More Than Just A Toy: School District Buys iPads For Kindergarten Classrooms
by Joe White
April 9, 2011
In Auburn, Maine, 285 lucky kindergarteners (and their teachers) will soon have iPad 2 tablets to use in the classroom. Around $200,000 was recently spent purchasing and insuring iPads for kindergarteners and teachers in one school district, as well as loading up the devices with fun, educational apps.
This is believed to be the first time the State of Maine has deployed iPads in kindergarten (currently, the state has a successful Mac laptop program for older students). Eventually, the program will serve all six elementary schools in the district - though initially it is launching as a pilot project (this May).
However, forget Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja - the scheme hopes to better educate kindergarteners, after educational apps were shown to help children who were having difficulty learning the alphabet.
Here's hoping Auburn's kindergarteners get on well with their new iPads! We'll keep you posted on the program's progress. In the meantime, if you have a kid who loves your iDevice, check out our AppGuide on educational iOS apps - and be sure to let us know your favorites in the comments!
