In a recent Boston Globe article, Globe correspondent Jennette Barnes discusses the mobile learning trend and how schools are making technology work in the classroom.
Barnes reports that implementing 1:1 programs has become a popular trend in Massachusetts school districts. Providing students with their own mobile devices has enabled teachers to create assignments in a cloud-based system and view students’ work in real time. Groups can edit the same document, allowing online discussions to continue outside of class.
Massachusetts does not require districts to provide a device for each student, however many schools have moved towards implementing 1:1 programs. Sharon School District, for example, provided every eighth grade student with a MacBook Air this year. While these programs have opened up students’ learning opportunities, Barnes reports that districts have had to work to ensure the technology is improving learning.
Like the simple technology of a pencil, a computer is a tool, teachers and administrators say. Classes still need the human touch and a teacher’s expertise.
Four months in, Sharon school Superintendent Timothy Farmer admits the MacBook initiative has experienced some highs and lows. A committee is discussing how to help teachers and students use the devices so they don’t become “just another thing,” he said.
Barnes references the book “1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work,” and its author, Pamela Livingston, who explains that enthusiasm for 1:1 learning often happens a few years after a program starts, because big plans don’t always come to fruition. According to Livingston, evaluating the program regularly will help turn that around.
Numerous Massachusetts school districts have chosen to implement 1:1 programs in an effort to provide students with better access to information, and to improve communication between teachers and students. Many schools are also providing students with blended learning opportunities through the use of their own devices, as teachers create video lectures for students to watch at home to allow for more interactive learning in the classroom.
The Massachusetts Office of Digital Learning surveyed approximately 400 school districts statewide during the 2014-2015 school year and 156 returned the survey, representing 48 percent of the student population statewide. Of those, about 30 said they had a computer or tablet for every high school student; about 22 said they had them for middle schoolers.
As 1:1 programs continue to become popular in K-12 school districts across the country, it’s important schools understand how to properly manage devices, as well as how to utilize these digital tools to further enhance learning. As stated by Farmer, “The technology is not the learning itself.”
To learn more about how to successfully implement a 1:1 program, check out this Quick Guide to Launching Your First 1:1 Program.
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