StuCo Discusses Potential iPad Distribution in Classes

The Student Council meeting on Tuesday night focused on a discussion with Principal Tom Hassan about the Curriculum Committee’s proposal to require all students to have iPads beginning in September 2013.The Curriculum Committee, a committee solely composed of faculty members, recently proposed to Hassan and the rest of the faculty body that the iPad should be a required additional tool for students, much like the widely used TI-89 graphing calculator, beginning next school year."Principal Hassan came to solicit student view points on the matter and I believe he got that," Student Council President Max Freedman said. "We are at a crossroads where education as a field is trying to embrace new technology as a teaching tool, and he wanted to hear from those who would eventually be the users of technology how they had seen it before. He wanted to know whether or not it is something students would see as helpful."Council members actively voiced various opinions on the subject, ranging from strong approval of the idea to convincing counterarguments as to why iPads should not be required. Most faculty members based their thoughts on prior experiences with iPads, both at Exeter and at previous schools."I was pleased to see so many members of Council voicing their points of view rooted in prior experience," Freedman said. "It is, of course, their job to be representatives of their constituents, and many reps take that job seriously – this was how I expected their participation to be."Upper TJ Hodges agreed. "Council members are always willing to voice their concerns with Mr. Hassan," Hodges said. "The conversation about iPads at this week's meeting showed that our students aren't afraid to share their skepticism and criticisms with Mr. Hassan as they would any other person."During his discussion with students, Hassan emphasized that he himself is not requiring iPads in the classroom. In addition, he proposed an alternate idea of mandating their purchase for each student and encouraging their use in the classroom when appropriate.Hodges voiced his hesitation regarding iPads in classrooms. "I believe that the iPad is too much of a consumer device to be used in by every student," he said. "The nature of Apple is to frequently update products so that the older versions seem less appealing. Regardless of whether iPads are a distraction or too costly, we will come to find that younger students will have new iPads that may not be entirely compatible with those of teachers and older students."According to Freedman, many more Council members were tentative to the idea concerning iPads. They noted that people would likely be distracted, that the iPad was harder to read and annotate with than hard text is, and that they are not necessarily additive except for the quick retrieval of online information which can be done with the computer in the classroom anyway.In addition to the discussion with Hassan regarding Curriculum Committee’s proposal, Freedman announced that the department heads voted on Tuesday morning to pass Post-Instructional Evaluation (PIE), a proposal for an end-of-term evaluation through which students will be able to provide anonymous feedback on a course and teacher.Council leaders communicated with the faculty that they were open to any changes that faculty proposed. "Department heads made comments during the vote and we will implement that feedback as we prepare to present to the full faculty who will ultimately have to approve our proposal," Freedman said.Secretary-elect lower Benj Cohen agreed. "The key for passing the PIE proposal will be making it clear to faculty that we are really open to making changes to the proposal to make PIE happen," Cohen said. "I think PIE is going to be a result of great dialogue between StuCo and faculty."