It all happened very quickly in the St. Clair, MO school district. The former superintendent, Michael Murphy, saw where other states were going in terms of educational technology, and in the spring of 2013, he started researching 1:1 device programs. That June, he took a group of teachers and administrators to the ISTE conference, and by mid-summer the school board had agreed to purchase Chromebooks for every student in grades 6-12, along with all of their teachers.
But students didn’t get their computers that fall. For six months, teachers were given time to learn about the Chromebooks and the opportunities that the district’s concurrent transition to Google opened up. They planned new curriculum maps using Google docs and focused collaboration time on incorporating technology into the classroom. A group of master teachers served as go-to resources for their colleagues. Parents were asked to attend trainings prior to the January rollout to ease their concerns with the 1:1 program. Only then was it students’ turn.
Nadine Aitch, assistant superintendent of schools, says that period between the Chromebooks' purchase and the rollout to students was crucial to fostering necessary support for the program.
“You have to have all hands on deck if you want something like this to succeed,” Aitch said. “You can’t just buy Chromebooks and hand them to teachers and expect it to be successful. It has to be a group effort.”
The year after the older students got their Chromebooks, the district rolled them out to students from preschool through fifth grade. The younger students are not allowed to take their computers home with them, but they have been integrated into the classroom experience.
The district hired four instructional technology coaches, one per school, and sent them to conferences and workshops to bring back knowledge for other teachers. Schools took advantage of early-release Wednesdays that gave teachers time to collaborate without students.
The result has been measurable success. Teachers are using programs including myON, ST Math and ConceptMastery to differentiate instruction, providing tailored assignments to students whether they need remediation, enrichment, or the standard curriculum. The digital platforms allow for greater data collection by teachers so they can make more informed decisions about how to shape their lessons and arrange small group instruction. And students are taking a larger role in their own learning.
“The teacher doesn’t have to be the holder of all of the knowledge,” Aitch said. “Technology has been the reason for that.”
The St. Clair district scaled back its textbook budget considerably, making room for the Chromebook purchases and licensing for the new software. It also purchased 50 Kajeet smartspots to give students without an internet connection at home wireless access through a filtered network. That has been the most recent phase of the plan, according to Aitch.
Some 60% of the students who attend St. Clair schools qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Poverty is an issue, but many students access their Google drives through their smartphones or do their homework with their Chromebooks using Wi-Fi from the local library or businesses that offer public access like McDonald’s. Between these community locations and access with the Kajeet smartspots, Aitch says students have been able to complete homework that requires online access.
Melissa Husereau, director of teaching and learning, was an instructional coach when the district first switched to the one-to-one program and she has seen the ensuing shift in classroom practice.
“Anything that students are wondering about, it’s at their fingertips to find,” Husereau said. “They can not only collaborate with their classmates within their building but they can also collaborate with other students around the world. … The sky is the limit when it comes to technology within education.”
Aitch recommends other schools take time for research and planning before moving full speed ahead on a one-to-one program. In St. Clair, an audit made sure the district’s Wi-Fi could support the initiative before Chromebooks entered the classrooms en masse, and coordinated professional development helped win teacher buy-in.
Still, some teachers were hesitant at first. The Chromebook initiative felt like more work for them. But giving the district’s “rock star teachers” freedom to stretch their limits helped inspire other teachers to step up and try new things.
“If a teacher sees another teacher using a resource or doing something and the excitement in the room is beyond words, another teacher is going to want to pick that up,” Aitch said.
The key is empowering them to try.
