Wheeling school hopes to enhance learning by providing students with iPads

WHEELING, W.Va. --


Some students in Ohio County have set aside their textbooks and pencils and are using school-provided iPads in the classroom instead.

Rev. John Mulcahy said the idea to provide iPads to sixth, seventh and eighth-graders at St. Vincent de Paul Parish School stemmed from two people who wanted the school to be different from other educational institutions in the area.

"Technology is not where things are going, it's where they are. And we really have to be ahead of the curve with technology," Mulcahy, the parish's pastor, said.

Friday, students in a history class were catching up on current events and said they liked having an iPad versus a standard textbook.


"You take notes and you can automatically click on a word and it will tell you the definition instead of having to use an actual dictionary," said Matilda Weeks, a seventh grader.


School officials blocked all social apps and non-educational apps, and Mulcahy said it's amazing how the program has taken off.

"In just a couple of weeks, the children have found all sorts of apps. The teachers really embrace this," he said.

Jordyn Smith, an eighth grader, said, "My most used app is my note app. I can organize all my different chapters, all my different subjects."


Mulcahy said iPads could soon replace textbooks, which in the long run could save the school money. He said school officials hope to raise more money for fifth graders to have the tablets next year.

"I see our students carrying these books -- four or five textbooks all the time -- and instead they could just be carrying an iPad. And, plus, with iBooks, the new textbooks would only be $15 electronically versus a brand-new (textbook) at $75," he said.

Should the iPad break or get damaged, parents were asked to contribute $56 for insurance on the devices. But, school officials said so far, the students have been taking great care of them.