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LAEF expands iPad pilot project in local schools

   In June, the board of the Lambertville Area Education Foundation (LAEF) voted to expand its support for a pilot project exploring the uses of Apple iPads in the West Amwell Township Elementary and Lambertville Public schools.
   The board approved funds for acquisition of 10 more iPads each for the two schools. Moreover, the two school boards have agreed to match the LAEF funds and acquire another 10 iPads for each school this summer and, if all goes according to plan, another 10 per school in the fall.
   The pilot project began in 2011, when West Amwell Township Elementary’s first-grade teacher, Kristin Angst, submitted a proposal to the LAEF, requesting funds to lease 10 iPad 2s for three years. After the LAEF approved the grant, the West Amwell school board voted to acquire an additional 10 iPads so both first-grade classes, totaling 32 students, could experiment with their use.
   The iPads came complete with syncing trays, earphones, protective covers and a few vouchers for purchasing software applications — apps.
   Ms. Angst said the experiment has been a huge success. The iPads were “integrated into our lives and used in every subject area and almost every day.”
   Looking back over the school year, Ms. Angst credits the iPads with facilitating differentiation, the practice of involving various groups of students — or individual students — in different levels of learning at the same time.
   Using the iPads, she said, first-graders who require extra practice can sit at the same table with those who are ready for second-grade-level skills and use identical devices to get the exact reinforcement they need.
   . “In reading classes, students used apps like MeeGenius and iBookshelf to access free stories to read on their iPads. Students could listen to a story as they followed along or turn off the narration and read the story on their own. Some apps offer valuable assessment features that provide teachers with critical information about each student’s progress,” said a spokesman.
   The iPads also enabled Ms. Angst and her fellow West Amwell first-grade teacher, Cheryl Gewecke, to enrich their lessons in new ways.
   For example, Ms. Angst’s first-graders composed stories in writing class and then used the technology to bring their stories to life. Using the Toontastic app, they created cartoons to illustrate their stories, published the stories on Toon Tube and attached them to the class website. Students were then able to watch their own and each other’s cartoons from home. In the process, students planned, created, animated and even recorded their voices to bring their stories to life.
   The iPads even enhanced conventional class activities, like field trips. When the first- graders visited the Philadelphia Zoo, Ms. Angst shot video footage of some of the animals and then uploaded it to the school website. This enabled students to review and discuss their visit when they returned to the classroom and to share what they experienced at the zoo with their families.
   Ms. Angst said her students and their parents are enthusiastic about using iPads in the classroom.
   But the biggest fan may be Ms. Angst herself. “The iPads enable us to enrich, supplement, differentiate, intervene and support our students with one tool,” she said. “They create an enthusiastic environment for learning and a climate for inspired teaching.”
   Now Ms. Angst is sharing details of West Amwell’s success with educators from other districts. She made a presentation at the New Jersey Association of School Administrators Convention in Atlantic City in May on how to support similar pilot programs in other schools. She also will teach a three-day course for teachers at this summer’s Teachers Academy at Lambertville Public School.
   LAEF Board President Jill Myers expresses pride in the success of the pilot project. “This is what the LAEF is meant to do,” she said. “Our grants can enable the school districts to try new things that they may not have risked on their own. If the innovation succeeds, the school boards use their funds to expand the project, while the LAEF continues to look for grant proposals with new, exciting ideas.”
   The LAEF, founded in 1992, is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization dedicated to benefiting students attending Lambertville Public School, West Amwell Township Elementary School, Stockton Borough School and South Hunterdon Regional High School. The organization’s mission is to raise funds and broker community support for projects that enrich the educational experience of students in the four schools; virtually 100 percent of the Foundation’s income is expended in grants for that purpose.
   More information is available at LAEF-for-the-kids.org, or on Facebook.
    — Ruth Luse