The Okaloosa County School District has 1,962 iPads in the hands of its students and staff.
Of those, only about 20 have come back broken in the last year and a half. Only five of them were assigned to students.
Another 230 iPads are being ordered.
The district doesn’t look to be stepping away from the devices anytime soon. The specialized education apps that can tutor and allow students to go at their own pace have proven priceless in the changing educational landscape.
“We have learned a lot and we keep learning,” said Eric Mitchell, who oversees technology for the district. “The iPads are great for individualized instruction.”
See the iPad pilot presentation. >>
In the first year, officials found security breaches that allowed students to download games, but those problems were fixed. They also discovered that not just any iPad case will do, and learned how to replace screens in the meantime.
Right now officials are preparing to test a few other devices before they decide if the iPad is the best option for digital textbooks and online testing.
“Technology is still shaping. We’re still out front,” Mitchell said. “We’re waiting on the state and the textbook companies to kind of settle on a unified platform.”
Even after the best digital textbooks are identified, it won’t be simple to get them in the hands of all students. For example, it would cost about $1 million to provide all 2,300 students at Crestview High School with an iPad.
The district doesn’t have that money for one school, let alone three dozen.
Officials are tossing around solutions that will enable the district to meet upcoming technology mandates, including having students bring their own devices. That will open up a host of new issues, but Mitchell and his department already are looking for solutions.
“You don’t want to limit creativity, but you don’t want to open it up.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.