I am concerned about the lack of filtering of Internet content when the student takes his iPad home. It is a false assumption if we assume that parents will closely supervise the use of iPads (by the student as well as by younger brothers and sisters). Isn't there something more you can do to filter pornography and other unhealthy sites to be viewed by kids away from school? Or, is there something Alpine Communications or another provider can do to help parents who are concerned? (I don't think keeping the iPad at school is an option in most situations due to the amount of homework students have.)

It is our belief that parents should monitor the use of the Internet when children are at home. This allows each parent to address home Internet use in their own style and promotes active parental involvement in teaching about appropriate digital citizenship.  Any rules that parents have about computer use, Internet access, cell phone use, television programming, etc. should apply equally to their child’s iPad use.

Internet content filtering is never 100% secure, even within the school building. Because of this and the reality that when students leave school they are exposed to unfiltered content via computers, cell phones, television programming, etc., digital citizenship is continually addressed and emphasized during the school day. However, our district cannot be the only place our students are receiving guidance about the standards of appropriate content.  We need the involvement of parents in helping our young people learn and maintain good digital habits that will last a lifetime.

We should note that we are investigating several apps that could possibly filter the student iPads while they are off-campus. We will inform parents if we find an app that will work for our iPad program.

We are assuming that there will be families who choose not to take the iPads home. Our staff understands this and will make sure that homework can still be completed at home, with or without the iPad.

What questions do you have?

Click on "Comments" in this post to ask a question(s) about our 1:1 iPad program. Questions will be reviewed by staff and answers will be posted as soon as possible.

Will the use of iPads move the students away from writing research papers, including the works cited pages and footnotes? College level teachers assume students know how to write research papers when the students enter college. Will most of the work students create using the iPads be projects instead of papers?

Teacher Responses:

• No, I feel it will be a great tool for researching to complete these types of papers. I look to do more on the form of papers in social studies.
• It definitely will not replace the research paper.  In fact, the iPad will not replace any current curriculum. It will rather enhance. This fall we did an electronic research paper which included an MLA format works cited page and in-text citation (which now replaces footnotes in most styles.)  We spent time discussing websites and how to determine the value/bias/credibility of these sites. All research notes were done using a spreadsheet, the paper was written and submitted electronically.  I used my iPad to respond and grade the work and then sent it back in electronic format to the students. All of this could be duplicated on an iPad.  
• When I teach the research paper, I plan to use PaperHelper to conduct the research. Pages will be used to write the paper itself. Students will be able to properly format their entire paper on their iPad, including the works cited. 
• Absolutely not for my class.  Research papers and writing assignments will still be an important part of biology, anatomy and global science.  Even if a student is completing a project instead of a writing assignment, work cited documents are still usually included with PowerPoints and speeches.  The iPad just makes research and typing the paper easier for some students. 
• I would hope not with our focus on 6 + 1 Traits of writing.  I think a lot of short writing exercises can be done with iPads with or without keyboards.  We will still be maintaining three labs with one expressed purpose for writing papers.