During Monday night’s regular Newton Community School District Board of Education meeting, board members discussed a variety of topics, including district technology. Superintendent Steve McDermott informed the board that iPads — a line of tablet computers designed as a platform for audio-visual material — will start being seen at Newton Senior High School as early as next school year, with a plan for the “total rollout” — one iPad for every high schooler — scheduled for the fall of 2013.

“We’re planning a one-to-one computing initiative at the high school and hope to expand it further than the high school down the road,” McDermott said this morning. “And, of course, we have goals and a purpose for the device; we’re not just jumping on a trend. We hope to improve student engagement, increase project-based learning, expand student’s ability to communicate with other students and their instructors. There are also many opportunities to use instructional apps and such things as interactive textbooks.”

McDermott believes the interactive tablets will one day replace traditional textbooks, but said they will “supplement and enrich” students and their learning, not replace invaluable instruction they receive from teachers.