Morristown HS Parents Raise iPad Safety Concerns

Last year, as part of a continuing pilot program, the Morris School District purchased about 400 iPad2 tablets for the entire seventh-grade at Frelinghuysen Middle School–as well as seventh-and-eighth-grade teachers. They received them in October.

The same plan is rolling out for next year’s 9^th graders at Morristown High School.

about the 1:1 iPad program followed by a Q&A session with Scott Klepesch, Supervisor of Instruction and Technology K-12.

"This program will provide every 9th grade student with a district-issued iPad in early September for use in school and at home. Students will be using the iPad on a daily basis to access curricular materials, to connect with classmates and teachers, and to electronically submit assignments," said Interim Principal Ethel Minchello in a letter.

Klepesch began by explaining that this program is to prepare students for the Common Core State Standards and 21^st Century learning.

Common Core

Common Core is state mandated, said Klepesch. In the 2014-15 school year, “students will have to take online exams. Technology, whether it’s directly or indirectly referenced, is in 78 standards (of the Common Core).”

“Grades 3-11 will be tested on the Common Core. The Common Core is not content specific. It’s more about general college and career readiness skills,” said Klepesch.

He added that there’s more pressure on AP courses, which “are being redesigned for Common Core.” He gave the example of a US history test, which is very content driven with 80 questions in 50 minutes.

“That is changing. Now Kids will be given a controlled database and will need to determine what information is relevant,” he said.

“It’s our job as educators to measure what literacy is in the 21^st century. Common Core focuses on informational literacy skills, media literacy skills and visual literacy skills. The best way to achieve that is to put a device into kids’ hands and have them be able to access information,” said Klepesch. “Moving to a 1:1 program where everyone has access and being able to work on this both inside and outside of the classrooms is going to be a significant step in us moving toward Common Core and preparing for the PARCC exam.” 

Learning in a Digital Age

Klepesch said the district is looking at the realities of Common Core and the digital age.

“We live in a world that is constantly evolving, that is defined by change more so than any other time in human history, so how so you prepare kids? We’re talking about a new set of sub skills,” said Klepesch. “It’s not just about memorization and recall. How do we prepare kids to ask the right questions and be innovative, creative and active problem solvers.”

Students will need to build personal learning networks, learn management systems, learn other tools and how to leverage it in a responsible way, such as Twitter and Facebook, he said.

Students will be connecting with teachers and other students inside and outside of the classroom.

“It’s much more realistic. Kids can put things on Google Docs and they can edit and exchange ideas in real time.”

He said that moving to a 1:1 world, there will be different expectations in and out of the classroom. He gave a recent example: Teachers were in chat sessions and invited students into the chat session to discuss points raised during the presidential debate.

One parent asked about digital textbooks. Publishing companies had to adjust to e-text, said Klepesch. Fiction and non-fiction adapted more quickly than textbooks, but teachers in the future will be purchasing chapters of a textbook.

The 1:1  environment will transform teaching and learning by embracing the 4 C’s:

• Communication
• Collaboration
• Critical Thinking
• Creativity

The iPad

The iPad program is not mandatory, but strongly encouraged so that everyone’s on the same platform. Klepesch gave the example of a teacher using the application iMovie for a class project, and students will need an iPad or a compatible device.

Next year’s freshmen will carry their iPads through all four years of high school.

The plan for the future is that students will get one in 7^th grade and will keep that same iPad for grades 7-9. Then they will trade it in for a new one in 10^th grade and that will be the same device the student uses for grades 10-12.

The district will provide keyboards. iPads will be handed in over the summer and the student will get the same one back in the fall. Some students will be able to keep the iPad over the summer, but that is a case-by-case basis.

There are slight differences between middle and high school. For example, there are more online courses in high school. 

There will be iPad training sessions for students and all items on the iPad are stored on the Cloud, or storing information online instead of on the device. 

The Morris School District’s insurance covers:

• Dropping and shattering the screen
• Liquid submersion
• Theft — must fill out a police report
• Mechanical issues

Not Covered

• Losing a device

A loaner device will be given to the student while his/her assigned iPad is sent out to be fixed

There’s an acceptable use policy in the district and there will be consequences for habitual offenders.

As part of the students’ responsibility is to come to school with a charged device. “Having been part of the 7^th grade 1:1 program, this hasn’t been a big issue. Kids have understood the importance of this. The fact that they have the device … they charge it and make sure they come to school with a charged device.”

There’s a username and passcode for every iPad that students set up and should not share with others.

Safety Concerns

Parents brought up concerns with Internet safety.

Klepesch said that the school’s wifi system has a firewall that includes an Internet filter.

“It’s completely secure and completely safe,” he said, adding that Spam and ads are blocked as well by the school. He gave an example: “Kids can’t have certain games. If a kid downloads Angry Birds, I get an email saying that this student user just downloaded Angry Birds … Skype, we want students to use it in responsible ways … but denying them, they won’t learn how to use it.

Parent Training

There will be parent sessions where parents will be able to learn how to use the apps and digital content that their kids were using.

Parent Resources on the website:

• Rationale for the program
• FAQs
• Informational items and links (to research and other school programs)
• Tutorials/how-to guides
• This 1:1 presentation