Welcome to November, people! I feel like I sneezed and October went by. Let's talk technology.
When we last spoke, we were about two weeks in to the first pilot experience classroom. We had some mixed reviews about the devices, especially when the kids were able to play with Chromebooks. They found them easy to use, and they liked both the integrated keyboard and the ability to stay logged into Google all the time. Compared to the iPads, Chromebooks were a more familiar device to what the kids were used to in terms of computing. That said, they were a comfortable device for the kids, which if we're to do what's in the best interests of all our students, they may not be the best choice. A Chromebook won't push our kids out of their comfort zone into their learning zone. They have the ability to word process and surf the internet, but they're very limited in terms of content creation. And in the words of our MOREnet consultant, "Without the Internet, the Chromebooks are essentially worthless." That's a big deal, considering that we have potentially 10% of our families with no access to Internet outside of school.
I've been trying to keep an open mind about the Chromebooks because I enjoyed using it as much as the kids. It's limited in what it can do, but for surfing the web and using Google apps, it's great. After attending a curriculum workshop at Apple Executive in Chicago, I was completely awed by the care and precision that Apple puts into their products, not just in the product itself but in how it's used in education. An iPad can do everything a Chromebook can do and beyond, and it's only about $100 more. For example, I can take an online article on an iPad, transform it to speech through iTunes, and give my students who struggle with reading an audio copy through iTunesU. What's brilliant is that this audio copy doesn't sound robotic. It has 18 different breath sounds that makes it seem like a real person is reading to you. I went to the MOREnet Technology Conference in Columbia last week, and I wanted to attend several 1:1 sessions, especially of schools who chose Chromebooks. My question in every session was the same - why Chromebooks? Every time, the presenters said because of cost. That's just not a good enough reason for me. I don't want to choose a device because it's cheaper. I want to choose a device that's going to transform the way we teach and learn so that five years from now, every single student I ask will tell me, "I love school because it's engaging and relevant. We get to learn so much cool stuff." I don't know necessarily that the Chromebook will do that for us. We have several more Chromebook days in different subjects planned, so I'll keep my mind open to its possibilities.
We're now in the second classroom with the iPads, which is a creative writing class led by Kortney Sebben. She's had very positive reviews of the technology and the apps she's using with the kids. She's focused on three apps - Word Mover, Inspire, and Curator. Word Mover is a magnetic poetry app that the kids use for their warm-ups. Inspire is a creative writing prompt generator, and it's awesome. The kids can choose to have a picture prompt, a quote prompt, a random prompt, or a first line prompt. They then use it to write their daily creative writing. Finally, they're using Curator to put together their digital portfolios. Curator is a grid-based app, where each block of the grid has the ability to add text, an image, or a website. They can also add notes to each block. On Thursday, students will participate in a creative writing gallery walk where they'll browse each other's Curators and give critical feedback on the contents. Kortney has said her students enjoy using the apps and are only frustrated when having to use the keyboard to type. I'm disappointed in the keyboards, considering that they're designed specifically for the iPad, and they're promoted by Apple. We'll not be purchasing those keyboards in the future, that's for sure. Instead, I talked to a couple of students about which case they'd prefer. They said that a case like mine where it takes the iPad and transforms it to a laptop would be the coolest. I hesitated to do a bluetooth keyboard because I liked the idea of not having to sync the keyboard every time, but I see the benefits now. My keyboard has never glitched out like the plug-in keyboards. I do know a company that makes a rugged case with built in keyboard that's less expensive than our case and keyboard combo now, so I'll be looking into that if we go iPad and seeing what kind of deal I can get from them.
In other technology news, we had a productive meeting with the Technology Task Force last week and made some high-level decisions about what we should recommend to the board. We've pushed off the tech proposal to December's meeting because the November meeting will be jam-packed already with guests and information. I'm ready to give the presentation, so I'm glad the board recognized its importance and has moved it to a meeting where they can give their undivided attention. It also gives me some more time to work on the wow factor. My presentation will focus in two connected directions - why digital transformation is the right thing for our district and how we can make it work within our present budget. I want the board to understand that the benefits are worth the cost, especially when it comes to improving learning for all our students.
One of the goals of our tech initiative is to improve communication and collaboration between our parents, staff, students, and community members. We're working on a new and improved communication platform, as well as developing a Tech Night for our community members. I'm looking forward to working with the community on these two events, and I know it's going to be an awesome way to bring our school and our community together. I'll keep you posted on the details!
I love that we're still making positive steps in the right direction for our students. Even with the glitches, we're learning the best ways to move forward, and that's important. I'm confident that our tech initiative is the right way to go at the right time because our students deserve the very best!
When we last spoke, we were about two weeks in to the first pilot experience classroom. We had some mixed reviews about the devices, especially when the kids were able to play with Chromebooks. They found them easy to use, and they liked both the integrated keyboard and the ability to stay logged into Google all the time. Compared to the iPads, Chromebooks were a more familiar device to what the kids were used to in terms of computing. That said, they were a comfortable device for the kids, which if we're to do what's in the best interests of all our students, they may not be the best choice. A Chromebook won't push our kids out of their comfort zone into their learning zone. They have the ability to word process and surf the internet, but they're very limited in terms of content creation. And in the words of our MOREnet consultant, "Without the Internet, the Chromebooks are essentially worthless." That's a big deal, considering that we have potentially 10% of our families with no access to Internet outside of school.
I've been trying to keep an open mind about the Chromebooks because I enjoyed using it as much as the kids. It's limited in what it can do, but for surfing the web and using Google apps, it's great. After attending a curriculum workshop at Apple Executive in Chicago, I was completely awed by the care and precision that Apple puts into their products, not just in the product itself but in how it's used in education. An iPad can do everything a Chromebook can do and beyond, and it's only about $100 more. For example, I can take an online article on an iPad, transform it to speech through iTunes, and give my students who struggle with reading an audio copy through iTunesU. What's brilliant is that this audio copy doesn't sound robotic. It has 18 different breath sounds that makes it seem like a real person is reading to you. I went to the MOREnet Technology Conference in Columbia last week, and I wanted to attend several 1:1 sessions, especially of schools who chose Chromebooks. My question in every session was the same - why Chromebooks? Every time, the presenters said because of cost. That's just not a good enough reason for me. I don't want to choose a device because it's cheaper. I want to choose a device that's going to transform the way we teach and learn so that five years from now, every single student I ask will tell me, "I love school because it's engaging and relevant. We get to learn so much cool stuff." I don't know necessarily that the Chromebook will do that for us. We have several more Chromebook days in different subjects planned, so I'll keep my mind open to its possibilities.
We're now in the second classroom with the iPads, which is a creative writing class led by Kortney Sebben. She's had very positive reviews of the technology and the apps she's using with the kids. She's focused on three apps - Word Mover, Inspire, and Curator. Word Mover is a magnetic poetry app that the kids use for their warm-ups. Inspire is a creative writing prompt generator, and it's awesome. The kids can choose to have a picture prompt, a quote prompt, a random prompt, or a first line prompt. They then use it to write their daily creative writing. Finally, they're using Curator to put together their digital portfolios. Curator is a grid-based app, where each block of the grid has the ability to add text, an image, or a website. They can also add notes to each block. On Thursday, students will participate in a creative writing gallery walk where they'll browse each other's Curators and give critical feedback on the contents. Kortney has said her students enjoy using the apps and are only frustrated when having to use the keyboard to type. I'm disappointed in the keyboards, considering that they're designed specifically for the iPad, and they're promoted by Apple. We'll not be purchasing those keyboards in the future, that's for sure. Instead, I talked to a couple of students about which case they'd prefer. They said that a case like mine where it takes the iPad and transforms it to a laptop would be the coolest. I hesitated to do a bluetooth keyboard because I liked the idea of not having to sync the keyboard every time, but I see the benefits now. My keyboard has never glitched out like the plug-in keyboards. I do know a company that makes a rugged case with built in keyboard that's less expensive than our case and keyboard combo now, so I'll be looking into that if we go iPad and seeing what kind of deal I can get from them.
In other technology news, we had a productive meeting with the Technology Task Force last week and made some high-level decisions about what we should recommend to the board. We've pushed off the tech proposal to December's meeting because the November meeting will be jam-packed already with guests and information. I'm ready to give the presentation, so I'm glad the board recognized its importance and has moved it to a meeting where they can give their undivided attention. It also gives me some more time to work on the wow factor. My presentation will focus in two connected directions - why digital transformation is the right thing for our district and how we can make it work within our present budget. I want the board to understand that the benefits are worth the cost, especially when it comes to improving learning for all our students.
One of the goals of our tech initiative is to improve communication and collaboration between our parents, staff, students, and community members. We're working on a new and improved communication platform, as well as developing a Tech Night for our community members. I'm looking forward to working with the community on these two events, and I know it's going to be an awesome way to bring our school and our community together. I'll keep you posted on the details!
I love that we're still making positive steps in the right direction for our students. Even with the glitches, we're learning the best ways to move forward, and that's important. I'm confident that our tech initiative is the right way to go at the right time because our students deserve the very best!