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  • Florida High School First to Give Students iPads Instead of Textbooks
    by
    Phillip Swanson
    Published on 07-31-2011 08:11 AM
    41 Comments Comments


    Lake Minneola High School in Central Florida will be giving all 1,750 students iPads instead of textbooks this fall.

    Lake Minneola is also officially the coolest public high school in the country now.

    School administrators tapped into $700,000 in capital funding as part of a state pilot program designed to save money on textbooks as well as provide a new approach to education. As part of the program the school must report costs and savings associated with the program as well as how the tablets influenced student learning.

    The Lake Minneola project is part of a larger plan in which all Florida public schools will have adopted digital textbooks and instruction materials by the year 2015. Lake Minneola teachers have already started planning lessons via the numerous educational apps and iBook-formatted textbooks.

    Other Florida schools will no doubt be watching the progress of Lake Minneola throughout the year to see if the digital transition pays off or if the students devolve into Angry Bird and Zynga drones (yes the iPads will be locked so students can't install their own apps, but that can only prevent so much).

    Source: Sun Sentinel
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Florida High School First to Give Students iPads Instead of Textbooks started by Phillip Swanson View original post
    Categories:
    1. iPad,
    2. iOS,
    3. Apple
    Comments 41 Comments
    1. thetoothfairy's Avatar
      thetoothfairy - 07-31-2011, 09:24 AM
      I think this is GREAT! If I had children today I would home teach them with my iDevices including my iPads! I bet you those kids are excited about this as well as I would be!
    1. vantheman169's Avatar
      vantheman169 - 07-31-2011, 09:33 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by thetoothfairy View Post
      I think this is GREAT! If I had children today I would home teach them with my iDevices including my iPads! I bet you those kids are excited about this as well as I would be!
      My son is 2 and has been using the iPad since he was 1 and he loves it, and knows how to use it all by himself! He has his own games, books, educational apps, on there and he even knows how to get into netflix and navigate around and pick what movie or cartoon he wants to watch. its quite amazing. Slides to unlock and everything.
    1. Murseman@sbcglobal.net's Avatar
      [email protected] - 07-31-2011, 09:37 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by vantheman169 View Post
      My son is 2 and has been using the iPad since he was 1 and he loves it, and knows how to use it all by himself! He has his own games, books, educational apps, on there and he even knows how to get into netflix and navigate around and pick what movie or cartoon he wants to watch. its quite amazing. Slides to unlock and everything.
      You have a cool kid. People think I'm crazy for doing things like this.
    1. exNavy's Avatar
      exNavy - 07-31-2011, 09:44 AM
      Here comes the next generation of excuses:

      Sorry teacher, I forgot to charge my ipad last night.

      The dog ate my cord.
    1. RICO_'s Avatar
      RICO_ - 07-31-2011, 09:44 AM
      Hmmm. Interesting concept. But what happens if the iPad decides to throw a fit and freeze itself up or needs to be restored? I'm guessing since it's locked then the students won't be able to sync it with their own iTunes account.

      And if it's dropped then that becomes one expensive bill for mom and dad if it is damaged beyond functionality.
    1. hitman10's Avatar
      hitman10 - 07-31-2011, 10:01 AM
      Bad idea using iBooks for text books. I used good reader and it's so amazing. I can add things to my text books or highlight n print that sheet with the important info w/ my side notes. They need to purchase good reader!
    1. Nest's Avatar
      Nest - 07-31-2011, 10:22 AM
      The cool kids will find a way to unlock the restrictions and jailbreak!!!!
    1. DevouredDreams's Avatar
      DevouredDreams - 07-31-2011, 10:30 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Nest View Post
      The cool kids will find a way to unlock the restrictions and jailbreak!!!!
      i was thinking the same thing haha
    1. xXDrizzyyXx's Avatar
      xXDrizzyyXx - 07-31-2011, 10:37 AM
      Very excited about this hopefully I'll be able to use one in school before I graduate in 2014.
    1. z6joker9's Avatar
      z6joker9 - 07-31-2011, 10:42 AM
      Our local public school (yes, in Mississippi) assigned MacBooks to all of the students. Middle and high school at least. The teachers got MBPs. They are all insured against damage and loss. iPads would be no different- in fact, cheaper. Not to mention the cost savings associated with no physical textbooks.
    1. CrAzYiaN's Avatar
      CrAzYiaN - 07-31-2011, 10:57 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by Nest View Post
      The cool kids will find a way to unlock the restrictions and jailbreak!!!!
      Was about to say the same thing lol.
    1. vantheman169's Avatar
      vantheman169 - 07-31-2011, 11:40 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by [email protected] View Post
      You have a cool kid. People think I'm crazy for doing things like this.
      People are always amazed when they see him use it. But I am sure behind my back they are talking crap. "oh he doesn't need to play with that". Bun u know why, he does learn stuff from the educational apps and he does not play with the iPad constantly. But when he does play with it I rarely have to make him play the educational games be does it all by himself. He does watch the occasional Elmo or sesame street shows tho.
    1. javiert30's Avatar
      javiert30 - 07-31-2011, 11:51 AM
      Quote Originally Posted by vantheman169 View Post
      My son is 2 and has been using the iPad since he was 1 and he loves it, and knows how to use it all by himself! He has his own games, books, educational apps, on there and he even knows how to get into netflix and navigate around and pick what movie or cartoon he wants to watch. its quite amazing. Slides to unlock and everything.
      My son too... actually he's learning the alphabet and numbers with the iPad...
    1. sziklassy's Avatar
      sziklassy - 07-31-2011, 12:31 PM
      Part of me thinks this is great, but part of me thinks this is a pretty hefty expense. How long do textbooks last? I know my school in SoCal (graduated in 2003) would use the same book for at least 4-5 years. Some get used until they literally fall apart, depending. How long are these iPads going to last? I assume they are school property, but these kids are going to be busting these things like there is no tomorrow. You drop a book, too bad. You drop an iPad, that might be a $500 mistake.
    1. Megaorange's Avatar
      Megaorange - 07-31-2011, 12:47 PM
      Now if only my HS did this. The reason schools use textbooks for so long is because they are expensive $30+ book x 1 per student + extras and that leads to books being outdated (there are still a few sci books that say pluto is still a planet).
      This will also help with the school paper problem. I save the paper from school till the end of the year and it looks like it could have been a Whole tree and that's just the paper I take home. What I hate is people that think we should not spend so much time with "useless electronics". This will be the future everything will be digitalized. I mean we are already getting there decreased physical book sales etc.

      Quote Originally Posted by sziklassy View Post
      Part of me thinks this is great, but part of me thinks this is a pretty hefty expense. How long do textbooks last? I know my school in SoCal (graduated in 2003) would use the same book for at least 4-5 years. Some get used until they literally fall apart, depending. How long are these iPads going to last? I assume they are school property, but these kids are going to be busting these things like there is no tomorrow. You drop a book, too bad. You drop an iPad, that might be a $500 mistake.
      I had a teacher who spilled a can of soda/pop on a mac laptop
    1. AKCHRIS's Avatar
      AKCHRIS - 07-31-2011, 12:59 PM
      Well if they aren't TOO tech savy then i really don't see a reason why this isn't a bad idea. After All they can use then during Summer Vacations & not to mention that there's a PLETHORA of Discovery Apps for the little buggers to explore, THIS..is what i like to see MY hard earn tax dollars being used for. Nice Job Lake Minneola High School, Nice One.
    1. sziklassy's Avatar
      sziklassy - 07-31-2011, 01:11 PM
      I almost feel like having some sort of tethered (physically) system would be the best answer here. Students can log into a server (can be as simple as signing in at the beginning of the day). This way the physical units (be they iPads, computers, etc.) don't end up moving (far less risk of damage). Kids can buy their own iPads (or other tablet) for home use, OR they can log onto a server and get their work online.
    1. DevouredDreams's Avatar
      DevouredDreams - 07-31-2011, 01:15 PM
      can you imagine if the school didnt supply these lmao

      when i was in school my mom was pissed when she had to buy me the $100 calculator, could you imagine if the school list had iPad lmao
    1. christopherjason's Avatar
      christopherjason - 07-31-2011, 01:34 PM
      i kno all my highschool text books cost about 400-600 for the full semester if i lost them, 100 calculator, 100 in supply's (pens paper binder backpack Ect) idk spend the 800 on a iPad that will do all that and last more then 1 semester worth while
    1. whereswaldo's Avatar
      whereswaldo - 07-31-2011, 02:26 PM
      If this wasn't florida, I might consider moving there
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