Posted at: 07/25/2012 4:27 PM
Updated at: 07/25/2012 6:35 PM
By: Dan Conradt

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Teaching Teachers: iPads 101

(ABC 6 News) -- It's going to be about a month and a half before most school buses hit the road again. But class was in session at one area school on Wednesday. And it was the teachers doing the learning.

"We have teachers here today learning applications and familiarizing themselves with the iPad," said the Southland school district’s Randy Juhl.

"And most of all how to get it in the hands of the students and what will students be using it for."

“It's all about engaging the learner,” added Jeff Oian of the South Central Education Consortium. “Any of these teachers will tell you when you put this into the classroom the students are engaged."

“That's their world today is the electronic end of it, whether it's the games, looking things up, just having the instant access to things," said Juhl. So the teachers went back to school for “iPad 101.”

"And it's a way to enrich and enhance their teaching and better help work with students," Juhl told us.

And more school districts are moving iPads higher on their school supplies list.

"I would say most schools within three to five years are going to have a lot of these things. You just have to," said Oian.

"We're hoping our text books will all be able to be downloaded to the devices so we're not spending money actually physically buying the book," added Juhl.

Plus the ease of doing math quizzes and the weekly spelling test electronically.

"Just imagine all the paperwork that saves that teacher, not having to correct that spelling test," Oian said.

"I want the teachers to not be scared of any device that they have and be excited about things they can take and do with the students," Juhl told us.

More than 40 teachers from the South Central Education Consortium took part in the training.

The consortium includes the Grand Meadow, Glenville-Emmons, Leroy-Ostrander, Lyle and Southland school districts.