美国学校为学生分发数千iPad_BEC初级作文

美国学校为学生分发数千iPad

Educational use of the tablet computers is so new that there's little evidence available on their impact. Superintendent James Ponce said the district wanted to change the classroom culture, making it more interactive and creative and decided Apple's devices - even at $500 retail for an iPad2 - were the best investment。

The district's typical classroom is outfitted with three computers for students and one for the teacher. Going forward those technology investments will be supplanted by the iPads. For now, McAllen's iPads don't carry its textbooks, but eventually they will and at much lower cost than the hard copies that can cost $200 apiece。

A small group of teachers in the district began preparing more than a year ago on incorporating the devices into their lessons. Recently, more instructors have started studying the devices. Teachers already training will see their students receive the first wave of devices。

About two-thirds of McAllen students were characterized as economically disadvantaged in 2010, the most recent data available according to the district. The median household income in McAllen, a city on the US-Mexico border near the southern tip of Texas, was about $41,000 in 2010.

School board President Sam Saldivar said the $20.5 million investment in the technology aims at "equity."

"We know that when they do achieve and are successful they are going to be generationally impacting their families and this community," Saldivar said。