Horry County discusses iPad rollout to third and fourth grades

The Horry County Board of Education is still pondering the pros and cons of providing elementary-aged students with iPads.

The board voted to expand the Personalized Digital Learning, or PDL, initiative – which gives each student a digital device – to fifth grade only in February 2015. The final deployment phase would give each third- and fourth-grader an iPad that cannot be left at home.

About a dozen elementary school teachers and administrators joined the district’s technology committee Monday to help the board understand the impact of technology on young students.

Reggie Gasque, principal of Aynor Elementary, said third- and fourth-graders at his school already use iPads in classes. The school’s Parent Teacher Organization purchased 95 extra iPads before the district awarded devices to fifth-graders, so the extra devices were distributed to the lower grades.

He’s seen few issues with young students and technology.

“There’s been one or two issues with breakage, and that was an accident,” Gasque said. “I don’t see that being an issue, we haven’t had that issue yet, and it hasn’t put a burden on our media specialist.”

No motions were made, but the board is expected to vote on final deployment in the coming months. The rollout is expected to begin in October.

Edward Boyd, chief accountability officer, said the biggest change from past deployments is cost: this year’s unrolling won’t need any more funds.

“The PDL funds we had designated for fifth through 12th grade would be sufficient for the expansion,” Boyd said.

The cost to refresh elementary school devices every four years is $6 million, according to John Gardner, chief financial officer.

The PDL initiative is funded through penny sales tax revenue, according to Charles Hucks, executive director of technology for the district. Board of Education members met with technology experts before approving the $7.8 million budget for PDL in June 2013.

Gasque said younger students share iPads in their classes, while fifth-graders have their own devices. Third- and fourth-graders use the devices for English, math and research support, which has changed student achievement.

“The support has made a great deal of difference in these grades,” he said.

District officials expect the PDL initiative – which aims to give each student access to a digital device and content over three years – to enhance student learning and raise test scores over the next few years. Middle school students received Apple iPads in 2013 and high school students were given Dell Venue tablets in August 2014.

District staff asked teachers in grades three to five what digital device they would prefer in the classroom, and 59 percent asked for Apple iPads.

The initiative was launched in January 2014, giving iPads to all middle school students. High school focus groups opted for Dell Venue – a tablet with storage capability and a keyboard – which were distributed in fall 2014.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Horry County discusses iPad rollout to third and fourth grades."