New technology coming to Jefferson City schools

Jefferson City students will soon have their hands on more than $270,000 worth of new technology.

It’s all part of the “One to World” program the district implemented at the beginning of last school year.

The program was getting iPads in each classroom, but now they’ll be available for all 9th graders.

Ben Meldrum, Associate Principal at the Simonsen 9th Grade Center, said, “In the past, we had some classroom sets that were in different classrooms, assigned to different programs and departments, but this year it will be wall to wall integration of technology.”

When school started last fall, every teacher and every classroom got several iPads.

2,000 were handed out in total, but now each freshman entering the Simonsen Center will get their own. That’s 700 new devices.

“Now, they are going to have to start using it for more production, to start producing their work and showing how their learning is taking place via the use of technology.”

If you’ve ever had a tablet, you’ve probably realized the screens crack easily, so what are they doing to prevent wear and tear by students?

“We worked with a company called Grip Case and they came out with a brand new design. It’s a foam cover, quite a bit bulkier than most cases but it truly protects the device,” said Director of Technology Garrett Miller.

Of course with the iPads come new lessons, featuring fewer books and paper and more online research.

“It’s going to be a natural progression and transition. We’re going to try to provide as much digital content as we can to make it as rich and meaningful as possible and again that’s not going to be right of the gate, as teachers become more comfortable with the media and start changing their lesson plans to a more digital environment, that will obviously foster down to the kids,” said Miller.

Meldrum said,” It’s not just the student connecting with themselves on a one to one basis, it’s more of a one to world where they can connect with different business partners, different people in other countries, and within different industries so they can get more authentic and real world information through the use of technology.”

Every year when the freshmen come into the 9th grade center, they’ll be able to get new iPads and be able to bring those with them throughout the few years of high school. Once they graduate, they’ll be able to keep them.