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Boston Globe Pilot Program To Provide Massachusetts Students with iPads, Digital Subscriptions
A Boston, MA, media company will launch a pilot program that will provide two school districts with iPads, projectors and digital subscriptions.
The initiative, which is part of The Boston Globe's Newspaper in Education (NiE) program, is being tested at Boston Public Schools, which will receive 50 iPads and projectors, and Stoneham High School, which will receive 25. It is paid for through $65,000 in vacation donation funds from Globe subscribers, and teachers will receive on-site training from Globe staff.
"We believe that digital kids turn into digital adults, to put it simply," said Robert Saurer, The Globe's director of customer experience and innovation, in a prepared statement. "We want to provide easy, portable access not only to our content, but to the greater world of content on the Web--deployed in the classroom daily, streamed live, as the kids are learning."
According to Saurer, the program will continue through the spring semester, and teacher focus groups will evaluate it at that point. He said he hopes to expand the program, and that the NiE program is refocusing more toward digital.
"We hope that if we plant the seeds now, we can build a new, state-of-the art Boston Globe NiE program," Saurer said.
Boston Public Schools teaches 56,000 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 in 135 schools. Stoneham High School in Stoneham, MA, teaches 740 students in grades 9-12.
For more information, visit services.bostonglobe.com.
About the Author
Tim Sohn is a 10-year veteran of the news business, having served in capacities from reporter to editor-in-chief of a variety of publications including Web sites, daily and weekly newspapers, consumer and trade magazines, and wire services. He can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @editortim.