Technology Integration Subscribe to RSS
How to Roll Out a 1:1 iPad Program
August 15, 2012 | Jac de Haan
When The Westside School decided to grow its established primary school into a leading middle school program, parents, teachers, students and administrators mapped out an integrated project-based learning environment designed to engage and challenge all participants. The planning team made a list of skills and tools that would support learning, and decided on a 1:1 iPad program to support their vision. I was brought on as technology coordinator to plan and support the curricular and technical deployment for the start of the 2011-12 school year.
After a year or two of early adopter experimentation with education-based iPad deployments, a collaboration of IT departments, edTech consultants and third party vendors pieced together a best practice scenario for iOS management.
Equally as important to successfully implementing a 1:1 program is the social and curricular roll-out to your school community. Our middle school faculty spent two full months intentionally phasing iPads into regular classroom use. Scaffolding student success with iPads went a long way toward building our positive learning community.
Outline of a Phase-In
EdTech Guiding Statement
Provide the opportunity for students to be academically empowered, respectful and responsible with technology, and incrementally successful.
Week 1-2: Personal Academic and Social Success
Classroom lessons didn't involve computers. We focused instead on solid academic habits, community-building, aligning attention, and thinking about intentionality when consulting a tool to assist with learning. Students were asked to consider:
- What is technology?
- How does technology change our world for better and/or worse?
- Is tech good or bad?
Students came to the decision that it is how you use technology that is important, and that the goal of technology is to make life more efficient, productive and rewarding.
Week 2: Families Join In on the Learning
Families were introduced to the devices. Each student, with a guardian, was required to attend a session that covered the school's acceptable use policy, care of devices, warranty/insurance information, etc. Guardians and students were asked to sign a document to confirm their understanding of the opportunities and responsibilities of a one-to-one iPad program.
Week 3: Expose the Potential for Technology
Lessons across disciplines had an element of, "Aw, geez, if only we had a _______ (video camera, web browser, microphone, etc), this would be way easier/better/quicker." Assignments were completed without access to the desired technology, highlighting our dependence on technology.
Students began using iPads in technology class, where they covered the basics of operation, expectations for privacy, and skits or conversations exemplifying main concepts in the acceptable use policy.
Week 4-5: Directed Device Use
Devices were handed out and returned at the beginning and end of each class in which they were to be used. Teachers coordinated to provide lessons that played to iPad features in a variety of contexts. Devices were used as digital books, as calculators, for photography, as a reference, and as a word processor.
Week 6-7: Adapting to Access
After three weeks of demonstrating respect and responsibility with iPads, students started taking the devices with them from class to class. Each student received his or her iPad at morning homeroom and was expected to return it prior to lunch (our afternoons are specialists, PE and arts). Projects and assignments reinforced basic use of the device and introduced some intermediate concepts (exporting files, embedding photos, editing video, etc).
Week 8: Demonstrating Integration
Students were responsible for their iPads all day, storing them in lockers when not in use and taking them home on weeknights. Students were expected to show up for school with the iPad fully charged. iPads stayed at school over the weekend and IT practiced applying updates and backing up the devices.
Week 9: Full Responsibility, Full Trust
Students used the iPads as they saw fit in any class. IT updated and backed up devices approximately once every six weeks during the school day.
Beyond Phase-In
To keep everyone in our community learning, we provided a number of events to support student-device engagement:
- Family support with evening events such as Growing Up Digital
- Periodic celebrations of student work through portfolio reviews and media arts celebrations
- Bi-weekly teacher check-ins during staff meetings
- Spring iPad Open House with local area school IT directors, technology teachers, classroom innovators, administration and curriculum designers
Reflection
Opportunities to be successful went a long way to building confidence and internalizing care of the machines. For kids that were having a tough time at the class-based level or day-based level, there were opportunities to intervene early and provide additional support, before the machines disappeared into backpacks.
Some of the middle weeks were challenging, as teachers were drawn to the potential benefit of iPad access at home. That said, as a team we held firm and asked kids to demonstrate respect and responsibility -- to prove themselves every step of the way. As a result, we have had very few instances of misuse, a surprisingly low number of damaged devices, and an entire middle school, from administrators and students to parents and teachers, that can identify and verbalize the rewards of a 1-to-1 program.
_0.JPG){kind=small}
Comments (19)
Comment RSSSign in or register to post comments
Interesting blog! It's nice
Interesting blog! It's nice to see so many students took care of the iPads. I also liked the idea of requiring every parent and student to attend a meeting before the iPads were handed out. I do wonder if this is a Title 1 school or not.
You're right. This is not the
You're right. This is not the correct forum for bringing up potential health issues and objections. I heard about this only a few days ago when my daughter brought the 1:1 paper home, and I'm still in shock. This was the first website I came upon. I thank you for your patience with me.
Julias Mom: Kudos to you for
Julias Mom:
Kudos to you for being concerned about the health affects of ipads.
Traditionally they are a poor learning vehicle unless incumbant pedagogy is changed and now they may have health risks
You might extend your discussion to more scientific, technology, specific forums that would be better equipped to share long term health impact research with you
Cell phones supposedly provide similar health issues, but they are so new to us that we have yet to experience long term health consequences, if they are there
Keep us posted on your quest for answers
Well, I see that the writing
Well, I see that the writing is on the wall (or in this case, the pad). The kids in our district will soon be looking down to screens rather than up to teachers. However, no one has answered my basic question about health: What are the long-range health effects of hours and hours touching these devices? One man posted a video on YouTube showing that when his iPad accessed the Internet, it emitted radiation that was 38,000 times background radiation. Multiply that by 20 kids in a classroom, and I challenge anyone to say that this is healthy. That man's study had flaws, but the first thing I'm going to do is measure my own daughter's iPad for radiation. I think any parent would be a fool not to be informed about this issue. Her teacher won't be there twenty years from now when the health consequences will be better known.
1:1
Keep in mind that unless the pedagogy changes from one to many (think lecture) to personalized learner centric (learning, transfer and application, individually reinforced over time), the instruction remains one to many (not 1:1) delivered to individuals over cool technology and will not advance individual learning outcomes
The learning research strongly suggests more personalization, interactipon and reinforcement and away from lecture based teaching.
Here is an example of a teacher that is willing and able to change teaching paradigms to be more student focused:
+
http://www.screencast.com/t/xfK4sHHzv3
Thanks for your quick reply!
Thanks for your quick reply! I actually just found a video of young kids (6-7 year olds) wearing headphones while each interacted with their own personal iPad screen, seemingly oblivious of one another and the rest of the world. At one point, a teacher walked around showing a real flower to each kid, presumably to supplement the flower app. I guess I'm old fashioned, but it reminded me of Saul in SOYLENT GREEN introducing Thorne to a real apple (no pun intended). I also looked up the SAR rating of these devices--about the same as the worst cell phones, depending on which article you read. I wouldn't have a cell phone in my house with a SAR rating that high, but you're suggesting that kids spend from 30-100 minutes per day making physical contact with these devices? I know they aren't put up next to the head, but 100 minutes of radiation exposure is a lot for a developing child. I think the only answer is homeschooling next year.
Hi Julia's mom, You are
Hi Julia's mom,
You are asking all the right questions! Unfortunately, each school/district involved in a 1-to-1 program is making the decision for reasons specific to that community, learning needs, and teaching objectives.
Your questions fall into 3 broad categories:
I'd be happy to talk specifics, but can only speak to the implementation outlined in the above article.
The iPad is a tool, and should be used as such when appropriate. The user is in control, not the device. My students engage the device 30-100 minutes per day in a variety of capacities. We share this range with parents and ask that they consider it when setting screen-time limits as a family.
For some relevant studies on the impact of technology on our society and child development, take a look at the papers linked from this article titled, The 5 best digital identity resources.
No one talks about specifics!
My daughter's school just announced that iPads are now going to be a regular part of the fifth grade curriculum and that kids would be using them frequently throughout the day. I have read and read about this l:l program, but no one goes into the specifics! What's going to happen in the classroom? When the kids are learning math, will the teacher say, "Now turn to your iPad..." Or when it's time to write, will my daughter have to hit keys on the screen rather than pick up a pen? Will she be reading on a screen rather than opening a book? Will she be completing her homework on a screen rather than a piece of paper? What will be the role of the teacher--if any? Perhaps this is just a prelude to firing all the human beings and just having kids walk around with their iPads. Maybe our taxes would go down? The thing that impresses me is the awe with which people write about this over-hyped device, how we have to attend a meeting during which we will learn the proper behavior and respect needed when in the presence of the iPad. Is this some sacred religious object that's about to be coming home? Is it an icon rather than an iPad? And has anybody studied the health effects of yet another electronic device on the developing brain? I watch in horror as kindergartners pull out their cell phones on their way home. Has anybody studied the amount of radiation that the kids will be exposed to as they take their sacred iPads from class to class? Would someone who has had actual experience with this program give me some specifics of what's in store in the classroom?
I am very impressed with the
I am very impressed with the "phasing in" implementation strategy used with your iPad deployment. We are a 1:1 school this year and had no type of phasing. The students received their iPads and the teachers were expected to start using them. It's been an exciting but stressful transition. I especially feel for some of the teachers who are not tech all stars. Having the iPads is wonderful but I do envy the organization and thought that went into your iPad roll out.
I am new to a school with
I am new to a school with iPads and I'm excited to try them out with my students. I love the advice in this article. It can really help technology specialists see how to create buy-in with the new devices.