The implementation of the iPad initiative in the high school happens during the 2019-2020 school year. IPads were given to freshman and sophomores this year for school usage and will remain with them for the rest of their high school career. The iPads are a resource for students to do their homework and school work more easily.

For incoming freshman students, this transition of iPads was easier as they had iPads in middle school, but they also have a different opinion on the usefulness of the iPads. 

“The iPads can be useful in some scenarios if something like a computer or personal device is broken. [But] I do prefer laptops over iPads because in classes like language arts we do a lot of typing and it’s hard to type with the keyboard case [that comes] with the iPad and laptops are just overall easier to do different things with,” Freshman Adian Mohammed explained.

Some Sophomore students find the iPads not useful for different reasons.

“The iPads are not useful to me personally because of the hassle of logging in to light speed each time. There are so many restrictions on the iPads we received. We can’t even open Youtube videos such as a crash course on the lesson we are learning,” Sophomore Sarina Borad said.

However, other sophomore students find the iPad as a useful tool.

“The iPads make it easier to do work at home, especially if the work is on it. It also provides as a backup option if I have forgotten work at home or in school…It holds almost all of the material for all of my courses and makes it easy to work on things when I am not at home,” Sophomore Anika Melkote states.

Most of the students agree that the bulk of the Ipad is too much, but some students prefer it over the other option.

“I honestly do not mind the bulk of the iPad case. I would rather have this than carrying around all the textbooks I used to,” Melkote said. 

Teachers also have opinions on the iPads as they also have gotten them alongside the students.

“I have mixed feelings right now on iPads in the classroom because I know this generation has a hard time with face to face communication already and I do not know if the iPads will increase this issue,” sophomore and junior English teacher Amber Evans says.

However, teachers are planning ways to incorporate the iPads into schoolwork for students. 

“I do like the idea of having the iPad for texts I want to expose students to [readings] that may be too many pages to copy, have students listen to podcasts, or even create their own based on our class discussions or readings,” Evans explains.

The iPads are meant to make life easier for students and teachers in assigning and doing schoolwork, but the opinion between students still varies on whether they will even use the iPads over their laptops.

“I do prefer laptops over iPads, although apps that can be downloaded are not usually available for download on laptops which is a reason I like the iPads. Laptops have easier access to many sites and many creative media sites, such as Garageband, have a higher potential,” Melkote clarifies. 

The iPad initiative has only just begun in the high school, the true response to the iPads and its usefulness will be seen after the year is over.