District Administration - June 2011 - (Page 38)

Lessons Learned from One-to-One where eighth-grade math scores on the state test rose from 50 percent proficiency in the 2001-2002 school year to over 90 percent in 2009-2010. “Dropping a laptop into a classroom does not change the learning for students,” says Grogan, who says approaches to instruction must change too. “I have seen some laptops be paperweights. It takes a lot of professional development and pushing by the principal to change how the technology is being used.” At the Science Leadership Academy, a one-to-one Apple laptop magnet high school in the School District of Philadelphia that serves economically disadvantaged inner-city students, results of the program’s first four-year graduating class include a 96 percent graduation rate, compared to the district’s rate of 58 percent, and over 90 percent college enrollment, in contrast to the district’s 34 percent. The laptops are a crucial part of the school’s emphasis on problem-based learning, says founding principal Chris Lehmann, and they enable students to solve real-world problems. “Kids ask serious questions and use the laptops to build learning artifacts—such as films, podcasts, blog entries and oral history interviews—that show the answers,” he says. Lehmann believes that establishing common rubrics across grades and disciplines so all teachers are speaking a shared language of learning is a crucial component of success. Affording One-to-One Of course, given economic conditions, the costs of technology can dominate the discussion of one-to-one computing. For some districts, however, such programs can end up saving money. In the Lorain City (Ohio) Schools, Gary Brantley, chief information systems officer, found that issuing netbooks with digital textbook content to all students in grades 6-12 would be a more affordable solution than replacing printed math textbooks. Brantley says his initial savings of $140,000 in textbook purchases has blossomed into a broader district return on investment, as the laptops have enabled the use of free tools for e-mail and social networking, as 38 June 2011 Students work on their MacBooks at King Middle School in the Portland (Maine) Public Schools, provided as part of the statewide Maine Learning Technology Initiative launched in 2002. well as applications like Google Docs and OpenOffice. For many districts, however, even making the initial investment is not possible. “Rethinking how to get to a ubiquitous technology environment is critical in these tough economic times,” says CoSN CEO Keith Kreuger, “and buying a device for every child is unscalable in most places.” This fact has driven the new trend of using student-owned devices—such as iPads, smartphones and MP3 players—known as “bring your own technology” (BYOT) or “bring your own device” (BYOD). This fall, for example, the Katy (Texas) Independent School District will allow students and staff to bring their own devices to school, and public Wi-Fi will be available in all 52 buildings. “We’re trying to leverage parents’ personal investments in technology,” says CIO Lenny Shad. Lessons for the Future After more than a decade of implementations across the country, and on the brink of a transition into a BYOT/BYOD environment for many, what lessons do veteran school leaders have to share with administrators considering one-to-one programs in their districts? Anita Givens, architect of Texas’ Technology Immersion Pilot (TIP) and now associate commissioner of the Texas Education Agency (TEA), references findings of the program’s 2010 progress report. “We learned that the complete package of content, technology, professional development and support was critical, but of equal impor- tance was student access both at school and at home on a regular basis.” Richardson agrees, saying that when careful planning, implementation, infrastructure and professional development are in place, one-to-one programs show measurable gains. Edwards in Mooresville stresses developing a school culture of learning, and of building leadership capacity among staff members in order to take full advantage of a laptop program. “When teachers are successful, the morale of the entire school goes up,” he says. The “Project Red” study pinpoints nine strategies that are common to successful one-to-one programs, with the most important being daily technology use in intervention classes, strong changemanagement leadership and regular online student collaboration. Grogan agrees that the right balance in leadership is crucial. “It takes both teacher support and pushing by the principal to change how the technology is being used. When you do one without the other, you don’t move things forward.” Though data in pockets across the country show clear evidence of the positive impact of every student having a computing device, and although there remain challenges to the arrival of ubiquitous one-toone environments, the trend overall is still in one direction. As Leslie Wilson puts it, “At this point, what district would want to go backward?” DA Susan McLester is a freelance writer based in Berkeley, Calif. District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - June 2011

District Administration - June 2011
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Curriculum News
Sustainability News
Administrator Profile
District Profile
District-Level Downsizing
Lessons Learned from One-to-One
Partner for One-to-One Success
Pioneering States
The Changing Role of the CTO
New Directions for Special Ed
Problem/Solution
Books
Products
Student Counsel
Going Mobile
Professional Opinion

District Administration - June 2011