Jeff Zoul's List: 1-to-1

The Maine International Center for Digital Learning has made a set of videos available with information about getting started with 1:1. The videos feature the former governor of Maine, Angus King, talking with two teachers about computers in the classroom. The site includes suggestions for group PD as well as summaries and transcripts.

Called TLC3--Transforming Learning in the Classroom, Campus, and Community--the program is designed to support the district's stated mission of educating "all students to become lifelong learners and productive citizens in a global society through a program of educational excellence utilizing technology." With 6,800 iPads and iPod Touches deployed to students and faculty already, a total of 25,000 devices (one for every student) will be in place by October.

researchers present five key conditions that must exist for a mobile learning initiative to succeed: visionary leadership and commitment, robust technology capacity, professional development, scalability, and policies that promote and support the initiative. Excerpted from the report:

Below are my top 5 reasons that could jeopardise a successful 1 to 1 program in schools, and how to avoid repeating them.

In the fall of 2010, I was selected to be a pilot 1:1 classroom in my district and gained a class set of laptops for my students to use as needed. In the two years since, I’ve realized that 1:1 technology can be an incredibly powerful tool in creating a classroom where learning is real. Here’s how:

This year, whether you’re just opening your first shipment of tablets or setting up laptops for the tenth time, here are 10 ways to maximize your one-to-one classroom.

Providing a device for every student doesn’t require a huge staff or an impossible amount of funding — and you don’t have to figure out everything before you’ve begun. But it does call for vision, planning and commitment, as these experts will attest.

Just four months ago, my third graders and I embarked upon a journey of becoming a 1:1 Classroom!  Excitement and anticipation filled the air as our iPads arrived on our 100th Day of School and Learning!

Good reminders for what to watch out for when moving 1:1

GenYES 1:1 provides the online resources and environment necessary to prepare a team of Student Technology Leaders (STLs). This program proves to be especially important in 1:1 rollouts to provide just-in-time support for teachers and students. Modeling appropriate use of technology for learning becomes a student-led effort, increasing ownership and buy-in from students and parents for new technology initiatives.

Students, educators, and institutions are using iPad for countless 
educational purposes and finding both anticipated and surprising 
benefits. Examples in this document highlight the following areas 
across K–12 and higher education:
• Improvements in academic performance
• Increases in engagement and motivation
• Added instructional flexibility and resource efficiency
• Integrated focus on content quality and design

The reasons can vary from feeling pressure (from school board, parents, etc.) to seeing other schools go 1:1 and feeling a need to make themselves just as marketable or viable. However, through my own experience of going 1:1 in a school district and now helping other schools transition, I have come up with a very straightforward checklist of trainings for schools who wish to avoid the frustrations that can come with “building the plane while in flight.”

Possibly the most important (certainly the first) question to ask any school considering whether to implement a 1-to-1 strategy is ‘why?’. There are many good reasons why such a strategy would be desirable for most schools, but there are also other arguments that are often put forward as a justification for 1-to-1 implementations that would be shallow, short-term and ultimately self-defeating motivations. There is, in fact, only one reason why any school should ever do this, and that’s because it will help children to learn.

for the sake of our specific district, and the questions I get from other districts on a daily basis, I’m going to break down the ten things you should NOT do when implementing a 1:1 iPad program.