Chromebooks are coming... Where's the Plan Coatesville?

Let me begin by saying that I have been involved with most of the major CASD tech programs/initiatives over the last 25 years.  (Chairman of the district's Technology Task Force- 12 years and district's Data Specialist for 7 years.)  I have a strong understanding of how our district has traditionally approached technology, how it is used in the classroom, and what has worked and not worked.  

Right up front let me say that when the district decided to go with its current Chromebooks model, the rollout was, at best, poorly planned.  Five Chromebooks were literally dropped in each classroom.  Teacher "training" consisted of a half-dozen online links compiled by non-Chromebook literate members of the Technology Department.  To make the situation worse, teachers were issued PCs so if they ran the training links, they lacked Chromebook to understand how the links translated.  Tech Associates lacked training and access to Chromebooks but were still expected to support the new units.  To this day, many teachers do not use their Chromebooks for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is the lack of professional development and no forum for teachers to discuss, demonstrate, or share "best practices.”  The district touts five Chromebooks per classroom, but has little if any data as to how or if the units are being utilized. Four years later and yet the  integration of technology with the curriculum is haphazard, unstructured, and completed on an individual basis without grade or district structure or support.

A few months ago I was asked by some of the parents planning the Scott 6th Grade Center to inquire about the proposed 1:1 computing program.  The Scott planning committee met a handful of times throughout the winter and did discuss insurance, the need for an increase in technology training / classes for students, and an increase in training and support for teachers.  Unfortunately, that's where things ended, with discussion.  To date, the planners have no idea if their discussions would be included or even considered.  No building technology plan has been produced or at least provided for the planner's review.  Further, there was no teacher-based tech committee proposed or formed to discuss needs, curriculum, or tech integration.   If a plan or approach for Scott exists, planners and the public are left unaware.  My inquiries to the Administrative planners as to tech progress were met with "we'll be in touch soon.”  I'm still waiting.

So from my perspective, all signs point to the district receiving and distributing computers to the students without thought as to how the units will be used to enhance curriculum. The latter critical element should be happening now with a professional development plan.  There certainly is a reason to be concerned.  With all this taken into consideration, early last month I asked to sit down with T-Mobile to better understand what the grant entailed.  I found them to be very knowledgeable, cooperative, and suggestive as to where we need to go.  T-Mobile prefaced our discussion with "this grant is going to be big change for the CASD and will require a lot of work".   T-Mobile has years of experience in setting up and maintaining the home-use element of the 1:1 grant.  T-Mobile provides hot spots for home internet access and requires Chromebook management software be purchased with each unit, web content filtering is ensured and device usage can be monitored and tracked.

Click to learn more about the T-Mobile Grant

The T-Mobile representatives made it clear that T-Mobile would handle the "home" element of the grant while the district was responsible for in-school/building use.  T-Mobile does not formally get involved with the educational/curriculum portion (internal school use) of the grant program.  As noted earlier, how the Chromebooks are integrated into curriculum has and is a major, ongoing concern in our district.

It should be noted that T-Mobile has offered to share contact names for all of the districts that currently participate in the program.  The T-Mobile representatives stressed the importance of utilizing those contacts in formulating our approach.   News flash!  We don't need to reinvent the wheel.  The ability to pick and choose "shared and best practices" from ongoing programs at 70+ school districts across Pennsylvania is both daunting and very exciting.  It is hoped that the district will immediately open discussions with these contacts and would begin to collect, review, and borrow from the contact's experiences as soon as possible.  Bottom line is we have less than four months to develop and implement a plan and promulgate associated policies.  T-Mobile stressed that other school districts have found this effort to be time and labor intensive.  However, more than a month after being awarded the grant, there are no signs of the district organizing or planning the in-house portion of the grant, especially with respect to curriculum and professional development.  No public call for community or teacher involvement or activity in any kind of planning effort.  The clock is ticking.

1. When will we see a plan and a thorough analysis of what this effort (grant) will cost the district?  A cost analysis should have been done in conjunction with the grant application to see if we can afford, properly implement the program, as well as maintain the devices for the next two years and after.
2. What are the CASD and T-Mobile's expectations for in-school and home use?  Does the district have a formal list of skills that need to be taught at each grade level and how will those skills be tested?  If K-3 students are given devices, is the teacher assigning work on them?  How will the school district monitor "assisted educational" use?
3. Will all teachers be required to assign work that utilizes the Chromebooks? What training will we offer teachers on how to use the devices with class content and what is the anticipated additional cost of that training?  How will the training be specified for different ages and content teachers?  Will the district commit to ongoing professional development?
4. T-Mobile requires that each Chromebook have a specific management system installed.  Will the district utilize the same system for classroom management or will it choose a third party learning management system for all teachers to use?  For example, some CASD teachers already use schoology.  Will the district provide training and support for third party software?
5. Will the district provide students with an email account? (Students used to have accounts, however, they no longer have school email accounts.)  Kids currently have access to office 365 and google drives without any training on how to utilize either, how will this be addressed?
6. The CASD will buy/own the Chromebooks purchased with grant funds.  The 1:1 grant will also utilize the 2500 older Chromebooks the district bought from least last year.  Who will be responsible to repair/replace broken chromebooks?  Will parents need to buy some kind of insurance on each unit issued?  This is how other area school districts handle the cost of repairs.  What will that process look like?  What if a Chromebook is stolen or lost?
7. Will kids be required to bring chromebooks to school every day?  Will they need to be charged at home?  What happens if the Chromebook needs charging during the day?  Will the current CASD WiFi system be able to handle 3300 additional devices?  
8. Parents may also need to have training available, especially for the lower grades.  That training has to include giving parents a basic understanding of WiFi, net etiquette, social media, as well as what to expect their kids to be doing and using the devices for.  Parents also have the opportunity to become "guests" during class time and view their child's work live.  Will this work with the current CASD WiFi and net filtering system?
9. Teachers currently have Chromebooks in their classrooms.  Some rarely, if ever, use them.  A number of teachers report they use the devices but only as rewards, or for when the kids can't go outside for a break.  Others note that Chromebooks are okay at the elementary level where  stations are implemented but are less than attractive in the upper grades with only five to a class.  Still others have commented that the lack of training makes the Chromebooks worthless to them.  Does the district have any way to track usage?  T-Mobile will be monitoring usage but not on a daily or weekly basis and not necessarily for in-school use.  it would seem that, at least initially, we need to see if the units are being used both in school and at home.  How will the district ensure that usage is for grade-defined educational purposes?  Being turned on, being used, and being used appropriately and effectively are all very different things.
10. Could we get teachers who are more cyber friendly to volunteer to host a pilot in their classrooms and expand from there? Would need a training program that those teachers would have to take prior to their hosting.  Then these teachers could act as mentors or trainers as the program expands.  The pilot could only last a month or two so as minimize the haves verses the have-nots, within the two year 1:1 grant.  Have a pilot for each grade in each building.
11. This is a two-year grant.  What happens after the second year?  The devices will be in place but the free hot-spots disappear.  Any program the district puts in place has to consider the future.  Can the grant be extended?
12. What about existing technology in the classroom?  Will the district fix projectors and smartboards which are still used by teachers?  Technology includes more than just computers and WiFi.

As I mentioned above, it is hoped that the district is already utilizing the T-Mobile contacts to fully understand all aspects (financial, technical, educational) of a successful rollout buy there is no indication of such activities.  This is a huge effort for the district with multiple shareholders.  T-Mobile recently told me that they were going to strongly suggest that an advisory group be formed consisting of teachers, admin, students, and community members to communicate with and perhaps even visit other grant awardees as well as formulate a plan and policies. Like so many other things in life...it takes a village and again, the clock is ticking.

Written By Donald J. Messinger