Teacher Passion and Excitement Ignites
Technology Initiative, Maintains Momentum
Across Iowa, the potential of transforming teaching and learning is directing the search for methods which will yield the Characteristics of Effective Instruction as identified by Iowa Core Curriculum. Educators are also searching for guaranteed ways to prepare students for life and work and to ready students for the 21st Century. At fall 2009 focus meetings it became apparent that Spirit Lake teachers felt the school was behind in providing the technology needed to fully implement best educational practice for 21st Century learning and teaching.
Following the initial sessions, district personnel began researching and visiting other schools to discover the vehicle which would best provide the most efficient and effective tool for infusing, integrating and making technology accessible to every school family all of the time. The Technology Initiative in the form of a laptop computer for every student in Grades 5-12 and mobile carts of laptops for use in Grades K-4 emerged as the heart of the plan. Along with laptops for students, the plan will provide a laptop for every teacher, special education technology, science and math technology, digital cameras and projectors, and whiteboard technology. To support the laptops the initiative also includes wireless access throughout the district, security and virus monitoring, and warranty support for the computers.
At a December meeting, the school board unanimously voted to support this plan and to seek $1.77-Million through a voted PPEL. The voted PPEL provides 100% of the needed funds to support this technology initiative. Since the board’s vote of confidence, the district has sponsored more than 30 informational sessions open to community members about the PPEL. The district has used newspaper and radio dissemination and launched an informational website with video, audio and frequently asked questions (FAQ) features. Throughout the process the focus of the plan remained and will remain access and opportunity for all students and their families. Paired with detailed and individualized professional development for teachers, the district’s immediate, bold, and innovative plan is guaranteed to transform learning and teaching beyond the purchase of hardware and software.
Teachers at Spirit Lake Middle School aligned curriculum and are sponsoring a 1:1 computer pilot at the eighth grade level. Those teachers and students have become frontline presenters at many of the community meetings. An online BLOG about what Spirit Lake Grade 8 teachers and students think about the 1:1 computer environment is an ongoing informational source which now has a national following.
The activities developed by the teachers at the Grade 8 level have turned their rooms into student-centered classrooms in which students are directly involved and invested in the discovery of their own knowledge. Students are involved in collaboration and cooperation with others. Teachers assist the students in making connections between new and prior knowledge. Teachers guide students in developing understanding of core concepts and becoming producers of knowledge. Through the use of the laptops in the pilot, student learning differences are addressed. It is the laptops that provide the avenue for students to be involved in activities that challenge their thinking and help students relate to real world situations. The evidence is in--laptops used for teaching and learning will enhance the implementation of the Characteristics of Effective Instruction in Iowa Core Curriculum.
