Moving Toward a Successful 1:1 Implementation

After a busy summer getting ready for Phase 2 of our 1:1 implementation, I'm feeling great about the upcoming weeks as we roll out over 8000 devices in schools. Chromebook distributions will start Monday for two high school take-home programs, and many middle school students will be issued devices to use throughout the school day. Our elementary program with Chromebooks now includes 4th and 5th grade.

Over the past year I've struggled with this initiative. Feeling great one moment after seeing students engaged in their learning and then feeling worried about the enormity of the project. The stakes are high with a great need to be fiscally responsible and to show a return on investment with improved student achievement and student engagement.

I can't say enough about the importance of constantly evaluating your 1:1 initiative and making needed changes if you see problems with the implementation. We're working with our Getting To Outcomes™ evaluation team and constantly evaluating for quality implementation. The first teacher, parent, and student survey results are coming in now, and I'm thrilled that we're already seeing positive changes in our classrooms. I'm looking forward to sharing those results in the near future.

My professional goal for the upcoming school year is to become more involved with groups that are on the front lines of research and evaluation for 1:1 programs. Organizations like EdLeader21, Project RED, CoSN's Teaming for Transformation group, and Gartner all have robust learning communities and a wealth of resources and research data. This year I want to take an in depth look at rubrics for evaluating the 4Cs and focus on helping schools to incorporate the Project RED key implementation factors at the school level.

With good planning and thoughtful evaluation, 1:1 computing can have a positive impact on student learning. I look forward to collaborating with others who are working with 1:1 programs and look forward to sharing results as our implementation continues.

 

The Real Meaning of PBL

After a number of learning opportunities this year including a visit to High Tech High in San Diego, I have a better understanding about the meaning of PBL.

Learning how to implement PBL in the classroom is no easy task, but I believe that the key to implementation is passion. We need to be passionate about our jobs and about providing engaging work for our students. Students need to be allowed to follow their passions in a learning environment that allows for choice. Passion-based learning is the real meaning of PBL.

My technology integration team is modeling PBL this summer with a new course called, "Passport to 21st Century Learning." An important part of the course is offering choice for the teachers. As a kick-off to the course, teachers attended our two day SC Midlands Summit and selected sessions of their choice. I've just completed reading the blog posts from the teachers in my course section, and the passion is evident.

The final class project will be a PBL unit which each participant will implement during the 2012-13 school year. We hope to have an exhibition later in the school year to showcase both the teacher's PBL unit as well as the student work. If you're interested in learning more about passion-based learning, Jackie Gerstein has a great blog post.