The One to One meetings held in the Guadalupe Center attracted many Cathedral parents. These meetings were aimed at informing parents about the benefits of the transition to iPads from textbooks.

Principal Mr. Michael Deely began the presentation by explaining how the school ultimately decided to use the iPads. He and Mr. Matt Baier, Economics and Government teacher, studied the effects of the school-wide use of iPads at schools that had moved to iPads before.

“Generally, we’ve looked at what has made them successful,” said Mr. Deely.

They also took into account what the students do with the iPads outside of class. Mr. Deely mentioned that, while students did use their iPads during breaks and lunch, they also still socialized with each other in person.

“Students still interacted face-to-face,” said Mr. Deely.

Some students and parents may be concerned about their lack of technological skill, but Mr. Deely assured that students and parents would have great tech support on and off campus.

“We have a well-trained, well-prepared faculty,” he said.

Also, Cathedral’s website has a One to One page that contains answers to frequently asked questions about the iPads. Parents and students are welcome to submit questions to this page.

Mr. Deely wished to stress that the switch to iPads will be beneficial to students as well as teachers.
“We are trying to allow students and teachers to share better work,” he said.

Mr. Baier spoke about academic related tools that teachers plan to implement in class involving the iPads. One of these included lecture videos accessible to students from their iPads and computers at home.

“I like how it frees up time in class to do more activities,” said Mr. Baier.

Another tool is Wiki pages, which are website pages that students can make themselves and share with their fellow classmates.

“The whole class is able to become experts on their own part,” said Mr. Baier.

A third tool is Moodle Forums, which are forums on which students can post responses to a prompt given to them by teachers. Mr. Baier said that this would allow students who are shyer in class to express their ideas freely  “Students are able to participate in the discussion at their own pace,” he said.

Some other activities included Fishbowl Discussions, electronic portfolios, Animoto, and iBooks Author.
It is clear that there are many technological benefits to the iPads that will enhance students’ academics. As Mr.

Baier said, the iPads are “preparing tomorrow’s leaders for lifelong learning.”

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