iPads vs Netbooks: The Journey Towards One-to-One

        I teach at Unity Public School, which is a pre-kindergarten to grade six school of approximately 175 students. At the start of the 2011-12 school year we had one computer lab of 22 Dell desktop computers and 1 data projector, one cart of 26 older Dell laptops, one cart of 19 newer Dell laptops, 4 Smart Boards (3 in the grade one, two, and three classrooms and 2 in open classrooms), 2-5 desktop computers in the grade three to six classes, 1 document camera, and 3 black & white printer/copiers, and 1 colour printer. Our teachers also all had a Dell laptop of varying vintages. Our students in grades one and two received a computer class for one (half hour) class in a six day cycle while grade three to six received two (half hour) classes in a six day cycle.

      Then we started our journey of becoming a one-to-one school, one device for every student, by getting iPads for most staff members and Netbooks for those who already had a personal iPad. All devices were provided by the Living Sky School Division. Over the course of the 2011-12 school year our teachers did a series of investigations and projects centered around technology, pedagogy and the intertwining of the two. This allowed staff to become familiar with a device and we also had enough iPads to do small group projects within our classes. In June we had to make two decisions. Firstly, if we wanted to become a one-to-one school and secondly, if so what device would we choose for our students' use.

       Our teachers decided we would like to become a one-to-one school but choosing the device took a little more thought. Here were some of the pros of each device . .
 
Netbooks 
*great keyboard size for small hands
*our tech support people were familiar with them and could fix problems
*able to print from the device
*familiar programs such as word, power point, photo story
*right click feature

 iPads
 *variety of apps available
 *superior battery life over the course of a school day
 *student & staff engagement

and here were some of the cons:

Netbooks
*battery life did not last a whole school day
*screen was small and difficult to read

 iPads 
*could not print to school network
*no right click feature
*keyboards could be purchased but would be an extra cost
*cost of apps
*no trained tech people for fixing problems

        After some debate we decided to go with iPads and starting in September 2012 the Living Sky School Division is providing each student in grade one to six with an iPad for in-school use. Pre-K and kindergarten decided to go with a mix of 1/3 iPods and 2/3 iPads, also provided by the division.  It will be an exciting journey that I look forward to starting.

Photos from www.flickr.com by myracing221 and sucelloleiloes.

Hard Goals vs Smart Goals

I'm attending the Saskatchewan Principal's Short Course and yesterday our first keynote, Gwen Keith spoke on "The Multiple Roles of the Principalship." One item of interest was an introduction to HARD goals. SMART goals are the ones I'm familiar with where the goal is:
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely.

Gwen mentioned that SMART goals are for management and HARD goals are for leadership. A HARD goal is:
Heartfelt (something you are passionate about)
Animated (you can picture the end result)
Required (necessary for survival)
Difficult (require learning new skills)

I think that HARD goals are great for technology implementation because you always have to learn something new. I'm in the process of developing one for our One-to-One project this fall. To decide if a goal meets the criteria you can go to this site and take the supplied quiz.

I also found this Globe and Mail article on the topic interesting!

Sharing What I'm Doing

Just watched Dean Shareski’s “Sharing: the Moral Imperative” talk and realized I have not blogged in a long time. So thought I should update you on what I’m currently doing in my school.

The grade 5 and 6 students just watched the opening two episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation that deal with the main character, Emma, meeting a “16 year old boy” Jordan on-line. She is 12 years old and thinks Jordan is cute and into many of the same things that she is. When he tells her he is coming to her city on a school trip, even though it is summer, she agrees to meet him. Her friends tell her it is a bad idea but she lies to them and sneaks away. At the hotel she meets Jordan’s “teacher” who lures her up to the room to join the boys for pizza. When she arrives at the room she realizes the teacher is actually Jordan. Luckily, her friends hack into her e-mail, showing how some passwords can be easily guessed. They discover that “Jordan” must have also figured out her password and has been reading Emma’s e-mails and then sending her messages that seem like he can “see into her soul.” They also discover the hotel where she agreed to meet Jordan and they let Emma’s mom know and in the nick of time Emma is rescued and “Jordan” arrested. As the police take away her computer, as evidence, the officer warns the mom to keep the computer downstairs so the cyber-stalkers can’t get into her daughter’s bedroom.

I’ve shown these two episodes annually for the past 5 or 6 years. I bought the DVDs for about $60.00 and it was one of the best investments I’ve made. The story is relevant, well acted, and quite riveting plus, it sparks great discussion among my students as to who they can trust on-line, the dangers of meeting someone they only know on-line, how a person can pretend to be someone else on line, where a computer should be kept at home, what you should tell your Mom and Dad, creating strong passwords and who should be allowed to know your passwords. In this day and age where most of the students in grades 5 and 6 have a Facebook account it also leads nicely into privacy settings and what it is safe to post on-line. We are following up this discussion with sessions on the “Passport to the Internet” site.