TCEA Leadership Seminar - Session 2 "Surviving and Excelling at 1 to 1" by Lori Gracey

Things You Need to Know and Think About When Thinking of Implementing a 1 to 1 Solution (from Lori Gracey. Project discussed: Bastrop ISD)

Lori says: This is SO worth it to do this. We have to do this because this is their world we, and our kids. live in. How would we function without our cell phones, computers, etc? Why would we do that to our kids? They need to function in school the same way they function in the real world!

Here are the insights and Questions to Ask Ourselves that Lori gave us:

There are tons of free stuff out there. Bastrop bought lots of audiobooks.

Why are we going 1 to 1? What is our educational reason?

The choice of what device to buy is one of the last decisions we should make. The why and the learning are first.

Does everyone in your district know what the 1 to 1 means? Bus drivers? Cafeteria? Custodians? Counselors? Every department in the district? this will effect all of them.

There will be things we do not anticipate.

Our community will have expectations. They will expect Internet access for their kids at home. We will have to put together a public relations information item so that everyone will know where they can go in the community to access wi-fi. In Bastrop Lori made a deal with Starbucks - free wifi for kids if they bought something while they were there. :)

Keep schools open at night when possible.

3 years is basically what we are going to get out of each device. Kids will tear them up.

We need to be sure that the computers will handle online testing.

Leadership: Are the people in 'power' on board for the Initiative. Are they passionate about it? This will consume technology directors/coordinators time. Are we prepared for a TAKS score dip the first year, but then higher scores years after that? It may be even the 4th year that scores go 'way' up. The School Board will need to know this.

Are our TIMS tech staff on board with this? There will be a lot of work. This will be all consuming for this department.

Campus principals will make or break this project. They MUST be 100% behind this project for it to work. They are critical. We need them to totally understand all aspects of the project. They will be dealing with angry parents over broken laptops, students accessing inappropriate sites, etc. There will be bumps in the road and principals will need to be committed to working through these.

Professional Learning: We have to help them understand what the new instruction looks like and how it will be integrated into PDAS. They will be worried. Campus principals must be on the same page about how they will use PDAS with teachers in the 1 to 1.

We must have training for C&I people and teachers.

The technology (laptop and software) vs. the teaching:

Teachers need to know their subject, not technology. That is their job - their content and the best instructional strategies. Tell teachers up front that they do not have to know how to do everything on the computer. The kids will know, kids will learn quickly how to do the things they do not, and teach them. Their job will be about teaching the content they know, just in a different way. We will take care of the technology training.

C&I: You cannot give students a laptop in a classroom and have teachers lecture. Kids will 'eat teachers alive.'

Bastrop totally rewrote their curriculum - all of the CORE.

Teachers have to know what to do when kids do not bring their laptops. And all of these issues. Teachers must know that they are not expected to never use pencils, paper, books anymore.

The computers: Kids who are bored will take their keys off of their keyboards. Note: Kids will be bored in class the first year if the teacher doesn't teach differently than before. We will have repair costs.

Taking them home...kids will decide not to bring it to school (if I don't bring it, I wont have to do work) if there are not engaging learning activities going on at school that involve using the laptops. If it is just a paper and pencil, not too engaging.

In Bastrop, after middle school kids used laptops in 8th grade, the 9th grade BCIS class was not needed for most kids anymore. Kids already knew the skills they would be learning in that class. Now kids there mostly take the advanced technology classes. Few take BCIS, so staffing and classes offered changed. We have to be ready for this.

AUP/Policies/Procedures:

How are we going to update/load software? Discipline policies?

Policies and procedures to think about: Students checking out of school...the school staff member who checks kids out will now be responsible for taking up laptops now, in addition to textbooks, etc. What will that procedure be?

Inventory: can be a nightmare...be careful. Laptop breaks, kid borrows one, inventory serial numbers...be careful to have a good process or kids will end up with more than one laptop.

Filtering: Blocked websites? Teachers will need quick responses to sites that need unblocked.

Bastrop bought software that filters away from school. The community will expect this. When kids are using their laptops late at night or they are on inappropriate sites at home - parents will expect your help with that.

Digital Copyright: Huge issue. Critical that we provide training for teachers and students about this. Lawyers WILL be calling the school when kids and teachers are posting things they copy and paste from other places....

Are we going to use a content management solution (place to put everything - PowerPoint, resources, lessons, web 2.0 tools like blogs, digital drop boxes to turn in assignments - that is searchable and available online 24/7). Free: Joomla.

The battery in the laptops will not last more than 3 hours (Lori says, not matter what brand of computer you have). Where will kids go to charge laptops during the day?

Do we want or need a software monitoring system so that teachers can see what is on all students' computers at all times? They are not that expensive. Teachers can lock students' computers when needed, open a program for everyone, etc.

We will spend a year talking to everyone about this, training, curriculum, etc.

This is NOT about TAKS scores. 1 to 1 will eventually raise scores, but this this is about truly training kids for the 21st Century.

Parents will need training. They will need to see how the laptops will be used to transform teaching and learning. They will not know what their child's classroom will look like and it is our job to help them understand what activities their children will be engaging in (what software/Internet resources will be used, etc.) Parents will want TAKS prep software on the laptops.

Parents and students will want to load printer software on the laptops at home (home printer, digital cameras, etc.). What will be our policy?

Printing Policy: Bastrop's was no printing. Everything was digital (turn in drop boxes, etc.). They went Green. If students want to print at school they must go to library, show the librarian what they want to print and get permission.

Parent Meetings: Lori had many, many meetings. She also had community meetings.

Lori did a great job of helping with the thinking and planning that we must do. She also gave me lots of resources to bring back (management and policies docs, Professional Learning Curriculum, Websites, etc.).