Elementary Students (K-6) Too Young to Check Out EReaders/iPads?

[John Wellcome]

Do you think kids in elementary school, in grades K-6, are too young to check out ereaders and iPads?  Perhaps some grades should be allowed to check them out- say, upper elementary (4-6)- but not others?  Would you check out ereaders to some grades but not iPads (remember, iPads are much more expensive than ereaders; they cost $600.00)?  I would like to get some feedback on this question.  

[Carina Gonzalez]

I would love the answer to this too, since I'm grades 1-5!

[Kelly Farrow]

I definitely feel the tension you're bringing up. Right now we only use all our mobile devices in school and have no system in place for checking them out for home use (for the kids, at least). I feel, though, that things like e-books make these the kinds of devices kids could really use effectively at home if they were trained on how to access e-books and bookmark their pages, etc. This could take a kid whose home is far from print-rich and open up a whole library for him right in his hands. So this is a tough question. I know if you were to pursue this, you'd have to have some pretty serious parent sign-offs. I'm guessing many (most?) parents wouldn't sign off, fearful that their kids would break the devices and they'd be on the hook for them. That's just a guess, though! We so often don't give kids enough credit... while at the same time, we're constantly charging them for books b/c their water bottles opened in their backpack and ruined the books! Think of what that could do to an iPad! So it's a very hard decision. What do your administrators say?

[John Wellcome]

I'm already checking them out to the fifth and sixth graders.  I will try checking them out to the fourth graders also, and see how that goes.  I'm not sure about going lower than that; I'm hesitant to do so.  I have a permissions/acceptable-use-policy slip that has to be signed by a parent or guardian before a student can check one out.  Buffy Hamilton, the teacher librarian for Creekview HIgh School in Canton, Georgia was kind enough to give me permission to modify and use her permissions slip that she uses to check out Nooks at her library.  The kids are really enjoying being able to check them out.  It gives them options, being able to check out digital books; plus we've been loading them with educational apps that some kids might take advantage of.  But do I dare check them out to kids in 3rd grade and younger?