Seaforth Public School is well on its way to every young student’s dream – no more pencils and no more books.

Instead, every Grade 6, 7 and 8 student at the school has their own iPad.

A pilot project started earlier this school year saw the Avon-Maitland District School Board purchase 100 iPads for Seaforth’s senior students.

They use them to look up reference material, complete homework assignments and communicate with their teachers outside of school hours.

But what makes these iPads different from those already in use at the school is that they belong to the students for as long as they’re with the school board – they can even be taken home and used for less educational purposes.

Those watching the project closely say it’s been a success.

“It’s been a huge transformation,” says school vice-principal Jeremy Brock.

“The kids are doing things that they could have never done back in the early part of this school year.”

Kristy Illman, who teaches a Grade 7/8 class, agrees.

She says she “can’t imagine going back” to a tablet-less classroom.

“Things have totally changed for the better. It’s been a great move forward,” she says.

Students give the tablets rave reviews as well.

“I really like how we get to do everything with one device in our hands, versus getting out books and flipping through pages,” says Sarah Upshall, a Grade 8 student.

Brock says the tablets have even had an effect on Illman and other teachers – they now spend less time “giving things to students” and more time working with them.

The project has been so successful that the Avon-Maitland board plans to purchase another 900 iPads for the fall, rolling out the program to another nine schools.

It’ll cost $330,000 – but Doherty is quick to note that the board is spending much less on other technology, and doesn’t even include computer labs in its new schools.

Costs for textbooks and photocopying are also expected to decrease as more and more tablets come online in Avon-Maitland’s classrooms.

“Those kinds of things just aren’t required when you have a device for every child,” Doherty says.

While there were some initial cases of students using the tablets to access materials not appropriate for a school environment, Brock says those have been rectified through the creation of ‘not-for-school’ folders and students have been happy to abide by those rules.