Beta project will be analyzed to help measure technology’s effectiveness
by Tad Johnson
Sun Thisweek-Dakota County Tribune
Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District officials are hoping that a test project in 46 classrooms this school year will improve the quality and quantity of learning for 1,600 students.
Those classrooms and students will take part in a beta project through which each student will be issued an iPad Mini after funds of up to $502,400 are spent to purchase 1,600 of the devices and related equipment – a move that was approved July 14 by the School Board.
The idea to test the effectiveness of issuing a mobile device to a limited number of students – the district has an estimated 28,000 students and 31 school sites – emerged from District 196’s Learning and Technology Task Force.
The beta project aims to evaluate what kinds of courses, projects and ages are most appropriate for a district-provided, one-to-one technology device. “We wanted to go through it in a real thoughtful way,” Steven Troen, director of teaching and learning, said.
The district sought applications from fourth- through 12th-grade teachers who wanted to have their classrooms become part of beta project.
An estimated 80 applications were submitted and task force members selected 46 classrooms representing each grade level (4-12) in nearly all district buildings.
Among the selection criteria were a teacher’s past classroom technology experience and their explanation about how a one-to-one initiative would be applied in the curriculum.
Beta project teachers are undergoing staff development this summer with an eye toward learning from each other and best practices in other districts, such as in Farmington where an all-district, one-to-one iPad initiative is entering its second year.
Troen said the project is not about the device, it’s about creating a “dynamic student learning experience.”
“It comes down to how students use technology to access information, collaborate and communicate,” Troen said.
Some teachers may deploy a flipped classroom using the devices. In a flipped classroom, teachers can create video lectures that students can view at home and use classroom time to complete assignments or projects. This allows the teacher to guide and assist in such work.
Troen said iPads have applications through which teachers can receive real-time feedback on students, such as a quiz that generates instant results so teachers can see who is grasping or not understanding what is being taught.
“The hallmark of every conversation is it is all about the learning and what it is we want students to do,” Troen said.
The district will use anecdotal and empirical information to judge the beta project’s effectiveness.
San Francisco-based BrightBytes has supplied a computer platform called Clarity with Case Module to compile survey data from staff, students and parents regarding their experiences.
The analysis will also measure how much work was completed and grades the students achieved.
Troen also hopes to hear feedback about individual students creating something due to the access to technology that they might not have ever done or conceived of otherwise.
“We are going to stand back and watch the stories develop,” Troen said.
Troen said working with technology better prepares students for college and careers since so many post-secondary schools and job sites are fully-integrated with computers.
“The long-term vision is that the technology becomes invisible,” Troen said. “It is interwoven into the learning experience. It is just part of the world and how you communicate and collaborate.”
The next step for the district with regard to growing the use of district-provided, one-to-one technology likely will be dependent on how successful the beta project is.
Troen said another 40-50 teachers are undergoing staff development training through a separate beta project called Technology Integration. Through this project teachers have access to a Chrome Book or iPad carts, that are used only in the classroom.
Issuing technology devices to students for use at home and in school is something that Troen hopes will expand if the funding is available.
“There is a high excitement level,” Troen said. “I get to work with a lot of good teachers and staff on a variety of projects, but this has the ability to impact every classroom and every student – to change the experience, that is exciting.”
Tad Johnson 