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Elkanah have a set of iPads that roam around from class to class. Both schools found it important for the teachers to be acquainted with the technology before the learners began using it in school. Elkanah provided teachers with iPads six months before implementing the system with learners. Stadler found that this approach worked best and that hands-on staff training was very important. Elkanah selected their Grade 6 teachers, being the most technology-enthused group in the school, to take part in the iPad project. “Sharing ideas and collaborating amongst each other while using the device as a personal device first, before taking it to the classroom, was a key to success,” said Stadle

GRANTS FOR LEARNING Webb would likely teach differently without the more than 20 grants she's gotten in recent years. Earlier this year, Webb was one of three educators nationwide who received a grant for the "Fascinating Forensics" project. Students learn how the three branches of U.S. government work together to create, implement and enforce the law. They learn interview techniques plus about physical evidence like blood spatter and fingerprints. In April she received a "true sport award" from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for motivating students to resist performance-enhancing drugs, among other things. In her program, called Webb's Walkers and Recess Runners, students learn about nutritious eating, portion control, personal hygiene, body image, heart rate, metabolism and the importance of physical activity at home. The grants speak to Webb's personal interest. She's an athlete, which she said could also explain her competitive nature for the grants. Winning them, she said, is "like winning a race."

Paper usage has decreased with some “some teachers going paperless” and many the use of ebooks instead of dead tree books was highlighted in a particular class.

The problem with too many iPad deployments (like the one highlighted in Zeeland) is that schools end up doing the same thing they were before the new technology rolled out, except now they’re using “21st Century Technologies” to do them

he examples cited in the USA Today article (using iPads for flash card Apps or highlighting passages in a text with touch) hardly point to the pedagogical shift that tools like the iPad can enable

"This is just a tool, but it's a power tool versus a hand tool," theology teacher Pat Wiss said.