Matt Rogers, Cooper Hodge and Will Greer, from left, use iPads in eighth-grade boys Bible class at Boyd-Buchanan School, where the devices are provided for student use in nearly all classrooms in grades 6 through 12.
Ariana Whatley, left, takes a photograph of Sidney Dawson at Boyd Buchanan School on Monday, where iPads are provided for student use in nearly all classrooms in grades 6 through 12.
Samantha Smith, left, takes a photograph of Kalei Byerley at Boyd Buchanan School on Monday, where iPads are provided for student use in nearly all classrooms in grades 6 through 12.
Elementary librarian Alicia Henderson shows Trent Gilley and Bowman Blocker, from left, how to uses an iPad at Boyd Buchanan School on Monday, where the devices are provided for student use in grades 6 through 12.During an afternoon honors chemistry class, teacher Perry Key never puts down his iPad 2.
As he walks around the Baylor School classroom, students practice matching the names and formulas of polyatomic ions. Everything Perry writes with his pencil-shaped stylus on an electronic worksheet is instantly projected to a big screen up front.
Looking out at his 18 students, Perry sees four huddled around iPads of their own. By next fall, all Baylor students will be working on iPad 2s.
Many educators say that tablet devices like the iPad will eventually transform education and could even replace textbooks. But area private schools are jumping into the iPad game at different speeds. Some are waiting for a more-perfected device, while others are embracing what’s available now.
The rush to build tech-savvy classrooms with the latest tools, now tablets, has reignited a national conversation on the proper role of technology in teaching and learning.