Live Auction Items

Item Description

What we are raising funds for?

We are going to put an iPad into the hands of every student at Sts. Simon & Jude School.

How much do we need to raise?          

An additional $100,000 to put the iPads in the hands of students in grades 5-8.  Devices cost between $400-500 each, plus the cost of workshops/resources for the teachers.

What happened to the money we raised last year? 

We have about $23,000 in the fund now, ALL of which must be used to have the wireless infrastructure completed this year. We received bids from 3 different companies, and they were all in the same price range. We are in a 50 year old building so there are bound to be some difficulties. That work is scheduled has already begun.

Will the iPads be sent home with the students? 

The initial program is for the iPads to remain on campus, one reason the iPad has been chosen is the ease of storing them on campus in our limit space.

What happens if we do not raise enough money during the 2013 SSJ School Auction?     

We are going ahead with this program for the 2014-15 school year, any money not donated will be charged in next year’s technology fee.   Also, you can tell your friends and family about the program, and they can make donations during the Online Auction after our Auction Night is over.

Why did we choose an iPad program for SSJ?  

1 – Price

At $499 for the newest iPad, the iPad is cheaper than many traditional laptop or desktop computers.  Apple also offers an educational discount for schools when iPads are purchased in packs of 10 that saves about $200 per 10-pack. While there are cheaper options out there such as Chromebooks, netbooks, or cheap laptops, I have found it to be preferable to have a top of the line tablet rather than a bottom shelf desktop, laptop, or Chromebook.

I have been told that the cheapest 16GB iPad offers plenty of storage.  We will be able to download many apps and store student work. Additionally, if we do ever fill up the space, having all the apps backed up on iCloud makes it really easy to delete any apps that aren’t being used and then re-install them in minutes at a later time if they are ever needed again.

2 –BatteryLife

The 10-12 hour battery life of the iPad truly makes the device portable and versatile for classroom use.  There never is a worry about having to be near an outlet as the iPad easily lasts all day even if the screen is never turned off.  This allows the students to interact with them all over the room, at their desks, and even outside without ever having to worry about running out of power.  That won’t happen with laptops.  The short battery life of most laptops keeps them chained to the wall or locked away in a computer lab instead of out and available for immediate use anywhere.   Despite heavily using the iPads, they can go multiple days or even an entire school week between charges.

3 – Portability

A teacher can easily carry a stack of iPads from classroom to classroom.  The light weight of the iPad and the fact that the charger doesn’t have to be constantly lugged around with the iPads makes this incredibly easy.  

4 – Easy Upkeep

With iPads there is never a worry about the computers becoming bogged down with downloaded software, viruses, or spyware as so often happens with public use laptops or desktops at schools.  All apps are downloaded through Apple’s strictly guarded App Store.  There is no need to worry about things like anti-virus software or keeping track of computer cd’s.  Using the Cloud, apps, photos, documents, books, and more can immediately be installed on multiple iPads at once without the need to sit and work at each machine.  Also, the fact that the school’s Apple ID password is required to download all apps ensures that only the software the teachers want on the iPads will be on there.

5 – Extremely Affordable, Well-Polished Software

Once the iPads are purchased, they can be filled with high quality educational software without spending another dime! Thousands of effective and fun educational apps are available for free.  Even the apps developed by professional software companies rarely cost more than a few dollars.  For the price of just one typical computer software package, often ten or more apps can be purchased for the iPads.  A special volume purchasing program is available through Apple that offers special discounts to schools on many apps that cost money. And countless free apps like Google Earth make the iPad an affordable, powerful educational machine.

6 – The Ability to Instantly Begin Working

With iPads there is no waiting period when it is time to use the machines in the classroom.  iPads can wait in sleep mode for weeks without needing a charge and can be immediately ready to go at the click of a button.  Students can grab the iPads and be working in a specific app within seconds.  It is great to not have to waste any class time waiting for machines to load or boot up.

7 – Ease of Use

The learning curve for using the iPads is very simple.  Using your finger to control the iPad is a very natural experience that even the most computer challenged students and faculty members quickly grasp.  Launching a program is as simple as finding the picture of the app you want and touching it.  There are no file folders to worry about, no searching through complicated menus, no discs to insert, and very few buttons to get confused about.  It is amazing to see how even very young kids quickly grasp the concept of a touch screen computer when they are given the opportunity to play with an iPad or iPhone.

8 – Easily Adaptable for Use in the Classroom

When we really thought about how much we would use laptops as compared to how much we would use iPads, it became clear to us that the iPads would see far more daily use than laptops.  The ability to easily have the iPads Available directly at the student desks makes it simple to work them into many classes throughout the day.  Students could be directed to view a website during a class period to supplement their learning, view photos provided by the teacher of the topic of a lesson, practice math problems for a few minutes at the beginning of math class, or play an educational game during their free time. We felt that laptops, though also portable, typically end up sitting in a computer lab because of their bigger size and limited battery life.  Once computers end up in a computer lab, it becomes a hassle to move all the students out of the classroom and into the computer lab.  Because of the hassle, teachers don’t tend to use the lab while teaching most of their subjects.