An iPad for Every Student

leaders pride themselves on keeping up with the times. Now, thanks to a generous donation, the school's high-tech programs have gotten a very modern boost.

Officials at the San Anselmo school announced that an anonymous donation of Apple iPads prompted the launch of a new pilot project to study and implement a one-to-one program with the middle-school students.

"Our iPad/MacBook pilot project accelerates our efforts to further integrate technology into the classroom," said Christopher K. Sokolov, director of technology at San Domenico. "At San Domenico, we strive to seamlessly integrate technology into the overall curricular experience. We seek to provide 21st century learning strategies and skills to our students, so that they will be prepared to face whatever technology faces them throughout their lives."

San Domenico first piloted a one-to-one laptop program as part of the ninth grade experience; this year it was extended to sophomores, with each student receiving a new MacBook. San Domenico will be unleashing a full one-to-one program, utilizing Apple MacBooks, for all high school students next year.

"This gift, which was given to us by a middle school parent, over the course of three academic years, enables us to do accelerate our technology plan more aggressively," said Sokolov. "The generous gift is in addition to our regular budget efforts and grants by our Parent Service Association this past summer to further professional development. Earlier this year, our parent community demonstrated its commitment and generosity by funding two 20-MacBook 'carts' for our students across the school."

As technology integration accelerates at San Domenico, teachers in the sixth through eighth grades are this year investing time and resources into exploring whether iPads or traditional laptops best support the curriculum for its student body.

"The students now have a thousand textbooks at the touch of their fingers and we must teach them how to use this world of information purposefully and resourcefully," said seventh-grade teacher Mirza Khan.

A yearlong series of academic units across subject areas will utilize both iPads and MacBooks in the middle school program.

The iPad is now the most popular new electronics item ever. According to CNBC, American consumers are adopting the iPad more rapidly than any non-phone electronics item has ever been adopted.

Wired reported in April that Apple had sold more than a million iPad devices over the internet and in its retail outlets. "Naysayers who jokingly derided the device as a large iPhone with no phone function have been proven wrong about people not wanting exactly that — a testament to the powerful allure of these devices, which sit in a new category of computing somewhere between the smartphone and the netbook," the magazine's online version reported.

"One million iPads in 28 days — that's less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone," Apple CEO Steve Jobs told Wired.