For Glenbard, iPads becoming 'the norm'

Glenbard Township High School District 87 administrators and teachers are pleased with the progress students have made since the district's iPad rollout began last semester.

In August, the 2,100 Glenbard freshmen received district-issued iPads, which hold their textbooks, novels, workbooks and assignment materials.

Glenbard West High School Principal Peter Monaghan said the program's success shouldn't be a surprise.

Students and teachers all underwent training before the school year so they would know how to use the iPads and relevant applications.

Monaghan said he was a little nervous about the rollout, but thanks to "a great deal of preparation," there haven't been any major issues so far. Teachers and students alike have gone beyond his expectations in terms of adapting to the devices, he said.

Monaghan said he recently got the chance to watch the iPads being used in a U.S. History class. Students were able to read articles and complete and submit their homework on the device. They also used a map application that showed where each of the events being studied had happened.

"It was one of the best lessons I've seen using it," he said.

Teachers across the district are incorporating the iPads in new and innovative ways.

Gary Heilers, department chair for physical education, health and driver's education at Glenbard North High School, said iPads are even being used in his classes.

The biggest way they are included in physical education is by tracking student fitness. Students wear heart monitors, which are connected to Heilers' iPad. He can watch the progress of the entire class and use the data to help students analyze their workouts.

Prior to iPads, students could wear a heart monitor during class, but tracking the data was much more difficult.

"Now we have some concrete stuff," Heilers said.

The iPads are also being used in the weight room, where Heilers has the students video model themselves doing a squat. After that, they watch the recording to see if they are doing the exercise correctly and where to improve their form.

"To video model is great because they actually get a sense of what they're doing wrong and right," he said.

In health classes, students each get remote controls to answer questions. The iPad tabulates the responses and Heilers can use the data to determine whether students understand the subject matter.

Driver's education classes don't include iPads yet, since only freshmen have them, but Heilers said next year's students will likely do peer assessments of other students' driving with the iPads.

"It's kind of taken over as the norm for us," he said.

At Glenbard East High School, English teacher Jennifer O'Connor has her students use the iPad camera to record themselves giving a speech and provide a self assessment of the performance, according to district Communications Coordinator Peg Mannion. Students will look back on previous videos to see how they progress.

Monaghan said the two biggest outcomes of the iPad rollout are the increased organization and heightened engagement of students.

He also said he doesn't see any major changes that need to be made. If he could do it again, Monaghan said he would make minor tweaks, but nothing substantial.

"I would say that so far, it seems to be going better than expected for this early," he said.

He credited the students and teachers with all the success.

"As principal, I've been very pleased," Monaghan said.