Technology replacing textbooks at Bishop Gorman
Bishop Gorman High School has gone high tech, issuing all of its students iPads, which hold the various subject books they use.
The school was planning the transition for the past few years, trying to determine the best way to go textbook-free.
“Laptops, Chrome; we looked at everything,” said principal Kevin Kiefer. “… Apple had an integration team that came out. The first thing they asked was, ‘Why are you doing this?’ They wanted to make sure it was not just to have the technology for the sake of having the technology.”
The iPad goes beyond what a textbook can do. It allows for digitized textbooks, notebooks, binders, lab books, and in some cases, calculators to be combined into one device. It also has the capability to function as a camera, video recorder, word processor, spreadsheet and presentation device, all of which are used in the classroom at various times.
Isabel Henry, communications coordinator at the school, has two sons enrolled there — Spencer, 17, and Trevor, 15. Spencer showed her how he could manipulate a cube on his device to view it from any direction and then opened it up so he could look at it flat.
As most students are already tech-savvy, Bishop Gorman did not offer instructional seminars, though it clues students to issues or special operations as things crop up. A study skills program is on the iPad, as is its handbook. The school’s 45-minute GAELS period, held twice a week, is sometimes used to clue students in to using a new app or to address specific issues.
Apple advised the school it would take about four years of experimentation before it had its program streamlined to its needs and worked out all the bugs.
April Sauline, director of instructional technology, said those bugs come with the different platforms, as “Some books are iBooks; some books are Kindle books; some books are through one (type of) publisher app, then there’s another publisher app they also use.”
Bishop Gorman rolled the cost of the iPads, running about $600 apiece with AppleCare insurance over four years and an introduction package, into its tuition.
It caused the tuition to increase by about $200. Tuition rates for 2014-15 school year are $12,500 annually for regular tuition and $11,100 for the Catholic parish rate.
Sean Hale, 15, a sophomore, said he likes not having all his textbooks in his hands, and he’s careful about misplacing or abusing the iPad.
The school opted for protective covers, but the covers can do only so much. Hale said a couple of his schoolmates dropped theirs within two days of receiving them. One friend has a hole in his screen, but it’s still operational. Screen breaks are the most common damage, Kiefer said.
Parents are charged $50 each for the first and second repairs and $600 for a new machine if it is damaged a third time. Each iPad has a serial number matched to the student to whom it’s issued.
Hale said he likes the iPad but discovered that the multi-function tool can sometimes keep him from doing homework.
“It’s easy to get distracted,” he said. “You can play games on them, go to social media sites, so, yeah.”
Bishop Gorman has roughly 1,425 students and 75 teachers. The teachers received their iPads the year before so they could begin using them and making lesson plans.
What happened to the obsolete textbooks? The school sold them back to the publishing companies.
Contact Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 702-387-2949.
