9 years on PCs... crashes and problems 3-5 times/week. I can't even being to estimate the amount of instructional time lost when trying to recover.

[Linda Voegler Granite]

01:13 PM on 04/11/2011

I'm a teacher, and I do not agree that they have been suckered.

1) A teacher need only have good classroom management skills to ensure that safety of the iPad for far more than 6 months. The fact that it isn't a desktop is immensely appealing, when you can put technology right into the hands of a child, rather than seat them in rows in a lab.

2) If the changes on iPad are similar to the evolution of the iPhone and iPod Touch, I would expect that it's simply a matter of more bells and whistles. Tweaking of screen size, increase in computing power. I can live with that.

3) The software alone is a HUGE draw in the classroom. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a software package that might conflict with something else on my computer... I will spend around $1.99 on an app. Instead of paying to upgrade that desktop software, my apps will update for free... and the developers that I have communicated with actually are interested in ideas for improvement.

4) As for accessories, no docking station is needed. There is tremendous battery life... all a teacher will need to do is take them in the lab 1-2 week and hook them up with the cord that the iPad came with. Covers and screens... eh, if you take good care of them, not needed. Headset purchase would be needed for desktop computers as well.

[InABox]

12:21 AM on 04/11/2011

So "Apples For The Students" lives! Long before Apple's products were fetish objects, our school system participated in a program where grocery receipts were donated towards supplying schools with Apple PCs. My middle school benefited from this.

[snapshot1940]

11:48 PM on 04/10/2011

My grandaughter will turn 3 in May. She can use "her" ipad to look up the Disneyland sites on Youtube and find and play games that her parents have set up as icons on the darn thing. She is VERY knowledgeable on the function but as yet has limited knowledge of extent of things that can be found on it. Get used to the idea of these little ones growing up with an understanding of the digital world FAR beyond out imagination.

[CocoLopez]

10:38 PM on 05/01/2011

The Commodore 64 was the best-selling single personal computer model of all time. It came out in 1982, and its operating system was a programming language. The little ones you're talking about have already grown up and that's why we have these iPads now. As for these little consumer drones of today, I imagine their "understanding of the digital world" won't go much beyond the superficial point-and-click digital ecosystem Apple has laid out for them. If you've worked with 20-somethings lately, you may know what I'm talking about.

[pickle541]

10:51 PM on 04/10/2011

As an educator, I want to see two things:
1. research on what application the Ipad has- and I think there could be many, from practice drills to phonics and math instruction... Also, how does the Ipad do for sustaining student's attention?

2.A cost comparison for the $200,000 for the devices and software, IT, training, insurance, etc. as compared to a reading recovery program (remedial instruction) that may be necessary in grade 4 when they lack skills from Kindergarten.

[bynddrvn5]

09:18 PM on 04/10/2011

New iPads for Kindergarten students, when the state of Maine is laying off teachers and eliminating programs? Insanity.

From the Portland Press Herald: http://www.pressherald.com/news/School-cuts-hit-deeply-at-staff-services_2011-03-07.html