Funding the 1:1 Initiative

Talking with the Chief Information Officer of our school district about the possibility of going to a one to one initiative, she stated that there have been conversations going on in our district for several years about this possibility.   She said that the biggest problem was funding.  Our technology budget is not big enough to undertake a 1:1 initiative.  She stated that the only chance our school has to fund a 1:1 initiative is for textbook companies to get on board.  Right now these companies are offering a lot of resources online, but they are expecting schools to also buy the textbooks to be able to use those resources.  She said that until the textbook companies get on board with going to 1:1 systems then it is going to be very hard for school districts to fund these programs.  Funding has also become extremely difficult with the budget cuts that have plaguing school districts throughout the state of Kentucky.  Our school district is facing a 1.2 to 1.5 million dollar budget cut over the next year.  This will further slow down any efforts to initiate a 1:1 initiative in our district.  We talked about the many different benefits of a 1:1 initiative, but it seems as if it is a few years away for our district. 

Written by Tim Cooper

The impact of Instructional Technology

There is no doubt that technology has a huge impact on student learning but I think the larger question is whether or not technology has an impact for the good of our students.  Yes, we know it has an impact as we will see in the summaries to follow, but two issues arise; where does the funding come for the technology like 1:1 computing we are seeing as successful in schools across America?  Is their objective research to support the idea that technology has a beneficial impact on our students in the classroom?

Students will use technology no matter if we make it available to them or not.  In a recent interview I did with a 12th grade student here at Henry Clay High School in Lexington, KY, the student estimated that she uses technology more than 25 hours outside of school during a school week but only two hours a week during the school week.  That is shocking, and it could be added that she is not a “gamer”, but a fairly normal user of basic teenage technologies.  She stated that if she was given a laptop during school hours, she would put it to good use.  This technology could be used to easily communicate with classmates, teachers and administrators.  She would be able to get things done quicker and this would benefit her instruction in class.  

There are two issues we must deal with.  Yes, if you ask any student in any middle or high school if they would like to have an Apple iPad to work with in class, their answer is going to be “YES!”  Where does the funding come from?  Where is money going to be allocated so that something like this can happen?  We can read all kinds of stories about success when 1:1 computing is added to a school, but that really isn’t feasible at this point in every school across America.  Henry Clay High School is a school with more than 2,300 students and over 200 faculty and staff.  Can a budget really support more than 2,500 mobile devices for every person in the school building?  The second issue, and maybe a more important one to ask from the beginning, is technology going to make a mind more in tune with the world and better prepare him/her for life or will it take away an ancient art of learning?  I remember not being able to use a calculator in high levels of math and the benefit of not having this device helped me in the long run.  I see many students relying upon calculators, sometimes even in their phones for basic addition of multiplication.  Yes, a calculator is useful in some math classrooms, but I am thankful my teacher did not implement a calculator in my classroom because it made me a better student at the simple arithmetic for life.  I know how to find 20% of 10,000 pretty quickly.  There is, sometimes understated, an issue with technology having a negative impact on an individual’s learning. 

Written by Kristian Junker

More Schools Continue to Adopt 1:1 Computing

 Recently the results of a educational technology survey by the National School Boards Association found that about 35% of schools say they’ve incorporated 1:1 computing in their schools. Most of these schools have began implementing 1:1 through iPads and netbooks, however some schools are simply allowing students to use personal devices, such as cell phones. 

The results of the surveys from schools currently using 1 to 1 computing also had some important findings:

•  A majority of respondents (96%) said education technology has increased opportunities for learning for their students.
•   93% say that 1 to 1 computing has increased student engagement.
•   50% say that 1 to 1 computing has helped ELL students.
• 60% said 1 to 1 has provided increased learning opportunities for special education students.
• 35% said that 1 to 1 computing assesses 21^st century skills, which is a top priority in education.
• 24% said that traditional textbooks could be dropped if schools have 1 to 1 computing. Only 7% of educational professionals said that traditional textbooks were necessary.
• 47% said helping teachers learn to use technology effectively is the greatest challenge currently facing districts.
• 57% said their districts have created bullying policies specifically addressing online activities since implementing 1 to 1.

For more information about the survey, click on the following link.

http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/10/19/1-to-1-computing-programs-on-the-rise-with-netbooks-leading-adoption.aspx

Written by Sheena Murphy