Thousands of Rochester students begin using iPads for schoolwork
(THE MED CITY BEAT) - Students at these seven Rochester schools are starting to bring home iPads this week:
- Pinewood Elementary
- Riverside Central Elementary
- Gage Elementary
- Lincoln K-8 Choice School
- Willow Creek Middle School
- Friedell Middle School
- Alternative Learning Center
The school board unanimously approved the purchase of about 3,500 new tablets in November. Each iPad Air cost the district $374, for a total of about $1.3 million.
"Technology is here to stay and it's the world that our kids are in," Rochester Public Schools Superintendent Michael Munoz said at the time, according to a report by KAAL-TV. "We felt that we needed to get into that world."
The digital expansion means about 7,000 students, more than 40 percent of the district's enrollment, will now be using the devices for educational purposes.
"The exciting thing about this program is that we're building and creating digital citizens, " said district spokesperson Heather Nessler, according to a recent report by KTTC-TV. "We're preparing our students for the future life outside of school. We're creating global citizens and getting them college and career ready."
The Post-Bulletin notes some tablets will also be available at Rochester high schools. However, the older students won't be allowed to take the devices home.
The one-to-one tablet program began three years ago at Longfellow Elementary and could eventually be expanded to the entire district by the 2017-18 school year.
(Cover photo: File / Sean MacEntee / Creative Commons)
