Tom Morrill

Schools mix iPads, ABCs WW. Weight Watchers Reimagined Check out myWW™ for a Customized Plan Sponsored by WW. Weight Watchers Reimagined See More MOST POPULAR Never Miss A Story Subscribe to Columbia Daily Tribune OUR PICKS UPCOMING EVENTS Cheryls Signature Bakery Sampler - Medium Sponsored by Cheryls See More Posted Apr 13, 2011 at 12:01 AM Updated Apr 13, 2011 at 12:15 PM PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Kindergarten classes are supplementing crayons, finger paints and flashcards with iPads, a development that excites supporters but that detractors worry is wasted on pupils too young to appreciate the expense. Next fall, nearly 300 kindergartners in Auburn, Maine, will become the latest batch of youngsters around the country to get iPad2 touchpad tablets to learn the basics about ABCs, 1-2-3s, drawing and even music. “It’s definitely an adventure, and it’ll be a journey of learning for teachers and students,” said Auburn kindergarten teacher Amy Heimerl, who received an iPad yesterday ahead of the full deployment in the fall. “I’m looking forward to seeing where this can take us and our students.” But the $200,000 that Superintendent Tom Morrill is proposing to spend on iPads -- which retail for around $500 -- might be better spent on some other school program, said Sue Millard of Auburn, who has children in the fourth grade and high school. She also questions whether kindergartners are old enough to appreciate the effort. “I understand you have to keep up with technology, but I think a 5-year old is a little too young to understand,” she said. Maine was the first state to equip students statewide with computers when it distributed Apple laptops to all seventh- and eighth-graders in 2002 and 2003. The state Department of Education says it believes Auburn is the first school district in Maine that will give iPads to kindergartners. The school board last week unanimously approved the plan to give all kindergartners iPads next fall. The iPad is a powerful education tool with hundreds of teaching applications, Morrill said. With its touchpad screen, it’s simple to use and can bring learning to life with imagery and sounds, he said. “It’s a revolution in education,” Morrill said. The all-in-one hub for teamwork in Office 365 Ad by MICROSOFT TEAMS See More Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller declined to comment on how iPads are being used in schools, but dozens of school districts around the country have been giving iPads to students. Schools in Omaha, Neb.; Columbiana, Ohio; Huntington, W. Va.; Paducah, Ky.; Charleston, S.C.; and Scottsdale, Ariz., are among the places where kindergarten pupils are using them. Angus King, the former Maine governor who launched the state’s laptop program, said the idea of iPads in kindergarten wows him. Anything that holds the attention of pupils will help in the learning process, he said. “If your students are engaged, you can teach them anything,” King said. “If they’re bored and looking out the window, you can be Socrates and you’re not going to teach them anything. These devices are engaging.” Morrill is convinced that in the end, using iPads to teach kindergarten will lead to improved student proficiency scores. Heimerl, one of five kindergarten teachers in the district who got iPads yesterday, was impressed as she checked out apps for phonics, building words, letter recognition and letter formation. “The more education teachers have using these tools the better we can enhance children’s learning and take them to that next level,” said Heimerl, a teacher at Park Avenue Elementary School. Not everyone is sold. Larry Cuban, professor emeritus of education at Stanford University and the author of “Oversold and Underused: Computers in Schools,” said there’s no proof that computers bring learning benefits to pupils that young. Hey, AAA Members! Ad by AAA See More “There’s no evidence in research literature that giving iPads to 5-year-olds will improve their reading scores,” he said. The best use of iPads is probably in elementary and special education classes because the devices are so easy to use, said Nick Sauers of Iowa State University’s Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. Sauers expects a boom soon, with most current iPad initiatives being billed as pilot or experimental programs.