Q1. Last year, the district had an opportunity for teachers to apply to get 3 iPads in their room… Does this district have plans to buy more iPads this school year (spring 2013)?
A1. The district does not have any plans to purchase additional iPads this spring (2013).  We are not ruling out future deployments – but for this spring we know there will no additional rounds/deployments provided by the district.

Q2. How many iPads were deployed by the district?
A2. Jan 2012, the district purchased 300 ipads and deployed them to 100 classrooms.

Q3. Schools were allowed to purchase iPads on their own, correct? Is this still true?
A3. Yes, schools were allowed to purchased iPads on their own  – this is still accurate.

Q4. How many iPads are in the district now?  
A4. In Jan 2013, district-wide there is over 1,000 iPads.  This means that buildings, parents groups and others purchased an additional 700 iPads over the last year, at a cost of $280,000.

Q5. Why are we not proceeding??  Wasn’t the iPad roll out successful?
A5.  The roll out during 2012 was successful for many classrooms, but not all. In general, we are seeing that the iPads fit naturally into  K-6 classrooms that utilize small group rotations with students.  With only 3 iPads available, it was much harder to utilize the iPad in classrooms that did not use small group work / rotations. In addition, some content areas had a harder time finding appropriate apps.

Q6. When will district decide if/when its will proceed with buying more?  
A6.  We are not purchasing any additional iPads during the winter/spring of 2013.  We are waiting until the K-6 reading adoption selection is finalized, which is expected to be March/April 2013.  After that time, we will have a better idea of what resources are needed to support the new curriculum adoption.  At that same time, we can review what is needed at secondary level as well.

Q7. I was asked by some parents…   If the district proceeds with purchasing more iPads – will each school be assured an equal amount of iPads?
A7.  Based on the information from question 4, I believe that district technology will need to play the role of “equilizer”  which means each school will NOT receive the same amount from the district.  Instead, we will need to fill in the areas where devices are needed to bring everyone to a standard level.