Chief Technology Officer Brad Hagg appeared before the Warsaw Community School Board of Trustees yesterday for an update on the newly implemented one-to-one technology program titled “E3 Tiger Tech.” The program supplied all sixth grade students in the district with iPad Minis to help accelerate student learning. A total of 535 iPads were purchased and financing for the 3-year plan was made available through text-book rental fees, the WCS capital projects fund and a $100,000 digital learning grant awarded from the Indiana Department of Education.
According to Hagg, the program has had a strong start with both students and staff. Potential changes for year two would include accelerating the program at the middle school. Though initially it was planned to roll iPads out to students a year at a time starting at the sixth grade level, Hagg proposed ensuring that all middle school grade levels will receive an iPad this year. Hagg noted that should the plan continue as originally proposed, both the sixth and seventh grade classes will have iPads with eighth graders left without a device. Hagg noted that not only could this create a tension amongst students, but could potentially hinder teachers who teach between grade levels or teach classes that incorporate both seventh and eighth grades.
Hagg noted that he plans to establish more frequent and earlier training for teachers utilizing the devices. In addition, Hagg also noted that though many may guess lost or damaged equipment would be common, only one student per semester has damaged their device.
(Graph supplied by WCS)
From a financial aspect, Hagg noted that eighth grade students would receive the same device the seventh grade students received while in sixth grade. The total cost for sixth and seventh grade students is estimated at $51,440 with $24,750 paid by textbook rental fees, $26,690 paid by the capital projects fund and $45 paid by parents. Comparatively, the cost of supplying eighth grader students with iPad Minis will cost $65,624.13 total with $32,175 paid by textbook rental, $26,690 paid by the capital projects fund and $45 paid by parents. The cost of the program, if brought to the eighth grade class would increase from $53,380 to $86,829.13. Student impact will grow from 15.3 percent to 23.2 percent of students. Hagg noted that after equipping all middle school students in the coming year, the corporation would go back to the three year plan that would supply iPads to sixth graders only.
Hagg also noted that the school will likely need to expand on the current internet network to ensure high performance at Edgewood and Lakeview middle schools. A portion of the project could be paid by an ERATE discount of $34,150.46 at Edgewood Middle School and $30,278.59 at Lakeview Middle School, which would leave a district obligation of $22,766.98 at Edgewood and $20,185.72 at Lakeview.