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Pilot Program Brings Textbook-Free Classrooms to Brooklyn Schools

By Camille Bautista | November 20, 2014 2:15pm
 Ninth-graders at the Eagle Academy for Young Men II in Brooklyn use iPads to answer teacher prompts during class. The devices are part of a textbook-free initiative announced on Nov. 19 by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
Ninth-graders at the Eagle Academy for Young Men II in Brooklyn use iPads to answer teacher prompts during class. The devices are part of a textbook-free initiative announced on Nov. 19 by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
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DNAinfo/Camille Bautista

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Students in three Brooklyn schools are tossing their textbooks in exchange for iPads as part of a new pilot program geared toward digital learning.

The textbook-free initiative, unveiled Wednesday by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, includes 250 students at Brownsville’s Eagle Academy for Young Men II, as well as P.S. 196 Ten Eyck and M.S. 582 The Upper Academy in East Williamsburg.

“In a real-time universe, our children should not continue to learn in an antiquated method,” Adams said to a group of teachers and students at Eagle Academy.

“There are physical textbooks that might be older than these students."

The announcement follows a call during Adams’ January inauguration speech in which he sought to bring schools “up to 21st century learning standards.”

Digital learning platform provider, Copia Interactive, is teaming with Adams’ office for the program. Each iPad features Copia Class, an app that delivers educational content. 

Students said iPad learning allows the ease of having a personal reading collection in the palm of their hands. 

"When you don’t know a word, Copia has a dictionary to help us with it," said ninth-grader Damien Goodridge. "We don’t have to go to the library or run to get a dictionary, because everything we need is right there."

Students are able to answer teachers’ prompts instantly on the devices, allowing others to see responses and provide on-the-spot feedback.

Schools are also using Copia Class to compose long-form essays, and students are prevented from downloading or accessing any materials unrelated to classroom learning.

The app fits with Common Core learning standards, officials said, helping teachers understand where children may be having trouble.

Rashad Meade, principal of Eagle Academy for Young Men II, said digital learning has helped pique his students’ interest after the first month of use. Attendees previously had a literacy divide, on average reading two grades behind their peers.

“It’s always been a challenge for us to find an engaging way for our young men to read and love reading,” Meade said.

“With the Copia pilot, it’s really changed the way they consume the material. It was natural and that’s a level of engagement, fun and interest you can’t duplicate in any other way.”