"We prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be."
Students and Teachers Embrace iPad
This school year, Friends students in kindergarten and grades five and nine are using iPads in the classroom everyday—an exciting realization for the School, which began preparing for this pioneering initiative over two years ago.
| This school year, Friends students in kindergarten and grades five and nine are using iPads in the classroom everyday—an exciting realization for the School, which began preparing for this pioneering initiative over two years ago. “Each day brings new discoveries and opportunities, and I think the introduction of the iPad will enliven our teaching and learning,” Principal Robert “Bo” Lauder said. “This project will be a partnership of discovery between students and teachers.” Following a trial year with the iPad for administrators, and a summer of training for faculty, Friends is prepared to smoothly integrate the iPad into the curriculum. “Almost immediately, we saw potential pedagogical and organizational potential for our students,” Lauder said. In all, 157 students have been issued iPad2 devices, and they will stay with the student for years to come. Kindergarteners use the device in the classroom only, while fifth and ninth graders bring the iPad home as they would a textbook or notebook. Additionally, iPads are available for all students and others in various departmental offices as well. Following this pilot year, Lauder said it is most likely all students will have an issued iPad within the next year. iPads are attractive to educators not only for providing a more interactive approach to reading and studying, but also because of the cost, since they absorb the need to buy graphic calculators, dictionaries, textbooks, and other items that are found within the device. Ultimately, iPads will allow published information to be updated or re-edited in less time compared to waiting for an entire new edition of a textbook to be printed and distributed. “The iPad launch has obviated the need for our old paper planners and quickly outdated textbook,” Assistant Principal Tom Perry said. “Not only are our students familiar with what is gradually becoming a ubiquitous technology, but the administration grasps how this device allows students to learn incredible research skills. It is well worth the cost." Friends would like to thank Assistant Principal Tom Perry and George Orio, Tim Cooper and other members of the Technology Department for all of their focused work on this initiative. |
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Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.
