1:1 Initiative

In March CASD was awarded the T-Mobile EmpowerED grant. RECOMMENDED MOTION: That the Board of School Directors accept and approve the EmpowerEd Award/Grant from T-Mobile that will provide 1:1 laptops for students in the Coatesville Area School District for the 2019-2020 school year. The Award is valued at $1,128,000.00: EmpowerED. 
A month after the board approved the Award/Grant Don Messinger wrote an article stressing the lack of effort and priority toward the program. We are now in July with school looming. Fortunately, Andrew Finkbohner (Region 3 candidate) with some others wrote a proposal and emailed the School Board Members the request to form a Task Force. School board director Henry Assetto made a motion at the July 23 school board meeting and the board approved  (7-1 vote) for a technology task force to assist in the process of beginning the 1:1 initiative. 

The notion of One on One computers (1:1) began over ten years ago. Not only is it critical to help students learn 21st century skills, but its critical to help eliminate the digital divide. By choosing to implement a 1:1 program, schools can begin integrating technology into teaching and learning.

First, it's important to understand that a 1:1 initiative is much more than just putting a computer in the homes of all students. It is a program where the student is using the computer at both home and school. It is important for students to use the computers in both locations as it allows the teacher to differentiate instruction, allows students to learn a concept on their own pace, and allows for various assessment options for students to demonstrate mastery.

From Bentley, Kipp. "15 Common Traits of Successful 1:1 Computing Initiatives" Center for Digital Education. 14 March 2017.

The districts involved in these game changer one-to-one implementations typically share the following traits:

1. They didn’t start with, “We need to do more with technology, so let’s go one-to-one!” Instead they defined an instructional shortcoming in their schools, decided a pedagogical paradigm shift needed to happen, and determined that a one-to-one program would help support this change.
2. They involved their key stakeholders early and often: school board members, district leaders, teachers, parents, students and the community.
3. They ensured their school administrators were fully on board and ready to model the most effective behaviors of digital leaders and learners.
4. They started small, working first with the teachers, grade levels and courses best suited for the initial implementation, and then gradually expanded from there.
5. They ensured their digital networks and technology staff were ready to support a large influx of wireless devices.
6. They provided both initial and ongoing training and support to their teachers, primarily focusing on pedagogy and the instructional shifts required to fully leverage one-to-one computing.
7. They built and/or bought digital curricula for the classes covered in the one-to-one roll-out.
8. They employed Web-based productivity, collaboration and communication tools for teachers and students — Google for Education tools were commonly used.
9. They sought ways to ensure their one-to-one students had home Internet access.
10. They confirmed ongoing funding sources were in place to support the program.
11. They were thoughtful in selecting their one-to-one devices — many opted for inexpensive Chromebooks.
12. They balanced their students’ classroom screen time with “lids down” time.
13.  They emphasized the importance of digital citizenship with their students.
14. They built a strategic implementation plan and held regular project reviews to address the successes and shortcomings of their program.
15. They didn’t evaluate the effectiveness of their one-to-one initiative solely on students’ standardized test scores.

For those of us not in education, and even those of us in education, it's hard to consider how 1:1 computers can be used beyond basic research and word processing. In order to get a glimpse into some possibilities click to see is a slideshow to see some activities in a Utah Public School's 1:1 Initiative. Also, here are two videos to help you see what a 1:1 initiative can look like in classrooms: Math lessons with iPads and  Westonka Public Schools.

So, Coatesville, we have some work to do. We would love to hear your ideas about the initiative based on your research or experience. We look forward to working with you and the task force to help implement a successful program for our children!