Teachers looking for new, innovative ways to integrate technology into the classroom are in luck: as part of a pilot program, Harrisonburg City Schools is now offering iPads to teachers for use in the classroom. They are available for up to three weeks at a time.

“[The iPad program] is relatively new because the iPads themselves are relatively new. We received 50 iPads in late February and got an application process into place so that teachers can write lesson plans and request labs for up to three weeks,” HCPS Instructional Technology Supervisor Karen Campbell said.

While some teachers had received iPads and iPods through various grants, Campbell says more had been requesting them.

“We had a lot of people asking about them and Dr. Kizner was really supportive. He probably came up with the concept. Some teachers had already had iPads and iPods through grants, but Dr. Kizner wanted to expand that and get it into the students’ hands. That’s the idea: getting the technology into the students’ hands,” Campbell said.

The school district, Campbell says, spent roughly $500 a piece for the iPads, for a total cost of $25,000 to the district. She claims that the funds were justifiably spent.

“I think about the amount we spend and how to wisely use funds. We don’t have an unlimited amount of funds. I think that looking into investing small amounts of money into technology for testing, which is what we’re doing here, is absolutely worthwhile. However, we do have to think carefully about our priorities and technology is not the end all. It’s cost vs. value,” Campbell said.

Currently two labs are checked out–both to fourth grade teachers who rushed to get their applications in. Campbell observed one of the classes working with the iPads and says she was impressed by how diligently the students worked.

“I observed one classroom and the teacher had the classroom set up into three stations.The first station watched videos from Discovery Education. We downloaded those onto the iPad. The second station used a white board app to do fractions,” Campbell said.

“There was a dice and they would roll that and get different numbers that they then had to work with. The third station worked with the teachers. They put pictures from the iPad in their whiteboard app into another app. They could make videos of them adding and subtracting fractions. During the time that I was there, not a single student was doing what they were not supposed to do. They helped each other learn how to use the technology, cooperated…it was beautiful.”

During a presentation to the school board on how HCPS is utilizing technology, Campbell described what she had observed and gave other examples of technology successfully being integrated into the classroom.

“One example that was given was a teacher that went on a field trip. The teacher gave the students an iPod, and while they were on the trip, they took pictures and videos of what they were seeing and learning. Then, on the bus on the way back, they were able to take those pictures and videos and create a presentation that was ready for them when they got back,” Campbell said.

After watching how successfully the iPads were used in that fourth grade classroom, Campbell says she is certain that the program will eventually expand beyond the 50 iPads that are currently available.

“This is something that I definitely think will expand. It is important to successfully integrate technology into the classroom. There are just cool things that these devices can do and then these students talk about them and learn,” Campbell said. “It’s important to teach our students how to work with technology. You would be hard pressed to find a job where you don’t use technology.”