Wentzville School District Buys Android Tablets for School Libraries

The Wentzville School District is always working to increase student use of digital learning tools, and a $500,000 donation received last year is helping the district implement another new technology initiative.

The anonymous donation was earmarked for technology, and the Wentzville School District has purchased almost 400 Android tablets for student use in all 15 school libraries in the district. Director of Technology Richard Wilson helped implement the system.

“The tablets use a touch-screen and can function as an eReader, but students can also connect to the Internet through the district wi-fi network,” said Wilson. “They can also access the district moodle Intranet where they can have peer-to-peer interaction to talk about different books and authors.”

The tablets will be used in conjunction with a digital eBook system, so students can check out digital books online and download digital titles at home. Students can use the tablets to access all online resources of the St. Charles City-County Library system.

“One of the biggest things is that it’s adding motivation for students, they want to be a part of it,” said District Lead Librarian Mernie Maestas. “Many of our students are already using this technology, so we are really connecting their learning at school with their learning at home.”

Librarians are excited to see how the tablets will impact circulation, because after students finish a book they won’t have to wait until their next library period or the next school day to check out another book. Teachers have also expressed an interest in using the tablets in their classrooms, where they can integrate them with their existing SmartBoards.

Students are excited as well.

“They are really cool, because you can do so much with them. Today we were voting on which Mark Twain book we liked the best,” said fourth grader Katelyn McGrail.

The intent is to help students use the latest technology effectively and to improve reading skills.

“Logically any time you can get books into the hands of kids, and you increase motivation, you are going to improve reading skills, and ultimately, it will positively impact our reading test scores as well,” said Maestas.