Imagine launches Apple iPad initiative

LAKEWOOD RANCH — As Sean Peabody and Tre DiBias sit at a table in the library of Imagine School at Lakewood Ranch, the students quickly have become the classroom attraction.

With a pair of iPads before them, Sean and Tre at work, showing off the technology’s educational applications — flashcards for math, a clock that makes you figure out the time yourself using math problems and a tool to practice spelling works.

“I love using it for homework,” Sean says of the iPad. “It’s easy and more convenient. I don’t have to make flashcards or anything.

“I think it’ll encourage kids to learn,” he says. “It’s technology. It’s cool; it’s fresh.”

In the near future, parents and teachers at Imagine hope to have iPads or similar technologies in the hands of every student at the Lakewood Ranch charter school. Dubbed the Technology Task Force, the group is working to raise funds for the concept and is kicking off its efforts with a walk-a-thon fundraiser at the school May 23-24.

The school is seeking vendors and other sponsors to participate in the walk-a-thon and to help raise funds for the project.

“We see a need for having more technology,” Principal Stephen Sajewski said. “We see that as an avenue of learning, and we want to make sure we utilize it to the extreme.”

Sajewski, a team of teachers and few parents will meet with representatives from Apple representatives on May 25 to preview the company’s educational applications and get an analysis of what learning tools would best meet the needs of students at Imagine.

Sean Peabody’s mom, Catherine, says her own family already is seeing the value of the iPad’s educational capabilities. Sean uses it to complete math and other homework in the car or at other opportune moments.
“A lot of parents are attracted to this school because it’s project-based,” Catherine Peabody said. “This works well with that setup.”

Sajewski agreed using hands-on technologies not only will help individualize student instruction but also help teachers apply what they are teaching in the classroom to real life, in keeping with the Imagine’s project-based Project Child learning program.

“We’ve always had a range of students — some who need a little extra care and some who need to be challenged,” Sajewski said. “Every student moves at his or her own pace. That’s what we offer here.”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].