[May 23, 2013] Impact of iPads noticeable at Briggs Tweet May 24, 2013 (Florence Morning News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- FLORENCE, S.C. -- Over the course of a year and a half, Briggs Elementary School teacher Roberta Olmstead's classroom dreams have become a reality with the help of a grant from The School Foundation. With the $33,750 the nonprofit awarded her, Olmstead was able to purchase class sets of iPads for three communication disorder-learning disabled classes at Briggs. "What happens is you're just kind of worried about spending all that time and can we actually as a program do what we say we're going to do," Olmstead said. "But it just came out better than I ever thought it would, so I'm really excited and it makes you want to say, 'Well if we've done this, what is there to do next ' It's like there's another adventure out there and I'm ready to take it!" After a year of learning, she and her students invited parents, friends and members of the foundation to their classroom Thursday for a "publishing party": each student had used their iPads to put together an autobiography, and they were all thrilled to show them off. Of course many of the families said they already knew what a difference the devices had made and how much the children had learned. Perlina Kennedy said her son, Terrell, had made major academic improvements this year and that the iPads had done a great job of keeping him focused and engaged with his academic materials. Crystal DeVane echoed the sentiments, saying her son, Jacob, loved using the technology and through the class has really become more talkative, outgoing and enthusiastic about reading. Olmstead agreed: The results have been amazing to watch. "I sewed them these little pockets on the side of their desk and they pull them out when they need to, and they really love them," Olmstead said. "Their writing has gone for some of them from just a couple of lines or a paragraph to several pages, so it's been really effective." In fact, next year three of her 14 students will be going into regular classes, instead of special education classes, including one going into advanced classes. Another three will be leaving the self-contained special education classroom to take reading in a regular class. For these students, the goal is to get them "mainstreamed" and on the same level as their peers, so this step is "really, really exciting for them, and that showed their progression," Olmstead said. In addition the class takes the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test at the start and end of the year, and many of them jumped 16 to 22 points, which Olmstead said means some are officially on grade level. In addition to vocabulary and reading games, essay organizing apps and writing programs, the iPads have specifically targeted some of the communication disorder needs of the class, in a fun way. "They're able to do a video of themselves speaking, so that's really helped them with pronunciation and helped with everything that they're doing, because a lot of them have difficulty with speech when they come, and they need to see how their mouth actually functions and see, 'Oh, my tongue needs to be here or there,'" Olmstead said. With the help of some funky chicken and frog hats, they even videoed some fun "Once Upon A Time" writings. Sarah Timmons said English is her favorite part of school now and that writing has given her a great creative outlet. Though she's used to writing fiction, she got good feedback from party attendees on her life's story. "They seem really impressed so that's good. I like to impress people with my writing," Sarah said. Her mother, Deborah Timmons, said through the program at Briggs, Sarah has gone from being very quiet and shy to being outgoing, confident and a talented writer. "But she's gotten a lot of special attention and I think as a result she's just grown. She's grown socially, academically, I've just seen her blossom as a result of being in here and getting the guidance and support from the staff," Timmons said. Sarah won the Briggs spelling bee this year and went several rounds into the districtwide competition. She will also be attending Southside Middle School next year in traditional classes and in the creative writing program -- all a testament to her progress. Debbie Hyler, the director of The School Foundation, said though all of last year's grant recipients will be turning in progress reports including test scores, getting to see the students in action with their iPads is the best part of the organization's mission to support Florence School District 1. "It's really opening the world to these children, and I'm just so grateful that we're able to provide that opportunity to them," Hyler said. "They are just so excited and engaged. Every child that I've seen throughout the school year on an iPad has been completely focused on what they're doing, and that is just wonderful to see." ___ (c)2013 the Florence Morning News (Florence, S.C.) Visit the Florence Morning News (Florence, S.C.) at www2.scnow.com/community/morningnews Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]