Collingswood District to Consider Tablets for Students in '14-15

As Collingswood parents get their back-to-school shopping done, there's one item that could be on the school district's list for the first day of classes a year from now: hand-held digital devices.

At the Board of Education meeting Monday, Board Member David Routzahn announced that the district will study the costs of getting Collingswood sixth-graders access to electronic devices on a 1:1 basis for the 2014-15 school year.

"It's something we want to work into the budget," Routzahn said after the meeting.

He didn't offer any specific dollar figures, but added that "we get really good deals through manufacturers," including a preferred partnership with Dell Computers.

Superintendent Scott Oswald said that the district will be crunching the numbers all year and try to narrow them down by January or February 2014.

Oswald said the district estimates about 140 to 150 students will be in its sixth grade next year. He said that the board is still gathering information about product options, but that Android device tablets are among some of the cheapest devices available in the educational device market.

"Once the kids learn how to use them properly, it opens the world to them," Oswald said.

"Not everything in a textbook is accurate," he said. "Kids need to decipher what is and what is not a good, reliable source," adding that tablets can allow them to develop those habits in real time.