Why did Ionia High School spend an abundance of $15,200 this past fall on unnecessary tablets? The staff of Bulldog Beat decided to look into how teachers are using the new Kindle tablets in their classroom and discovered that the Ionia Public Schools technology department had nothing to do with the plan of buying the Kindles. Instead, the tablets were purchased through the principal’s office. What was the plan for adding this technology into the classes?
Interviewing IHS Assistant Principal Knapp helped shed some light on the purchase of these devices. “We spent about $5,000 together on all of the Kindles. We bought two for each class, and they were about $50 a piece. We got a great deal; I don’t think we would have bought them if I hadn’t got such a great deal.”
When asked why the technology department didn’t have anything to do with the purchase of the Kindles since the tablets are technically technology devices, Mr. Knapp responded, “We did not include the technical team because the money did not come out of the general funds; it came out of money from just the high schools account.”
According to Mr. Knapp, he knows teachers are using the devices when he walks in a classroom and sees teachers on them. “According to the staff, they think they were a good investment,” states Knapp.
But do the students think these devices are a good investment? We asked a number of students this question and often heard that the Kindles just sit in the back of the classroom because nobody uses them. A number of students stated that maybe one or two students in each class a day used them to sign up for Achievement Hour.
We wonder what better uses this money could have been used to correct. Look at all the things that our school also needs to correct: the water stains and leaking ceiling, non-functioning lockers, more trash cans.
What do you think? Was this the best use of $15,200 for our school?