Collecting old cellphones earns new iPads

Kaikorai Valley College pupil Nathan Harris has handed over two new Apple iPads to pupils in the school's Brathwaite Centre.

It is part of an ongoing initiative run by Autism New Zealand and Swapkit New Zealand, in which he has collected old mobile phones and swapped them for new iPads. Nathan had to collect 330 old devices to swap for a new one.

Brathwaite Centre special needs head Karen Patrick was delighted with the new iPads.

``It means that our students have access to technology which helps them with their learning.

``For some of them, it's a great help with communication because there are apps than can be used, that give them a voice. For students who are non-verbal, that's an amazing thing for them,'' Nathan said.

Nathan plans to continue collecting old technology to swap for more iPads to give to the centre.