Bluffton, Ind. (Indiana's NewsCenter) -- As school districts across the state begin classes, they all struggle with budgets -- and especially how to incorporate technology in the classroom.
Thursday morning in Bluffton, the State School Superintendent praised the district for outfitting every student with an iPad.
Tony Bennett (R) Indiana Supt. of Public Instruction says, "It's not the delivery of instruction, it is a resource that helps us drive instruction."
Dr. Bennett spent part of the morning at Bluffton High School, where every student has an iPad.
Dr. Bennett says every school district in Indiana should be able to do the same thing, since in 2009, the Board of Education recognized technology as an appropriate use for textbook reimbursement funds. "So it has nothing to do with taxing your citizens more, it has to do with realloctating resources toward the delivery model you belive to be important. So the use of ipads here in Bluffton will most likely evolve to textbooks being delivered digitally, and therefore textbook reimbursement dollars will be used for the ipads as opposed to out of pocket expenses."
Dr. Bennett also says having students fluent in technology like ipads will only help them prepare better for the future. "If schools don't take these courageous steps to use technology daily, we're going to end up, very quickly, with the haves and have nots once again, where students who have had access to technology and know how to navigate a digital age will be successful in that digital age. And students who haven't had that access will have a gap."
He says districts' taking these steps is paramount to students' success because just about every student who graduates from school will be using some sort of computer in their next steps in life.
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