Area schools prepare to give computers to students

More than 1,200 digital devices will be rolled out at Cape Girardeau Central High School in January into the hands of waiting students, and the district is gearing up for the impending implementation of the initiative known as 1:1 by training staff and making final decisions.

Cape Girardeau's not alone -- nearby districts in Missouri are planning for or already have forged their own 1:1 programs.

Like Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff Junior High will receive its devices this year. After running a pilot program last year, the junior high will provide more than 800 seventh and eighth-grade students with MacBook Airs this fall.

Sikeston will provide each high school student with an iPad this fall as part of Project iLearn, looking to educational apps to enhance student learning.

The Ste. Genevieve School District has just finished its first year of 1:1 with full implementation of netbooks in the middle and high schools.

Teacher training

Perhaps one of the chief concerns among faculty is the extent of training and the level of preparedness teachers will have when devices are handed to them. Ste. Genevieve superintendent Shelley Jokerst said training with a course management system ahead of time is crucial.

The Ste. Genevieve district has been pushing Moodle, its online course management system, in the schools the last few years by encouraging and requiring teachers to use it daily.

"We've been coaxing them along in that whole online learning world for a while, and I think that's important," Jokerst said. "When they go then to create their own Moodle page for their classroom, it's more familiar to them. It's not a big, new thing."

By contrast, teachers in Cape Girardeau are being taught a summer crash course in Moodle.

Poplar Bluff Junior High teachers had the MacBooks for a year for personal use, to work on lessons and digital curriculum, and have everything in order for this coming school year. There were only about 100 MacBooks to go around in the pilot program, so the computers were rotated for teams of seventh- and eighth-grade students, along with special education courses. Principal Bob Case said by the end of the year, teachers had the chance to work with students for two weeks of class time with the devices.

This fall, teachers will have new Lenovo laptops with 15-inch screens and a class device identical to that which students will use. Teachers will receive their laptops in the next few weeks and are scheduled to have the classroom device before Christmas break. There also is teacher training this summer. Students won't receive their laptops until January, giving teachers to the first semester to familiarize themselves with the devices and programs before full classroom implementation.

Ron Farrow, the newly hired technology instructional specialist for Cape Girardeau's public schools, leads the training sessions. The sessions cover ways to integrate the technology in the classroom and how to use Moodle. The sessions began June 26 and run until July 25. Every teacher attends one day of training, with high school teachers attending an additional day.

"Those training sessions will cover looking at the device, some 1:1 plans, some new things that we're implementing this year such as Google Drive and the whole world of Google apps," Farrow said. "It's going to be an introduction of Moodle as a Web platform. How can they use that in their classroom? What will that look like? How will the students interact with the website?"

Voluntary Moodle training was offered last summer, but wasn't completely embraced by Cape Girardeau faculty. Though only about 70 faculty members of 400 certified staff were present, Sherry Copeland, assistant superintendent at Cape, said it was well-attended. Many attending were the technical staff for each building, who took the information and trained their staff during planning periods, professional development and early release days.

Teacher input

Theresa Taylor, a high school computer teacher and the building technician at Cape Girardeau Central High School, said the reason many teachers hesitated about using Moodle was because using the online classroom when students don't have their own devices is difficult. But now that each student will have a device, she expects teachers to be far more willing to become involved with the online learning community. Taylor used Moodle with all of her courses this year because she wanted to have answers when the teachers began asking questions.

Training sessions also will be recorded and put online, so teachers can go back and watch the lessons.

Tim Stroder, president of Community Teachers Association, teaches chemistry at the Cape Girardeau public schools. He said teachers will gladly try 1:1 because it's for the betterment of the students. But he fears the voluntary days in the summer aren't enough time to cover all the various content areas.

"The overriding sentiment is that we'll do it," he said. "We're all for new, innovative ideas that are going to help the students. But from my interactions with colleagues, many feel that it's rushed and the teacher buy-in just isn't there."

Copeland said the administration doesn't feel it was hasty in implementing 1:1.

"Well, it's not a rush. In fact, we are definitely moving at a speed much slower than school districts will allow," she said. "Most districts hand out the devices to students and teacher devices at the same time. We chose not to do that, giving the teachers a semester of working and being trained before the rollout."

Copeland said the district didn't want to wait to give students necessary tools to compete in a global society.

"Technology drives our society," she said. "The longer we hesitate to implement something like this, the more behind our students are."

Brian Hall, technology coordinator for the Cape Girardeau Public School District, stressed this will be a phase-in. Teachers won't be expected to change their entire classroom when they receive the device.

"It is a lot of stress, and it's a big learning curve, because no matter what kind of training you have prior to getting computers for every student in the classroom, you're not going to cover all the questions, all of the challenges," said Bre Uzzell, Ste. Genevieve National Teacher Association president and a French teacher.

Engaging the students

Cape Girardeau administrators and technology staff say they see the devices as tools to engage students at the kids' level and enhance their education. The goal is to have students interested in learning and help them develop skills that will benefit them after they leave school.

Copeland said the goal can be made easier through 1:1 in several ways, including providing instant feedback to teachers about students' understanding of material and allowing students to surreptitiously submit online questions to a teacher so they aren't embarrassed in front of classmates if they don't understand a concept.

"A big difference since just having desktops in the classroom is that they're more willing to communicate with teachers," said Carol Statler, a language arts teacher at Ste. Genevieve Middle School. "A bunch of kids would email questions overnight or on the weekend."

Statler also found her students are more willing to write and revise. Revision becomes much easier digitally than with pen and paper. No more writing in the margins. No more eraser shavings peppering a desktop.

This technology also allows students a personalized education.

"With technology, we want to be able to allow the teachers to differentiate and meet the students at their level and interests more and push them into the 21st century," Poplar Bluff Superintendent Chris Hon said.

Farrow provided an example of a math teacher giving a graphing lesson. Students could have been assigned to create a playground using graphing formulas. A student who's struggling might create a rectangle with a swing set. An advanced student might create a complex playground system for a school.

"A student who's struggling can work at their own pace and still reach a mastery of the concept," Farrow said. "A student who is advanced can still have work on their level and still continue to be challenged. You just don't have enough time or resources in the classroom to do that."

Preparing the students

Just because today's students are considered a tech-savvy generation doesn't mean they will know how to use the device.

Jokerst said the lack of student know-how in downloading, saving and retrieving files on a computer was surprising.

"That's a hurdle," she said. "The kids were not as adept at that as you might have thought."

Problems existed in the beginning with students acclimating to their new digital appendage. Statler took a day to set up folders for all of her students and show them where they should save their information.

"Teachers are more facilitators, but they're still teaching, guiding students in an educational journey," Case said. "Get some professional development on digital transformation into the classroom. It's not just putting computers in the kids' hands. It's the educational process versus getting on a computer."

Poplar Bluff will hold student training this fall for the MacBook Airs.

Copeland said Cape Girardeau kindergartners build keyboarding skills by typing on keyboard covers with colors and shapes. They're learning proper keyboarding methods to alleviate worries that students won't be prepared to use the devices once they reach 1:1 level. It also will prepare them for online state assessments they'll take in the next few years.

Question of cost

A bid request for Cape Girardeau's student devices will be sent in August. Kris Oliveira, computer systems and web specialist for the Cape Girardeau Public School district, said with technology changing so quickly, waiting will provide the district with the best device or product at a good price with a lot of capability. The devices are estimated to cost about $650 each, excluding accessories and software costs.

This figure is based on the assumption the district would buy the devices. The cost of the high school implementation previously has been estimated at between $700,000 and $1 million, depending on whether the district leases or buys. These figures include the two salaried technology positions added this year.

"In this day and age, it's important that we teach the students where they learn best and keep them engaged in learning," Copeland said. "The easiest way to do that is through technology. Our focus is on student learning. How can we get to those kids? How can we best serve each student's needs?"

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