Apple's iPad 3 Announcement is Big News For Lakeville Schools

Thanks to Apple rolling out the new iPad 3 yesterday, officials with the  say they'll will be able to purchase 1,900 iPad 2s—500 more than it had originally planned—as part of the district's iLearn 194 technology initiative.

The iPad 2s will set the district back roughly $800,000, and are being paid for, in part, with $1.1 million in one time Basic Skills Funding, which Lakeville schools received from the state of Minnesota. On a larger level, , and the goal is to increase student motivation and engagement, cultivate innovative learning and thinking, and improving career-readiness through use of technology that many people use at home, such as iPads.

The iPad 2 tablets will be used by students for classroom instruction.

"We are excited about (the) announcement that the iPad2 will be available for $399 instead of the original price of $499. Our strategy to wait until the Apple iPad announcement before purchasing devices for our iLearn grants has paid off," said Jason Molesky, the district's assessment and accountability coordinator.

Over the next 18 months, classrooms and teachers who have received district grants will pioneer the tools and resources included in iLearn 194 program, such as the iPads. An estimated 50 classrooms across the district will be among the first to test Lakeville’s new approach to technology.

“This generation is very digital,” Superintendent Dr. Lisa Snyder told  in January. “That’s the world we live in now."

Meanwhile, the district is also working to rehab its sometimes faltering wireless Internet access throughout its schools.

As Patch reported in January, the district hopes to have wireless in each school by Aug. 1, with a focus on the teachers who were awarded iLearn grants last month. The wireless upgrades will cost $560,000, Thisweek reported.

 will have more following the March 6 work session.