MORRISTOWN — Other Baroque art history high school classes may open with a quiz on famous paintings and artists of the era.
But Alex Curtis, headmaster at the Morristown-Beard School, started one recent lesson with a seemingly puzzling question: "Have you got that app yet?"
Earlier, he had instructed his seven students to download an electronic program that lets them isolate the colors of a Raphael painting on their iPads, a new tablet-sized mobile computer.
As the lesson unfolded, Curtis used the rectangular device to splash images of Zeus, Apollo and the painting "Madonna Of The Meadow" on a wall.
Morristown-Beard, which purchased iPads this summer for 60 students, is among a growing number of schools in New Jersey and across the nation that are exploring how the computing gadgets can enhance how students learn.
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Just a half-inch thick and roughly 25 ounces, the iPad is a slatelike device larger than a cell phone but smaller than a laptop. Released five months ago by Apple Computer, the devices can connect to the Internet and download textbooks and thousands of "apps," or computer programs.
"It’s about what kids are going to use," said Scott Wolfe, the principal at South Mountain Elementary School in Millburn. "Are they going to use a laptop more than they can use an iPad? It’s that touch, that holding it in their hand. We want to see what works."
While Morristown-Beard paid around $600 each for the iPads — it received no discount from Apple — other schools are seeking grants or getting help from education foundations to buy them.
The South Mountain Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization raised funds for the school’s purchase of two iPads, and is hoping to buy 10 more. Public schools in Montclair and Freehold also plan to get a few in the hands of teachers and students.
Spurred by the prospect of reinventing the classroom, experts and educators have increasingly pushed new devices into schools. They cite the need to acclimate students to new technologies and engage them better.
"The whole notion of mobile learning is exploding," said Elliot Soloway, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Engineering. "In schools that use mobile technologies, they’re seeing an increase of up to 30 percent in test scores."
But he cautioned that iPads are generally more expensive than smartphones and may not be the best option for cash-strapped school districts.
Teachers say the iPad has some unique advantages. Batteries can last all day, and there is no flip screen to act as a barrier between the device and the teachers’ sight line.
What really separates the devices from, say, a laptop, may be its "apps," or applications.
Teachers at Morristown-Beard selected a range of apps, some of which provide information about art using mapping software. Other applications are used for annotating or highlighting text.
The school implemented an iPad-only curriculum for freshmen and seniors in six classes: Baroque art history, advanced geosciences, two Advanced Placement calculus courses and freshmen English and history courses.
The Morristown school wanted to see how the devices would work in a variety of subjects, and administrators selected tech-savvy teachers who pitched proposals on what they would do with the iPads.
If the experiment works, administrators at Morristown-Beard will consider iPads for all 540 students in the 2011-12 academic year.
All textbooks and learning materials are stored in the devices.
Samantha Morra, technology teacher at the Mt. Hebron Middle School in Montclair, applied for a state grant — requesting $449 each for 10 iPads — to add to two already purchased.
"Here you have instant access to information, and those are things you don’t necessary get from things such as textbooks," Morra said. "Students devour engaging and customized curricula."
She envisions a class with small groups of students using iPads to review oral histories they have recorded, taking virtual tours of Colonial Williamsburg or creating presentations to be projected to the entire class.
In her third week of using the iPad, Anna Balliet, a 17-year-old senior at Morristown-Beard, saw its advantages.
"All I can say is I have so much more information I can use." said Balliet, who is from Basking Ridge. "Just for one simple assignment, I have so much information in front of me."
Staff writer Rohan Mascarenhas contributed to this report.