First Class with iPads

This year’s seniors were the first class to have iPads, and after four years the program has grown and developed thoroughly; the freshmen now receive Chromebooks, and each year a new problem is solved. However, the idea of returning them has caused a multitude of student and faculty responses.

The iPad program was highly successful, despite some students’ complaints. Not only did the students learn more about technology in an academic setting, but they were given the opportunity to have a one-to-one device at home.

Technical support expert Karen McGrath explained that Sandwich High School started the program to help prepare students for the future.

“The school separated the yearly budget for some time to prepare for this program and did not use a grant to fund it. The switch to Chromebooks had a lot of positive benefits such as having Google features, being more compatible, and providing even further communication between students, and also they cost less,” McGrath stated.

SHS senior Lexi Pace said she knew the iPad would be used for educational purposes by having online books and notes. After three years, she said she still uses it academically and recreationally.

“I used it as a backup phone... but I also had Schoology for some classes and a couple of notes, (but) really only one book,” Pace explained.

She did like the iPad overall: “It was easy to work at school and bring it home to continue anything I needed to.”

Sophomore Caroline Claubult is halfway through the iPad process and had different ideas of the iPad’s use. She had heard many different ideas from older students who already had the iPads: “I heard it was mostly used for social media or Netflix, and that you use it on your own,” she stated.

The Class of 2015 paved the way for this program, and as the whole school eventually had their own personal devices, the variety of ages and types of students learned what it took to own an iPad and use it to its full advantage.

As the seniors start to turn in their iPads, many are reflecting on what their educational experience would have been without one.

The iPad 2, which some claim are technologically outdated, will have a further purpose once returned to the school.

McGrath elaborated, saying, “Students with Chromebooks will be able to use the iPads for specific classes if certain tasks require apps that Apple provides. There are many different learning opportunities that will benefit from these iPads.”

Some might complain about the demands the school instituted throughout the process, but in this day and age, it would be very difficult to function as well-prepared students, ready for all the technological advancements of the future, if iPads had not been a part of our curriculum.

The iPad program at Sandwich High was successful and provided students with a highly beneficial educational opportunity. Hopefully, students and teachers alike will learn from this “guinea pig” graduating class and will use the iPads to their full advantage.