When some students want to make a special presentation or do education research on the spot, they can!  They just take out their portable, WiFi-accessible iPads and make PowerPoint presentations, surf the Web for information, blog updates on projects or conduct interactive lessons with classrooms at other schools.

The world is literally in their pockets for students who are members of the iPad Club at Sherwood Middle Academic Magnet School.  The group, including (pictured, left to right) Assistant Principal Jamie Noel with students Richie Myers, Akosua Allen, Ethan Sam, David Yessayan and Alec Baker plus Eva Smill, Instructional Technology facilitator with the East Baton Rouge Parish School System’s Office of Professional Development, made a presentation of their use of iPads at the fall 2010 Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators (LACUE) Conference.

Noel and Smill have been working with a group of students during the 2010-2011 school year, and club members bring their own iPads to monthly meetings.  Plans are to apply for funding for iPads next year.  At each meeting, students participate in a lesson advisors have developed to introduce them to new educational applications that support the curriculum.   During the course of the year, the group also has created a blog, http://ipadsinthemiddle.blogspot.com, to showcase the lessons, the student projects, the various presentations created by advisors for other educators and useful links. 

Kathy Schrock, a nationally known educator and technology specialist whose Web site “Guide for Educators” is popular with educators, now includes a link to the Sherwood iPad blog on her site’s “iPads for the Classroom” area, which is a comprehensive list of information and links about iPads used in education.  For more information, contact Noel at (225) 272-3090 or Smill at esmill@ebrschools.org.