Kindergarten classes are supplementing crayons, finger paints, and flashcards with iPads, a development that excites supporters but that detractors worry is wasted on pupils too young to appreciate the expense.
Next fall, nearly 300 kindergartners in the central Maine city of Auburn will become the latest batch of youngsters around the country to get iPad 2 touchpad tablets to learn the basics about ABCs, 1-2-3s, drawing, and even music.
“It’s definitely an adventure, and it’ll be a journey of learning for teachers and students,” said Auburn kindergarten teacher Amy Heimerl, who received an iPad on April 12, ahead of the full deployment in the fall. “I’m looking forward to seeing where this can take us and our students.”
But the $200,000 that Superintendent Tom Morrill is proposing to spend on iPads—which retail for around $500—might be better spent on some other school program, said Sue Millard of Auburn, who has children in the fourth grade and high school. She also questions whether kindergartners are old enough to appreciate the effort.
“I understand you have to keep up with technology, but I think a 5-year old is a little too young to understand,” she said.
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Maine was the first state to equip students statewide with computers when it distributed Apple laptops to all seventh- and eighth-graders in 2002 and 2003. The program has since expanded, with laptops parceled out to about 50 percent of high school students.
The state Department of Education says it believes Auburn is the first school district in Maine that will give iPads to kindergartners. The school board last week unanimously approved the plan to give all kindergartners iPads next fall.
The iPad is a powerful education tool with hundreds of teaching applications, Morrill said. With its touchpad screen, it’s simple to use and can bring learning to life with imagery and sounds, he said.
“It’s a revolution in education,” Morrill said.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller declined to comment on how iPads are being used in schools, but dozens of school districts around the country have been giving iPads to students. Schools in Omaha, Neb.; Columbiana, Ohio; Huntington, W. Va.; Paducah, Ky.; Charleston, S.C.; and Scottsdale, Ariz., are among the places where kindergarten pupils are using them.
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