WHRHS Board Holds Off iPad Purchase

The Watchung Hills Regional Board of Education seemed poised to place an order for 120 iPad tablet computers for teachers at Monday's meeting, but postponed the plan after hearing few of the teachers given the devices for testing were actually using them much.

The resolution to approve a $68,040 expenditure for 120 of the devices followed a presentation by Math Department Supervisor Michael D'Alessio and Science Department Supervisor Darrin Wolsko updating the board on how some teachers were using the iPads in the classrooms.

But when Watchung Hills Regional Education Association President Sean DiGiovanna said his survey of 50 teachers provided iPads to test in classrooms last fall, only four reported using them frequently for classroom instruction, the board wanted to know more. Board members Lisa DeMizio and Harold Grossnickle said they were "disappointed" to learn the iPads were not being used more.

"I'm extremely disappointed," Grossnickle said. "I say put the brakes on and find out why the hell teachers aren't using them."

According to the presentation by Dr. Wolsko and D'Alessio, one factor may be that until recently, teachers were limited in what apps they could laod into the iPads. D'Alessio noted that since iPads were designed for individual use, Apple did not have a method for volume purchases and downloads such as the school would need. He added engineers from Apple visited the school in February and have designed a work-around, which will enable teachers to access many more apps.

D'Alessio also said the most frequent uses of the iPads in classrooms were to take attendance, checking homework, projecting to classroom Smartboards, and photographing or recording videos of student projects.

He said foreign language classes used ipads to take videos of students speaking the languages, so they could see and hear how they sounded, receiving immediate feedback.

The plan to purchase the iPads also drew resident Howard Greenbaum to the meeting, who urged the board to move ahead with the plan. 

"We need to get technology further and further into the school—things like the iPad are going to give our teachers that technology," he said. "We need to move more quickly, not less quickly."

The board members moved to postpone voting on the purchase, which is included in the 2011-2012 budget, until the administration can learn more about why the iPads aren't being used more and whether or not the school should purchase the new iPad 3.

"This is a postponement of a decision, not a rejection," Board President Robert Horowitz said after the vote.