iPads issued to school children

Students Sean Mooney and Jasmine McCann from St Kevin's College in Crumlin pictured with their new iPads.

NIAMH GRIFFIN

Students at a Dublin school were issued with iPads instead of books at the start of term today.

Parents pay for the tablets over the child’s time at school - €150 each year – and they come with online material for all subjects studied by the first-year students.

According to Blake Hodkinson, principal at St Kevin's College in Crumlin, this system is 40 per cent cheaper than buying books. Until now the school has provided all books at a cost of €20,000 per year, with €4,000 of that contributed by families.

One of seven schools in Ireland issuing iPads to students, St Kevins is using material from Edco Digital which is automatically updated during the year.

Teachers at the school already work with interactive white-boards.

History and geography teacher Denise McLaughlin said it will make her classes more realistic. “It’d be good for geography. If I’m trying to explain about volcanoes, they can push a button and watch one erupting on screen now.”

However the students were the most excited people in the room.

“The iPad is better than books, you don’t have the heavy bags and it’s easier to organise everything,” said Peter Casey (12)

His classmate Pamela Gleide (13) was already at work, saying: “It’s whopper, there’s loads of apps on it. It’s less boring than books.”

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