Move over you pre-adolescent girls who are sporting the best Juicy Couture outfits and you boys who have season tickets to the Yankees. There is a new cool kid in school – the Edison Township School District.

The district is about to earn some pretty nifty bragging rights as it will become the first in the state of New Jersey to implement a full algebra curriculum on iPads by introducing HMH Fuse: Algebra 1 app to students. The year-long pilot program kicks off Monday Sept. 12.

The HMH Fuse: Algebra 1 app, which comes with a tagline of “Light the Fuse of learning,” is the first–ever full–curriculum algebra app created for the iPad, according to company officials. With the app, students can enjoy learning the Algebra 1 curriculum in an engaging, 21^st century way.

“The iPad's form-factor and wow-factor engage the digital generation in ways traditional learning methods cannot. Students watch video tutorials, swipe through pages, get just-in-time hints, and walk through complex problems at home or on the go,” HMH Fuse creators explain on their website.

At the Edison Township School District, 60 high school students will participate in a benchmark study during the 2011–12 school year, and during that time, administrators will identify the benefits of HMH′s digital program. The Fuse students′ progress will be measured against a control group in a traditional classroom.

The Edison Township School District needs to be commended for taking such a strong stance in introducing education technology innovation to the classroom. My hunch is that this pilot program was initially met with some dissent from parents and administrators who still believe that the good ol’ blackboard and chalk go a long way. Other parents might have been nervous that if their high school students got too familiar with iPads, they will start to demand that their parents to buy them iPads before heading to college. So, kudos to the district for sticking to its beliefs.

The bottom line is that iPads are where schools are headed and it’s best to introduce students to the technology as early as possible.

In truth, it is difficult to find one piece of technology that has been introduced to the classroom that hasn’t been met with even the tiniest bit of skepticism: from SMART Boards to TVs in the classroom to laptops in every room. 

But the fact is that in 20 years, our classrooms are bound to look like something out of the Jetsons, with robotic teaching aids or holographic lesson plans. So let’s follow the suit of schools like Edison Township who are trying to remain ahead of the curve.