With the school year already under way, Falcon School District 49 is piloting a new technology initiative for schools in the Power Zone.Odyssey, Stetson and Ridgeview elementary schools; Skyview Middle School and Vista Ridge High School will introduce iPads in certain classes to allow students to keep pace with the digital world, said Don Begier, executive director for education services.Referred to as the One to One Technology Initiative, the program includes MacBook laptops for teachers and iPads for students in certain classes.ìThere is one classroom at all three elementary schools in the Power Zone (involved in the program),î Begier said. ìThere is a team of math, science, social studies and language arts teachers at Skyview; and a couple of teachers at Vista Ridge are piloting them as well.îThe idea for the updated technology in the Power Zone started in the summer of 2011, Begier said. At the same time, Apple Inc. debuted the iBooks program, an application created for students so they can access content used for the iPad curriculum, he said.ìThe money for the iPads came from the Power Zone out of their own fund that they have discretion over,î Begier said. ìWe felt like it was more fair to use the district funds to buy the MacBooks, which freed up the Power Zone to do some pilot work. And weíre going to do a lot with what they learn.ìEvery one of our teachers will get a full eight-hour training (session) with Apple Education Services Inc.,î he said. ìApple educators come to town and really move that device from just a computer to a super powerful teaching tool.îBegier said there are 250 iPads spread across the Power Zone and another 200 to 300 spread throughout the Falcon and Sand Creek zones. ìTeachers have decided to try them out to see if they want to do the same (as the Power Zone),î he said.Fifth grade Odyssey teacher Gabriel Hammel said the transition to the iPads in his class hasnít been too difficult. ìItís a learning curve to use the iPads, but they (students) are pretty proficient in using it,î he said. ìWeíre using the website Edmodo. Itís almost like a social network in a way. I can upload assignments, the students download it and then they upload it back to me when theyíre done. I can put in quizzes for them to take, and it will grade it for me. The kids canít talk to each other; they can only post to me or the whole class.”Hammel said all the textbooks are online and many are the same as regular books used by students. ìNow, they can highlight and write in the margins,î he said. The students are still in the process of learning the iPads. ìGiving up a couple weeks (instruction time) in learning (the iPads) at the beginning will help us gain everything back by the end of the year,î Hammel said.ìA big thing that weíre pushing for is using less paper and doing more things on the iPad. Itíll make it more interactive between the teacher and the student so we can communicate better.îThe Power Zone has entered into a three-year lease with an option for the district to buy the iPads at the end of the lease, Begier said. ìThat gives us time to figure out what to do with them,î he said. ìWeíre trying to be very thoughtful about not burdening the community.î
