Thank you to all of the families who have asked really good questions! It helps us to clarify our new and exciting technology!

Mr. Stenson answers more Ipad questions:

What type of class assignments, projects, etc. will students be doing with the ipad?

The iPads will be used to expand upon the success we had last year with our set of shared netbooks (the classroom set that we had was consistently booked for use). The iPads have since matured enough to be better utilized in the school environment, making them the choice of the next generation of that concept.
There will be some productivity apps installed (pages, keynote etc.). They would be used for mutli-media projects and presentations, recording/editing audio and video, creating digital stories, and
collaboration via Google Apps for Education. We'll have an iTunes-U channel that will be used for created and shared content.
The exciting thing is that there are applications that can potentially be utilized for just about any subject.  As we move forward in using them on a regular basis, there will surely be many more creative ways that come with experience.

Will apps like Facebook, Netflix etc. be accessible at school?

The iPads will be configured to use the schools wireless network which uses the same internet connection filtering that is in place for the entire network. All of the sites that have been and are currently blocked will remain that way, so that those apps will not function correctly while at school.

Will the software be compatible with their flash drives and what they do at home?

The iPad isn't really replacing desktop or laptop computers, it is complementing existing technology.
We will be utilizing online (cloud) storage solutions so that saved files can be shared between home and school and different devices (i.e. iPad and PC).
The main applications are compatible via import and export functions (i.e. Pages or Google Apps to Word). If we run into a case where something doesn't translate correctly, we can still pull it up on the appropriate platform (which is something we have always had to deal with due to multiple platforms being available).


Will their textbooks be available through these tablets?

Currently some of our text books are available via a web browser.  At this time we are waiting on the publishers to make their e-book offerings available to the K-8 market.