Greencastle works on one-to-one technology

Greencastle School Corporation continues to moves forward in its endeavor to move to one-to-one technology for next school year.

At the Greencastle School Board meeting on Monday the forward momentum of the technology plan continued with the approval of purchasing of 90 iPad Airs for teachers next semester.

The purchase of the iPads, at the cost of $57,208, will allow teachers to familiarize themselves with the new technology before it is given to the high school and middle school students next year. Along with the iPads there will also be a Mac mini to connect all the devices.

"Excited about the use of Apple," school board member Denise Sigworth said. "They have so many more applications available for education."

The devices will be used to help supplement curriculum in the future and also allow for easier testing. Greencastle Assistant Superintendent Jeff Hubble informed the board that I-STEP testing on the iPads will go a bit smoother due to how data is transmitted. More than 5,000 were used in the state for the last I-STEP testing and all data was transmitted without a server crash, unlike with some of the computers used.

Board member Dale Pierce was curious on what the life expectancy of the devices. Hubble said that the devices would be going on three-year cycles with teachers receiving a new device a semester before the students to keep up-to-date. Hubble also said that the students would receive the device on a three-year lease. At the end of the lease the corporation would be able to return the product to Apple and receive a credit on the next devices purchased or, like several other school corporations do, sell them to students for a dollar.

Also to help keep devices in better working order they will be covered under Apple Care which will allow each device to be replaced twice if damage should occur to them. The corporation will also look at protective covers to not only help with wear and tear, but also to distinguish between student and teacher devices in the future.