Putting an iPad in every hand

Greenfield - As the new year dawns, Whitnall school officials may begin a push for a new age of education - one that involves an iPad or similar Internet device in the hands of every student.

Such devices could allow students to do schoolwork anywhere, anytime. School officials are thinking of letting students bring their own devices to school or provide them to students who don't have them.

Paying for the benefits

The program would come with a cost. Money would be needed for 2012-13 for infrastructure improvements to support more wireless devices, the devices themselves and probably some training costs, said Superintendent of Schools Lowell Holtz.

One of the big hurdles will be whether such a one-to-one program would show enough educational benefits to justify the cost.

"Education needs to drive technology, not the other way around," Holtz said.

But Holtz is optimistic that the benefits can be fully documented. "Absolutely and across the board," he said, noting that technology should especially help personalize learning and help students compete with students anywhere in the world.

Presenting the possibility

The staff might be ready to come to the board as early as late January with that documentation along with data on what one-to-one would take to implement. But more likely it will not be until early February, Holtz said.

The School Board has already targeted exploring, and possibly implementing, one-to-one at one grade level as a goal for the coming year. Which grade might be chosen for that pilot program probably depends on which is ready in terms of the students, teachers and the school infrastructure, Holtz said.

The schools can take incremental steps this year, Holtz said, such as converting sections of learning stations to using technology.