Will iPads Replace Backpacks In The New Tewksbury High School?

If assistant principal Jason Stamp has his way, the days of watching 90-pound freshmen lug 50-pound backpacks into TMHS every morning may soon be over.

Stamp and went before the school committee last Wednesday evening seeking approval for funding to launch a pilot program that would study the feasibility of eventually issuing an Apple iPad tablet-sized personal computer to every Tewksbury High student, effectively replacing text books, notebooks, pens and pencils with the popular iPads.

The pilot program would equip four classrooms with 25 iPads and a MacBook computer at an approximate cost of $100,000, according to Stamp, who is working with Lally and assistant principal Eileen Osborne to develop a technology plan for the new high school. Negotiations with Apple are ongoing but the goal is to have the pilot program in place by the time the 2011-2012 school year begins in September.

"In a perfect world, if we had the money to do it, it would be a great idea to give every student an iPad and ultimately replace books with iPads," Stamp said. "Instead of backpacks filled with heavy textbooks, the kids would walk into school with just an iPad."

At present, 37 TMHS classrooms are equipped with Smart Board interactive white boards, whereby the teacher can project lesson plans and other documents from a laptop computer onto a  large video screen at the front of the classroom. Just over 50 percent of the school's 67 teachers use the Smart Board technology

Even with the Smart Board technology, however, only  a handful of the school's textbooks are accessed on-line. And Smart Board communication is primarily one way, from the teacher to the student. Students continue to work out of cumbersome text books and  turn in hard copies of the vast majority of their school work.

"We're trying to work toward a paperless environment, and this would be a big step in that direction," Stamp said. "Obviously, it would lighten the kids' school bags, and hopefully it would become the perfect one-to-one (communications) solution."

One school of thought would be to move the 37 Smart Boards into the new building, and buy additional Smart Boards so that every classroom has one. But if the iPad program were to be approved, the Smart Boards would be passed down to the town's middle school and elementary schools.

A hesitant school committee was not quick to appropriate funds for the proposed pilot program, however, instead asking Stamp to schedule a presentation from Apple to provide more information on the company's classroom computing applications.

Stamp is quick to point out that the idea is still in the information gathering stage.

"Everything is always changing and the technology is always getting better, that's the idea behind the pilot program," Stamp said. "Will it replace the Smart Boards? Will it be an advantage for the students? That's what we want to find out. We're sort of asking 'is the juice worth the squeeze?'"

Ultimately, equipping all 900 TMHS students with an iPad, and hiring a technology aide to support the school-wide iPad usage, would cost something on the order of $500,000.

"When the state gave us the money for the new high school, there was a technology budget," Stamp said. "We're trying to make the best use of that money."

Stamp has recommended Apple as the technology supplier because of the iPad's increasing popularity with the younger generation.

"Data shows that 70 percent of kids going into college are buying Macs," Stamp said. "And the operating system on the iPads is ... compatible with Macs or PCs. The kids prefer the (iPad) touch screens, too."

Stamp hopes to have an Apple representative meet with the school committee within the next few weeks, and if approved, hopes to roll out the pilot porgram in September.

"We're only a year away from moving into the new school building and we want to have our technology plan in place when we do," Stamp said. "The goal right now is to plan and make the best decision we can before we go into the new school."