Shorecrest to Get First Round of iPads, While Shorewood Renews its Program

New iPads will be passed out to all students and Shorecrest and Shorewood high schools in September.

Teacher training by district staff on the devices continues this week and next week at both high schools.

District technology director Jim Golubich said the pilot program has worked at Shorewood and the School Board agreed unanimously in May to extend the program to Shorecrest. 

The total cost for 1,500 iPads, cases, software and other equipment for Shorecrest will be only $803,988 minus $58,500 after student fees are collected.

That's because the new iPads will cost $100 or 20 percent less than the Shorewood iPads and software is at a 30 percent discount as prices for the technology comes down for the district.

Students will have the option to choose from three packages:

•Option 1 includes an iPad 2, insurance for $30 and case for $15.

•Option 2 includes the iPad, insurance for $30, case for $15 and external keyboard for $20. The district got a deal on the external keyboards which cost $69 at the Apple store. 

"To offer it fro $20, I'm pretty pleased wiht that," Golubich said. "It is not the Apple brand. (But) it's got all the keys, shortcuts everything."

Keyboards are mainly for home use and make it more efficient for students to type and do writing for projects. The keyboard uses two AAA batteries which need to be replaced after 80 or 90 hours of use.

•Option 3 includes the iPad, insurance for $30 and a keyboard built into the case for $40.

The old MacBooks that were used by the district originally in 2006, are going to be put on carts and put into classrooms for use. The need and access will be determined by each department. 

Golubich said as the district runs out of reliable laptops, they will be "replaced with more functionality with the iPad."

This year, district staff will be around during the issuing time and at the start of school to consult and provide help to students as they download essential applications and configure their devices.

That didn't happen last year and students were largely on their own, which Golubich admitted was a miscalculation that will be remedied this year. 

Out of the 1,600 iPads distributed at Shorewood only 30 needed repair or replacement, Golubich said. iPad theft has occured but insurance is included as part of the fee paid by the families at the beginning of the year. 

These iPads are at least $600 less than MacBooks and that is the major reason why the switch is being made.

Still, the iPad devices still serve many educational purposes such as downloading textbooks, applications and the like. 

The district's 2010 technology levy is the source for the iPad expenditure. 

At the start of last school year, the Shoreline School District was one of about 600 districts nationally that rolled out iPads in its schools. Shoreline's rollout was one of the most extensive.