Here we go….1:1 with iPads!

Its official, after the board meeting last night we were approved to pilot 1:1 iPads in our classrooms next year.  We have selected grade 7 (will go home with students) as well as several elementary classrooms (will stay in classroom on carts).

We are going to do some major infrastructure upgrades this summer to support our district moving in this direction.  We are upgrading our Internet bandwidth from 40mb to 100mb (with thoughts of doubling every year).  We will be doubling our access points district wide.  We also will be upgrading our connections between buildings from 1 GB to 10 GB.  We most likely will also install a new lion server to support and manage these devices as well as the apple/iPhone configurator.  I won’t lie – the management of the devices is so new and different it can be a little overwhelming… but I refuse to be the road block in moving forward in this project!

Training for our teachers in this project begins this Thursday!  One thing about the 7th grade team, is that they have all been “online certified” and have already digitized their curriculum – mostly via Moodle and Google Apps.  Last night our teachers demonstrated some great apps as well as the evolution of textbooks over the the apple TV.  Every classroom will have this device (Apple TV)  installed and will work nicely with their current multimedia systems.  I will be honest, if this existed several years ago – I am not certain we would have invested in the interactive white boards like we have.

While we have been planning planning and planning for this project (for months now) I thankful for districts,  like Minnetonka, that have put ALL their information out on the web.  This has really been helpful when developing our own plans including expectations and policy adjustments.  No one ever wants to reinvent the wheel do they?

I thought I would share the goals and measures of this project.  I am proud to say this has been a collaborative effort and our teachers have really stepped up to the plate in helping us with the planning.  It is their leadership that will drive the current and future success of this program!

Goals of this project

1. Prepare thoughtful, collaborative and creative students that can problem solve and think critically about global issues
2. Utilize innovative strategies for the delivery of rigorous and relevant curricula in an effort to increase higher order thinking skills
3. Increase student achievement and engagement
4. Develop customized, individualized content to meet each student’s unique learning needs
5. Improve the efficiency and efficacy of classroom instruction

Measures

Goal	Measure
Increase Collaboration	Number of teacher developed lessons that incorporate global collaboration (right now 0) Survey – Teacher, Parent, Student MDE Instructional Practice Survey
Increase Higher Order Thinking Skills	Number of student developed projects/artifacts (ePortfolio evaluation) (8 right now) Number of student developed projects/artifacts that are developed for a global audience (ePortfolio evaluation) Survey – Teacher, Parent, Student MDE Instructional Practice Survey
Improve Student Achievement & Engagement	Increase student attendance GSH % attendance – decrease? Survey – Teacher, Parent, Student Reduction of  students needing interventions Increased time on task (teacher survey) Reduction of course failure rates Decrease # of Missing/late Assignments (gradebook)
Individualized Instruction/Feedback	Adoption, frequency, and utilization of classroom response technologies (teacher survey) # of Moodle courses/content
Improve Efficiency and Savings	Decrease Printing by 50% at designated grade levels No Planners Decrease Student Supply list Lower Textbook Costs (no ecology books)