GREENFIELD — Over the next few years, Greenfield-Central officials plan to roll out iPads to each student as the corporation phases out laptops in its one-to-one technology program, the superintendent says.
The Greenfield-Central School Board last week gave the OK to purchase 1,830 of the newest-generation iPads on a four-year lease costing $815,208. In the fall, school officials will hand out those new devices, equipped with protective cases and attachable keyboards, to each Greenfield-Central High School student as well as fifth-graders at the district’s two intermediate schools, Superintendent Harold Olin said.
High school students received Macbooks four years ago when Greenfield-Central started its one-to-one initiative. Three years ago, the corporation purchased Chromebooks for fifth-graders, Olin said.
After discussing the cost of laptops vs. tablets and the use of the laptops in instruction with faculty and staff, Olin said the administration decided to change course. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade already have iPads, so students have become familiar with the device, Olin added. Each iPad costs the corporation about $450, and the Macbooks were priced at more than $800, he said.
Most students use Google Classroom, Olin added, which functions similarly on an iPad as it does on laptops. Teachers also like that students can take pictures and videos on iPads. They could not do that on their laptops.
After the 2019-20 school year, Olin said the four-year Macbook lease for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders will end, and the corporation plans to purchase new iPads so each K-12 student has a tablet.
Jason Cary, principal at Greenfield-Central High School, said going with iPads over Macbooks doesn’t just save the corporation money, but families also. Students have to pay textbook fees to the corporation, which includes some of the cost of the iPad. Students can also purchase optional insurance for the devices.
If Greenfield-Central would’ve leased more Macbooks, Cary said the textbook fees would’ve increased substantially. The corporation absorbed much of the Macbook cost four years ago so as to not strain the buy-in for families, Cary said, but Greenfield-Central wouldn’t have been able to sustain the cost of the pricier laptops moving forward. Cary said administrators are determining the textbook fee for this fall.
Cary said teachers will also have more control over the iPads than Macbooks during instruction. He said the district will offer iPad training for teachers to prepare for the fall.
