Devices come and go, but strong content and good pedagogy remain at the center of what has true impact on student learning. I truly enjoyed a recent Digital Shift blog post, where Christopher Harris beseeches schools to slow down to do careful planning. He goes on to warn schools to not give in to the seductive lure of the hardware—as Harris says, “so pretty, so shiny.” He goes on to say we must resist the siren call of tablets and focus instead on instructional objectives. Gather good “lessons learned” from the full post at http://tinyurl.com/k2ce4ww
Tag Archives: 1:1
Your Voice: One-to-One (1:1) Initiatives in Central Minnesota
Your Voice is a column that shares Quick Question Poll (QQP) results from libraries/school media centers in the twelve-county, CMLE region. Whether a statistical response or textual response to open ended questions, your voice matters. Invitations to engage in the polls arrive in your email; please participate! Most poll results will be shared in aggregate form unless stated otherwise in the poll or through additional approval arrangements.
Last year in April, we asked a total of five questions of school media center staff in our twelve-county region about 1:1 Initiatives. When we refer to 1:1, we are referring to schools who have moved to an educational setting where each student is furnished with a dedicated device, sometimes a laptop, sometimes a tablet or other similar portable device (in BYOD schools, students furnish the device). In some schools, students are allowed to take devices home, some schools allow them to use devices in the summer too. In some 1:1 schools, no print textbooks are used, and new needs for simultaneous use of affordable online content is the most pressing issue. Teachers and media specialists often share this pressing issue, and are looking for opportunities to hear what other schools have deemed appropriate for teaching different subjects at various grade levels.
CMLE serves 265 schools, and there is a broad range of interest, adoption and/or engagement in this topic. Our sample size was small, a total of 33 schools participated in this poll, which was a bit disappointing. In part, these results could help inform some of our future programming, so a larger sample would be more useful in future QQPs. However, this data helps us pinpoint the state of 1:1’s for 33 schools. The questions and their results are shown below.
1. Has your school incorporated a “one-to-one” (1:1) initiative? Please select all answers that apply.
- My “school” currently has a 1:1 initiative (19%)
- My “school” is currently planning a 1:1 school initiative (22%)
- There has been some discussion at the “district level”, but no plans to move ahead at this time (31%)
- We are NOT planning a 1:1 initiative at my “school” (38%)
2. If you answered “yes” to question 2, what types of devices is your school using in their 1:1 work?
- iPads: 68.97%
- Laptops: 34.48%
- Chromebooks: 27.59%
- iPods: 3.45%
3. Are you part of a team discussing or implementing 1:1 initiatives at your school/district?
- Yes: 53%
- No: 25%
- Not sure if such a team exists: 22%
4. Who is the primary contact in your school regarding 1:1 initiatives?
- Media Specialist or Director: 31%
- IT Department Staff: 34%
- Curriculum Director: 9%
- Tech Integrationists: 9%
- No one at this time: 28%
- Other: In most cases, these responses were principals or superintendants
5. In closing, we asked participants to indicate the grades engaged in 1:1.
- By far, 1:1 is most heavily implemented in high school, with a slight increase in ninth grade, where students entering high school often receive their device as a beginning high school experience. Middle school grades followed closely behind high school, with lightest, almost no 1:1 engagement until sixth grade.
As CMLE refines its focus on the needs of school media centers, it is important for our staff to understand the changing role of the media specialists in 1:1 schools. Kudos to the media specialists who serve as the primary contact or part of the team at their school for 1:1. It is an exciting, yet challenging time, and teams that prevail and succeed feel stronger and often re-invigorated in their practice! And, everyone in the school understands the power of having the media specialist as part of the team.
Did you know that the highest ranking need of school media staff in our region (69%) is to engage in opportunities to talk to/collaborate with peers in the field. Yet, many of those people do not feel they are able to leave their setting to do this important work. See our full post next week to hear other results of that poll and to hear of ways CMLE is prepared to help meet this need.
1:1 iPad Technology Institute
Minnetonka High School has fully integrated all 9th and 10th grade students with iPads. By expanding this initiative to include students in grades 8 and 11, it will bring their total number of 1:1 participants to more than 3,100 students.
Is your school thinking about developing a 1:1 initiative? Consider attending the 1:1 iPad Technology Institute on Friday, June 28th from 8:00-3:00 pm hosted by the Minnetonka Institute for Leadership. By attending this institute you will gain an inside look at how-to approach the 1:1 process on everything from planning, budgets, communications, training, etc. The presenters will include district staff and teachers. And, lets not forget about the students (end-users) who will have opportunities to share their experiences throughout the day.
If you register for this institute before Friday, May 31st the cost is $139. Click here to register or learn more about this opportunity.
Quick Question Polls are Happening!
psychicdevelopmentgroup
Recently, CMLE posed three quick question polls to better inform programming and to assist in providing better networking opportunities in the region. All library staff in Aitkin, Benton, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Pine, Sherburne, Stearns, Todd and Wright counties in Minnesota received an email containing the link to the 2-3 question polls, as they are the people CMLE is funded to serve. The polls have different goals, but they all have a few things in common. One very quick poll per week, requiring only two to three minutes to complete, within one week. In May, if participants include their name while completing the poll, they are entered into a drawing for a $50 Amazon gift card. The polls we have done so far include:
- Summer Engagement and How You Use CMLE Communication Streams
- One-to-One Initiative Plans in Central Minnesota
- Your Professional Development Needs
We highly encourage all staff in Central Minnesota libraries to participate in the polls, as we will be making decisions on programming based in large part on data from the polls. Please make your voice heard, get your needs met, and get your name in the drawing too! There is no fee to be a CMLE member, and almost all of our services are available at no charge. If you work in a library or media center in any of the mentioned counties, consider yourself a CMLE member!
TIES Conference Summary: A CMLE Scholarship
The following was submitted by a CMLE scholarship recipient.
Submitted by: Nancy Lorentz, Becker High School Media Specialist
The first session I attended this year at the TIES Conference was entitled “Need More Tech Support? Enlist Some Students!” by Mary Klauk from Osseo Area Schools. I enlisted student help when we went to 1:1 at Becker High School. Mary had some good ideas for me to improve my program –I should have the students trained to run our new auditorium next year, and students who are able to help substitute teachers hook up projectors, etc. I also need to do a better job of training students to create videos for me — concerts, tutorials, etc. all take up quite a bit of my time. She also has a Tech Crew member who supports the Robotics Club–Becker is just starting one up this winter and I have JUST the right boy for the job!
Simon Sinek was the Keynote on Monday: “Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action.” So inspirational! My favorite quote was “Technology has to solve a human problem. If achievement goes up, it’s the teacher using the technology and not the technology itself.” This is so true–I believe the value in putting the technology in the hands of every student is that it forces people to become better teachers–and THAT’S when transformational teaching happens!
My last session may have ended up being the most valuable to me. Two teachers from South View Middle School in Edina work together on a Challenge-Based Learning project called “Combating Apathy.” I’m hoping one of my next steps at Becker High School is to create a Challenge-Based Learning project with a class or classes–and this session gave me some awesome ideas on how to get started!
Thanks so much for helping me to be able to attend TIES again this year!