This year, New Trier has implemented a progressive new way of learning in the classroom: the iPad initiative. The initiative involves around 700 students and 25 teachers who received iPads for the purpose of doing almost any activity or work for a particular class. The Board of Education is considering implementing an expanded initiative next year. “We will present a recommendation to the Board of Education later this month about how many students will participate next year, but it will likely be between 1600-2500,” said Chris Johnson, Director of Technology at New Trier. “The following year, all students may have iPads,” he added.

So far, it seems that the use of iPads has mainly been confined to science and language classes. A few history and English classes have iPads but it has not integrated into the coursework as it has with other subjects. Junior Lauren Secaras uses her iPad for physics and French. “I don’t think you could use an iPad for math and I don’t see the point of using one for English because I wouldn’t like to use an iPad to read books,” she said.

Senior Sydney Even agrees with Secaras. “I mainly use it in science. It makes science easier, and in my psych-soc class we don’t usually use our iPads so it’s annoying to have to bring it to class every day.”

The reaction of the majority of students and teachers has been generally positive. Yet, a some people critique that transitioning between using an app and taking notes should be simpler. “It is hard to have a media file open and take notes at the same time,” said junior Brian Albano. “I like taking notes on the iPad, but it makes it a little more difficult when they aren’t out for me to see,” he continued.

“The best part of having an iPad is how convenient it is” said Secaras. “It is really easy to look something up in class, I like that all of my notes and files are in one place and I have less papers and notebooks and binders in my backpack.”

Ryan Dunn, a Physics teacher, teaches four classes throughout the day and using an iPad for two of those classes but would love to use an iPad in every class he teaches. “I like that with the iPads I can do activities when we are in the lecture room. Before, it was more limited and we needed to be a lab room but now we can do something on our iPads.”

At the beginning of the year, teachers and students found it difficult to incorporate iPads into the lesson plans because no one at New Trier had done it before. “I was forcing it too much. I wanted to use the iPad in every lab we were doing and make it the focus of the lesson plan,” said Dunn. “Once I stopped doing that, the iPad made everything easier. The iPad gives me something that I can do now that I couldn’t do before,” he continued.

Technological difficulties have been a source of major frustration for iPad users. Some apps unexpectedly delete work, and other apps simply don’t work. Also, if you are in a spot with poor internet connection, using an iPad may be a more challenging alternative to just writing a paper. Many students can write faster than they can type, and using an iPad may impede their ability to keep up with the material.

Some classes use both iPads and textbooks. “In my psych-soc class, we don’t always use the iPad, which I like because reading off the screen can give me headache. I like the variety between iPad and textbook,” said Even.

“Some teachers will use eBooks with students on iPads, depending on availability” said Johnson.

One measure that Dunn does that his students like is that he makes the iPad optional. If students don’t want to take notes on their iPad, they can use a notebook. “Because I am flexible when it comes to how often a student has to use an iPad, I think I get more positive feedback. About 3/4 of the class uses it all the time and we do have some labs that don’t incorporate the iPad, but I would say we use it every day in some way.”

Students who have iPads this year would all be willing to have one again next year as long as there are some changes made. “We have extensively evaluated the initiative via classroom visits, surveys, and focus groups. The results are positive, and students and teachers express enthusiasm about the program and a desire to have it expanded in the coming years” said Johnson.