Pilot project at Star Elementary puts handheld Apple devices in every class

The technological revolution at Star Elementary over the past eight years hit a new level this year.

The Meridian School District used federal money to purchase 43 iPads and 130 iPod Touches. Money from parents and school-booster fundraising paid for another 17 iPads.

?We raised about $6,000 on cookie dough,? Principal Carla Karnes said, laughing.

Each fourth- and fifth-grade classroom has six iPads; each classroom from kindergarten to third grade has 10 iPod Touches.

Kids tap and swipe away on the handheld devices. They make audio recordings, watch videos, solve problems and help each other learn.

?We are all doing it and we are all doing it at a high level,? said Karnes. ?Our engagement is 100 percent? ? students, teachers and staff.

?This is school at Star Elementary,? said Meridian Superintendent Linda Clark. ?They are really leading the way at building those classrooms of the 21st century.?

MAKING CHARTS AND GRAPHS

Marita Diffenbaugh?s fifth-grade students sit in small groups clustered around iPads.

?We are using technology to create graphs,? Elijah Smith, 11, said. ?And I love it.?

The students are using an app to plot their favorite musical instruments with charts and graphs. With the tap of a finger, a bar graph is converted into a pie chart; another tap and the image changes from two-dimensional to three-dimensional.

When the students are done, they will turn in their assignments. But Diffenbaugh won?t take home hundreds of papers to grade. ?Instead, I get hundreds of emails,? she said.

Diffenbaugh has a nearly paperless class. Students email their assignments, and Diffenbaugh emails back the graded work.

HEARING THEMSELVES READ

In Andrea Jakious? third-grade class, students record themselves reading aloud on an iPod Touch.

Ella Harris, 8, plays back her recording, listening to her pronunciation and timing. Once she is pleased with the recording, she emails it to her teacher to be graded.

?It is just another way to learn,? Harris said. ?We get to hear ourselves read.?

GETTING THE GREEN LIGHT

Fourth-grader Jacob Kratz sits at a table with five other students. His classmate hands him an iPad. ?Now it is my turn,? he says.

On the screen is a math problem and a timer ticking away. Kratz, 10, ponders the problem: nine divided by three. He taps in the answer: three. The screen flashes a green light. He beams proudly, ?This is way fun.? He quickly passes the iPad to the next student. ?Your turn. Hurry.?

Teacher Jill Trumble is using a math app that works like a game ? students are timed on how quickly and accurately they can answer a series of math questions.

PARENTS MADE IT HAPPEN

?Our community of parents, they are awesome,? Karnes said. ?We are not a rich school ? we sit at the 45 percent poverty rate.?

In addition to money, parents have made other contributions to get the school technologically equipped. One parent, a welder, made the brackets to mount projectors on each classroom?s ceiling. Another parent, an electrician, did the wiring for the projectors. For the past three years, boosters have paid the $2,400 annual fee for Discovery streaming, a digital and online content provider. This year, for the first time, the state is paying that tab.

The students? small handheld devices hold the equivalent of hundreds of books, videos, photos and other material.

Since the launch of the pilot program in July, the staff has spent 1,500 extra hours ?just to make sure this program is designed the way we want it,? Karnes said.

?We have over 200 apps on our devices now,? she said. Selecting, downloading and sorting those apps ?took an enormous amount of time.?

After the initial investment is made in devices, Karnes said the use of the technology in classrooms will be cheaper than traditional textbooks and other materials, but upkeep will be more labor-intensive.

?An app costs $2 apiece; a textbook costs $60 and up,? she said.

But once a month, the school must synch, or update, all 190 iPads and iPod Touches. The devices also must be monitored and maintained regularly.

The transition to the handheld devices was particularly easy for the elementary students.

?Technology is only technology if it was invented after you were born. Our kids don?t see these devices as technology,? Karnes said. ?It is part of their world. This is not new to them. It is very intuitive for them.

?This is the first generation that has mastered a tool that is essential to society before their elders.?

Cynthia Sewell: 377-6428

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