Last year we began our 3-week learning lab adventures. Teachers and students choose to go 1:1 for three-week periods in their classrooms. It was a lot like dating. There was excitement, fun adventures, 15 classroom days chock-full of hands-on technological learning. Just like those early days of dating there wer movies, music, creative experiences, and personal expression. It was fun. It was exciting. It was exhausting.
In the late Spring of 2013 our Board of Education approved our 1:1 pilot program. We had the opportunity for over 1400 students to participate in a 1:1 learning experience for a full-year. Like any engagement, couples had to commit. Teachers had to choose to enter as a grade level in their building. As such, each partner had to agree to participate. Some couples were ready. Some choose to wait and observe. Some couples had one partner far more ready than the other, yet both jumped into the journey grasping to each other for dear life. After an application period, we had far more grade levels apply than we could service with our devices, and as such, while some grade levels were ready to jump in, we were not able to approve their 1 to 1 courtship. In the end over 70 grade level teams in 11 buildings became "engaged" in the one to one journey.
As with any wedding, there are far more details in the planning than many of us imagined. Creation of user agreements, determination of the image, opportunities for professional development for interested teachers, dialogues on the SAMR model, discussions of blended-learning environments, imaging over 1400 iPad-minis, cases, chargers, barcoding devices, distribution, parent meetings, and countless details that have slipped my mind. The summer was an exciting and exhausting time. As August rolled around and the beginning of the school year neared we looked like most brides, enthusiastic and near the end of our rope with preparations. In late August and early September, each classroom connected together in the roles of 1:1 matrimony.
September and October marked the honeymoon. Like the early days in all marriages everyone was gentle and sweet with each other. Children explored creatively. Teachers looked to find opportunities to integrate the devices into learning. Parents mindfully watched their children establishing boundaries at home. Some easier than others. Everyone made tepid steps to ensure success. As with all marriages in the honeymoon stage we all put a lot of personal stress on each other to ensure that everything was right and perfect. The honeymoon was a marvelous experience, an experience we all only get once.
As November rolled in, clearly the honeymoon was over. Our teachers realized, rightfully so, that it was impractical to use the devices all of the time. Students realized there were things they liked doing on devices and things they didn't. Learning had clearly changed, but also lives had been changed. Each of us took a step back to personal spaces we were more comfortable with. Children shared more than cool apps for learning. They shared funny comics and images, facts they found on the internet, and the occasional inappropriate email. The newness had worn off and we remembered that whether we were 1:1 or not, we were students and teachers and at times we all needed to remember where the boundaries were.
Since returning from Winter Break, we have clearly entered the married life stage of the 1 to 1 program. That loving, caring, yet practical world of day to day life. No longer do we try to impress on an hourly or daily basis. No longer does someone need to shout out, "Hey! Look did you know we could do this?" Life is perceptibly different.
I had the opportunity to sit down in with our 1:1 teacher teams in late January and early February. They shared their experiences and perceptions. Learning is clearly different in the classroom than from previous years. Throughout the classrooms they talked about a distinctive difference in the level of student ownership in the learning experience. Teachers have taken the lead in cultivating learning opportunities, but they are clearly no longer the sole distributors of content knowledge. Classrooms have become pluralistic partnerships with students seeking help from students on learning activities in content, concepts, and technological assistance. Teachers have become far more comfortable with understanding that they don't need to know the answer. As instructional staff, we used to always say that there were different ways to do things. With 1 to 1 we now accept a wide-range of learning products through which students demonstrate understanding. Learning has become very interesting with the array of methods and tools students use to accomplish the learning target.
As I walk through the classrooms now, it is common to see devices out and about. Children use them all the time, but rarely in ways that we imagine. The clearest changes have been in creativity, collaboration, and the level of student ownership of the learning. Although the program is 1 to 1, children uses the devices together a lot. Commonly children have two devices going back and forth while they work on paper in front of them. Children select if they wish to use the device for knowledge resource or product generation. Children can get lost in exploring a concept, perfecting the product, or sharing ideas with their classmates. The classroom is clearly a far more mutually-owned experience.
It's not perfect. Kids and adults still make mistakes. There are age-appropriate dialogues about citizenship. There are times individuals make bad choices and need to be reminded of better paths. Some parents are still figuring out how to have their child put away the device at home when they feel that they have done enough electronics. However, as we reflect on our qualitative and quantitative changes, the learning environment is better. Our growth in 1:1 classes as measured by Fall to Winter MAP scores both in the numbers of students who met or exceeded their growth projections and the amount of growth they generated exceeded district averages at a higher rate than our traditional classrooms. Our classrooms have become collaborative communities. The products are outcomes of our device choice. The intimate nature of the 1:1 tablet, the level of personalization we have allowed in partnership with each student's parent, have allowed these learning devices to become a part of each-others daily experience.
In general, our world is perceptibly different. We woke up and realized this is what life is in a 1:1 world. It's not the childrens' world of electronics and games. It's not the teachers' world of content knowledge, homework, rubrics, products, and rules. It's our world, a collective blend of exploration, creation, collaboration, and product development. It is a great place of learning where we all are better off.
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