iPads Start Arriving in Rockford Classrooms

ROCKFORD-- So much for chalk, pencils and erasers. Students in District 205 will soon be equipped with iPads. The district began distributing the first of 3,600 iPads to students this week. School officials say the first shipment of 300 iPads was delivered to ten Rockford School District secondary schools on Wednesday, October,17. Almost 500 iPads are scheduled to be delivered Friday to Lathrop Elementary School.

"I'm excited about it," said Dr. Travis Woulfe, Executive Director of Improvement and Innovation for the Rockford School District in a news release. "This will be a different way of teaching and learning. The Berwin School District, just outside of Chicago, had a 21 percent increase in their standard test scores after getting iPads. It's a proven advantage."

The use of iPads is part of a pilot program to determine their impact on the student learning process. Test results from the I-SAT tests given in March will be used to determine their effectiveness. Title 1 Federal Funding is paying for the new technology.