Parents surprised by the number of books EACS students will get despite having iPad

NEW HAVEN, Ind. (WANE) - East Allen County Schools will hand over more than seven thousand iPads for the 2012-2013 school year.  Every student in grades six through 12 will get a take home iPad.

On Tuesday, students registered for school.  The day included getting books for the school year.  Parents were surprised to find out that the number of textbooks their kids needed had not changed.

"I thought there was going to be less books," John Perez, who has two kids who will receive iPads, said.

"I thought they were probably going to be without books this year," Kristina Grigsby, who has three kids who will get iPads, said.  "I just thought it would mainly be the iPad."

EACS will begin passing out iPads on Thursday.  Parents will pay a $30 annual insurance premium, which is also being called a user fee.  Parents can pay the fee in $5 increments, but $5 must paid when the student takes the iPad, and the full $30 must be paid by the end of 2012.

Students will use the iPad for several things.  That includes the use of iTextbooks, or digital textbooks..  The only courses offered through the iPad are Algebra 1, Algebra 2, and Geometry.  Students enrolled in those courses will pay $14.99 per course.

According to William Diehl, the district's accountability and technology director, the price of an iTextbook is cheaper than most traditional textbooks.  However, when adding up the user fee and the cost of an iTextbook, parents may see a higher cost in books this year.

"It may not be cheaper at this time for moment for the books," he said.  "We don't just look at [the iPad] as a textbook.  There is so many more things that you can do with an iPad than just a textbook.  It's a huge resource.  It brings so much more to the table."

Diehl explained why the district didn't put more courses on the iPad for the upcoming year.

"The issue is we have purchased textbooks," Diehl said.  "They're in a cycle, and that cycle has to end for the payment of those books.  As that comes off, we can start putting more on [the iPad]."

Diehl said the next subject to go to the iTextbook should be language arts and grammar courses.

The district's leaders expect to have every course offered on an iPad in three or four years.  "There will be savings as time goes on," Diehl said.

The school board held several community meetings over the past several months about the transition into iPads.  During those meetings, the district told parents about the user fee, and what the iPad would be used for.

Perez and his family attended those meetings.  He, and Grigsby, both said they thought iPads would be a good addition to the classroom.  They both said they wanted to see improved test scores to know the device is enhancing how a child learns.

School leaders will monitor the transition to iPads, and will make necessary changes, but are confident they'll improve how a student learns.

"When I walked into a classroom," Diehl said, "what's the one thing I want to see, is engagement.  To me, technology is a huge piece in a student's life.  They like to work with technology, use technology, communicate with technology with their friends.  We feel this is an excellent piece for engagement.  If you engage students, students will learn."

EACS will have students, and their parents, their when kids pick up the iPad.  When EACS asked other districts with iPads what they would have done differently, the one number response was have the parents more involved with the device.

Click here to learn more about how iPads will be used at EACS.