Image by Flickr user aperturismo

Update April 26: The Charleston County School Board has given the green light to expand the program within Drayton Hall Elementary School and one yet-to-be-named school that officials said likely would enroll mostly high-poverty students.

The Post and Courier has the update; read it here.

Update April 25: The technology modernization pilot program may expand so that all students in two Charleston County schools receive iPads.

The entire board will consider the proposal today; if the proposal is approved, then the iPads will need to be in place in time for the 2011-12 school year.

The Post and Courier has all the details; check them out here.

First reporting: A pilot program at Drayton Hall Elementary has put iPads in the hands of every student in one kindergarten, one first-grade, and one third-grade class, and the response to the new technology is astoundingly positive.

The program is part of the Charleston County School District's five-year classroom modernization project, which aims to infuse the latest technology into all Lowcountry classrooms. Just what type of technology is best suited for students and most cost effective for the district is the question at large.

In the next two years, the district will acquire and be able to spend some $12 million on the modernization project. iPads? SmartBoards? New computers for all? We'll have to wait and see.

For more on how iPads are enhancing Lowcountry learning and info on the modernization project, hop over to the article in today's Post and Courier.