School News

AT COLEMAN Elementary School in San Rafael, Katie O’Donnell is teaching her students much of the traditional material. But she has her students learning a whole new way.

This past week her class, made up of fourth- and fifth-graders, did reports on the book, “The Sign of the Beaver,” from which they each explained how a symbol in the story represented the relationship between the two main characters.

They prepared their reports on Keynote — Apple’s software equivalent to Microsoft PowerPoint — using iPads. Through a wireless communication between the students’ iPads and O’Donnell’s Apple TV, each presentation was beamed, one after another, onto the screen at the front of the room.

“Instead of doing paper-pencil tasks, they’re allowed to have an iPad in front of them,” O’Donnell said. “It’s making sure the students are more engaged in the projects they’re creating.”

While not every classroom has iPads at its disposal, schools throughout Marin County and the country are rapidly becoming more digitized, turning to computers and online programs to teach lesson plans. That’s increasing the demand for stronger Internet connections, or greater bandwidth, to support that increased use.