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HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — This is the first full school year for which most Washington County Public Schools students will be assigned an iPad.
The school system launched its 1:1 iPad program for grades three to 12 last spring, but many students picked up an iPad off a cart and returned it after a class or only had access to the mobile computer for part of the day, said Mike Kuhaneck, the school system's supervisor for school improvement.
This year, those students will be assigned an iPad that stays with them, and can be personalized and taken home, Kuhaneck said.
The intensity level of students using their Google accounts to collaborate with other students and teachers will pick up because the students will have regular access to their tablet computers, he said.
The school system's essential curriculum — the second version of a comprehensive curriculum overhaul that begins with the start of school Wednesday — is an evidence-based curriculum for which students will use their iPads, Kuhaneck said.
Students aren't expected to just regurgitate information their teachers provide, but apply the information and demonstrate their understanding, he said.
Teachers want students to show that they actually understand the concepts and can put them in a real-world context, Kuhaneck said.
"The device gives students the opportunity to take that real-world context and be innovative with it and show them in different ways how they transferred their understanding and their learning," he said.
The options could include web design and video projects, he said.
WCPS's digital-learning plan, using best educational practices for students assigned a computer, outlines nine research-based skills it wants students to have:
. Support self-evaluation and reflection
. Support photo and/or video annotation
. Support compare and contrast
. Support word processing with multimedia
. Support real-time collaboration
. Support mass communication and feedback
. Support personalized learning
. Support project-based learning
. Support formative or summative assessment
Regarding supporting mass communication and feedback, the iPads will allow students to more often reach out to real-world sources, with a teacher's direction, to gain information and insight, Kuhaneck said.
For example, a student working on a project about diesel trucks and emission controls for new diesel engines might contact someone working at Volvo Group Trucks, he said.
In the past school year, some classes used Skype to hear from an expert in a field.
Students also can use their iPads to access school-system resources from home, Kuhaneck said. If students don't have internet access at home or through a community venue, most of the tablets have at least 32 GB of memory, so students can download the videos and other materials they need and work offline at home, he said.
The school system tested the strength of its wireless system last spring by having almost every student in a school stream a video at the same time so weak spots could be identified and addressed, Kuhaneck said.
The school system also has additional iPads, one for every two second-graders, to be shared among those in the younger grades, he said.
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Information from: The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., http://www.herald-mail.com
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