The Manhattan-Ogden School Board approved the purchase of new iPads Wednesday night for classrooms, though not without some pushback from one board member.
Katie Allen stated her opposition to purchasing more technology due to studies that found that the addition of technology in the classroom did not improve reading or writing standards with students. She says it may also lead to potential data breaches, similar to the one experienced at Kansas State University last month.
The purchase was approved 5-1, with Allen dissenting.
Board member and former Manhattan High School principal Greg Hoyt agreed that a further discussion is needed to discuss whether or not more technology is needed in the classroom but ultimately said that the tool an iPad or computer provides is important to student success even with the steep price tag of over nine hundred thousand dollars.
Board member Christine Weixelmen agreed with Allen’s argument but ultimately said she supported the measure because she believed that district educators should be allowed to make the decisions on whether or not technology should be used in the class.
In other business, the board unanimously approved a vote for a 4 by 8 CNC plasma table that will provide students in the district’s Career and Technical Education Program with an introduction to welding.
