One to One Initiative

What is a reasonable expectation for initiating a one-to-one program at your school? First, is it possible and if no then why? Second, what device would work best for your school, and if you answered no to the previous, what device do YOU think would be ideal for your school? Is BYOT an option? Third, what kind of feedback would you expect from teachers? Last, how would YOU best use one-to-one devices in your classroom?

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ISTE Wiki One to One

Launching an iPad 1-to-1 Program

Is BYOT Just a Bridge to 1-to-1?

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Permalink Reply by Laura Anderson on April 18, 2013 at 6:49pm

Meghan,

I totally agree that the one to one program would be beneficial, there are so many great advantages to using technology to teach. Although, my district is in the same position as your district: the budget to fund a program like this is currently not available. Wow, I cannot believe you bought your own ELMO! They are fabulous to use, although I can imagine they're expensive. They are the 21st century's version of an overhead projector, although so much easier to use than having to copy all of the worksheet and activities onto transparency.

Permalink Reply by Gregory Reynolds on April 18, 2013 at 3:03pm

At this time, I do not believe that it is a possibility for my district to implement a one on one initiative. While I believe that the implementation of this one on one initiative would be extremely beneficial, it does not seem likely at this time. However, if it were to be implemented, I would suggest the use of iPads in the classroom. In my professional and personal opinion, the technology in the iPad surpasses that of any other technology available to the public school system. Although they are slightly more expensive, you pay for what you get. Unfortunately, BYOT is not an option in my school because there is a portion of my school that is considered to be low-income. We cannot expect all of our students to bring in technology if they do not all have financial access to the technology. In my music classroom, I would use a one on one initiative to better teach these complex concepts to the students that are having trouble understanding them. There are many apps out there that can enhance the students' understanding of musical concepts.

Permalink Reply by Ashley Reynolds on April 18, 2013 at 6:23pm

I agree, the one-to-one program would be extremely beneficial for the students. My district cannot afford it at this time. The iPad is also my technology of choice. A lot of students in my building are low income, so I can't imagine that BYOT would work for them either. I like how you planned out how your students would use the technology in your music class. Having students working on skills that they need additional support with is very beneficial and can provide students with opportunities that make them successful. Nice post!

Permalink Reply by Amber Riniker on April 18, 2013 at 4:35pm

I would love to be able to implement a 1-to-1 program into my school. I think it would be possible, but I don't know how quickly it would happen. My district tries to be at the forefront of trends, especially with technology. In our school alone, besides other regular classroom technology, we have two laptop carts, and each classroom has two iPads. I think getting classroom sets of iPads would be the best for 1-to-1 programs. Since we already have some, it would be an easier transition into the program. Unfortunately, I do not think BYOT would be an options at my school. Being at an elementary school, the majority of students do not Smartphones. Some do have have laptops or iPads, but I think it would be a slim chance that their parents would allow them to bring it to school. I also come from a low poverty school. This makes the chance of the students having the technology even lower. I think teachers in my school would be accepting. Since we are already using iPads, it will ease the shock of implementing the new program. Having iPads allows the students to use different Web 2.0 tools such as, apps, educational games, and ebooks.

Permalink Reply by Meghan Woodin on April 21, 2013 at 11:06am

I agree that tablets would make the most sense for initiating a 1-to-1 program. I think tablets are the most versitle and can provide the greatest range of resources for students at every grade level. Tablets are ideal for lower elementary where students are still working on motor skills and having a touch screen has a huge impact on students making connections to what they are learning. The tablets are also adaptable for middle and high school students and their learning needs. I also work in a low income district and know that many of my students do not have access to devices that would be needed for a BYOT program. It could be interesting though to survey students to see exactly how many have access and would be able/willing to bring their devices to school. The answers could surprise us and it could open the doors for the beginning of a BYOT program where not every student has a device but maybe 2-3 students working in a group have a device allowing for more collaboration and access to technology that otherwise would not be possible.

Permalink Reply by Meghan Roop on April 21, 2013 at 6:36pm

Amber,

I am also in an Elementary School and I cannot see BYOT working with my age group. A big issue is the opportunity for theft. We have cubbies, not lockers, so there is no safe place for devices to be kept. Also, I can't get parents to agree to allow the students to use their at-home comuputers to do online assignments, so I doubt any would be willing to send their devices to school. One-to-one would be fantastic to promote authentic learning tasks where students must collaborate and extend their thinking. However, for now, I have no solution for making it happen.

Permalink Reply by Amber Riniker on April 21, 2013 at 6:58pm

Megan,

At least you have cubbies! My classroom has nothing but hooks for students to hang their bookbags on. Plus, I am departmentalized with another teacher, so my students leave for part of the day, and her students come in. I don't know how many complaints I get throughout the day about silly things missing (erasers, pencils, etc.). I cannot imagine the if we threw personal technology into the mix!

Permalink Reply by Ariel Conlon on April 18, 2013 at 4:44pm

I do not think a one-to one program at my school will happen anytime soon. We were just told there will be a 30-40% building budget cut next year and no new programs will happen. At this point, we will be lucky if we have enough paper. We have Elmos in almost every room and 2 or 3 student computers at this time. My building is not currently wired for wireless internet throughout; it is spotty. That is the extent of BSD's technology in Elementary schools. However, if it were a possibility, I think iPads would work best for my students. There are many apps for students and teachers to use that would better prepare our kids for 21st Century skills. iPads are more affordable and easy to manage. Our superintendent has already said no to BYOT because our taxpayers just passed a referendum in which technology was a small part. He feels as though we cannot ask parents to provide technology if we just raised taxes to finance it ourselves. If I had iPads in my kindergarten classroom, I would use them in small groups as an intervention tool for struggling students and also as enrichment for my high-flyers. Students could also work in small groups to collaborate on independent projects that I have assigned. I would also use them to target students who are not meeting grade level expectations by assigning independent activities during learning centers.

Permalink Reply by Ashley Reynolds on April 18, 2013 at 6:21pm

Ariel, My district is in the exact same place. If our ref

Permalink Reply by Laura Anderson on April 18, 2013 at 6:55pm

Ariel,

The one-to-one program will not be happening at my school anytime soon, either. Unfortunately, if we do not pass our referendum (this will be our second try this year), then we will be losing a handful of teacher/support staff units, cutting freshmen and JV sports, and a list of other budget cuts in order to keep the district operating. Technology will have to be one of the things put on hold until our district gets to into a better financial position. I agree that iPads would be ideal in a classroom; they have so many apps and programs for you to use and choose from! There would be a variety of ways to meet the needs of our students using an iPad.

Permalink Reply by Ariel Conlon on April 19, 2013 at 3:18pm

I know, I'm worried how our cash strapped districts are going to keep up with the demands of 21st Century standards. We have all of these initiatives for computer-based assessments and data collection which is definitely the focus right now. Keeping the computer systems going for this is proving to be difficult, stressful, and expensive. Providing iPads or SMARTBoards for classrooms is the last problem on their plate. Our schools are also not wired for Wi-Fi which complicates things as well. I think the only hope we have in the near future is writing technology grants ourselves. Does anyone out there have a good connection for technology grants for De educators?

Permalink Reply by Nicole Schaefer on April 19, 2013 at 4:18pm

That is a difficult situation that your school district is going through. I was in a school district when I first started teaching that went through a massive financial crisis and I lost my job because of it. I understand what your superintendent means when he says he can not mandate a BYOT initiative because tax payers are already paying for a technology initiative.

How many iPads do you think would work for your classroom? There are grants available for technology. There are also sites that teachers can use to fundraise money for their classroom such as AdoptaClassroom.com or donorschoose.org. These sites are great and you could possible earn supplies for your class such as a couple of iPads. Best of luck next year. I'm sorry that your district has to go through that.