iPads are increasingly becoming a staple in classrooms, a fact which has some parents and educators excited and others concerned. In her conversation with Shayne Evans of the University of Chicago Charter School and Daniel Willingham of the University of Virginia, Meghna Chakrabarti of NPR’s On Point discusses some of the questions that we’ve heard raised about having the tablets play a prominent role in the school day. Their conclusion is that iPads and other 1-to-1 technology platforms can and should be the way of the future, but like with any new education initiative, professional development and training should be provided to teachers — and, Evans argues, parents — long before the technology makes its way into the hands of the students.

This notion has been in the forefront of our minds as we begin to build out the teacher’s guide that will serve as the backbone for implementing NGPM. The guide will include a whole section for professional development where preschool teachers can brush up on the math and pedagogy behind our games and watch videos that will illuminate best practices for teaching math using technology in preschool. We want this to feel authentic and meaningful to teachers, so over the next year, we’re working with our incredible preschool partners to capture video of highly-skilled teachers integrating digital math materials into their classroom repertoire.

Here’s a sneak preview of our teacher’s guide:

As you can see, teachers will be able to see their students’ progress for each game! Note: This is a very early wireframe!

Stay tuned for more about the teacher’s guide as we build it out in the next few months. In the meantime, check out to the full On Point conversation about iPads in schools here!