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January 29, 2012

Hittin' the netbooks

Schools transitioning to digital curriculum

Sue Loughlin The Tribune-Star

MECCA — Next fall, Southwest Parke Community School Corp. intends to put a small laptop computer in the hands of every student in grades 2-12.

Students will be able to take the netbooks home, extending learning beyond classroom walls, officials say. Families will pay a rental fee, similar to what they do now for textbooks.

It’s part of a transition to digital curriculum from print, district leaders say. Increasingly, students will learn through digital tools, rather than through traditional textbooks.

By “digital,” they’re not just talking Internet. Digital tools could include interactive whiteboards, iPads or e-readers.

“It’s just the way these kids learn,” said Rachel Porter, the district’s digital curriculum integration specialist, who began her new duties this semester. “They’ve never known a world without the Internet. They’ve never known a world without computers, smartphones and tablets. It’s just what they know.”

The vision is for all teachers in the district to incorporate at least one digital component in every lesson and “to be non-reliant on printed textbooks by the start of the 2014-15 school year.”

Students won’t be sitting at a computer all day, Porter emphasized. “There are still going to be hands-on activities, labs and discussions,” she said.

The district formed a committee last year to study the issue.

Students such as Riverton Parke freshman Michaela McGlynn support the changes, including use of netbooks. “I think it’s awesome,” she said.

The transition to a digital curriculum will better prepare students for the workforce and college, district officials say.

“We’re extremely excited about the opportunity it will give our kids,” said Superintendent Leonard Orr. “We want each child to be successful and we think this is the way to go.”

The School Board, which supports the initiative, went paperless several years ago and now uses iPads. Administrators also use iPads.

Teachers will receive professional development and the district has budgeted for the transition, Orr said.

The district also is finalizing policies related to the student netbooks; those policies will be extensive and cover such issues as what happens if students damage computers and whether students can add their own software to the netbooks.

The policies will become part of student handbooks.

District representatives have visited other school corporations that have gone to a digital curriculum to learn what works and what doesn’t.

Porter and Jill Wiram, the district’s director of instructional technology, cite many other reasons for the change.

Providing each student with a computer will provide equality for all students regardless of economic status, improve student motivation and improve communication among teachers, students and parents, they say.

An education that involves digital components transforms learning “from static memorization of material” to interactive learning. 

Also, the district hopes to increase student achievement through “differentiated learning” using technology, Wiram said. Instruction can be adapted to each student’s needs and abilities, as opposed to standardized, whole-class instruction and assignments.

“It also makes learning much more dynamic,” Porter said. “Rather than just read the textbook and fill in this worksheet, we now have something that is engaging, that allows students to think critically, to discuss and to have ownership.”

Part of the transition involves providing each student in grades 2-12 with a small, Windows-based laptop computer, a DakTech netbook.

The district chose the netbook because it uses the Windows-based software Southwest Parke currently uses, and it can be used for statewide testing requirements, which increasingly are being done online.

Students in kindergarten and first grades at Montezuma and Rosedale elementary schools will have iPad learning centers, rather than individual netbooks.

The district recognizes children in kindergarten and first grade need more hands-on activities and they need to learn basic writing skills using a traditional paper-pencil method, Porter said.

The netbooks cost about $569 each, and the district will purchase about 800 student computers. Teachers will have a similar version; the district has 73 teachers in its three schools, Riverton Parke Junior/Senior High, Montezuma Elementary and Rosedale Elementary.

Students will rent the netbooks, just as they would textbooks, and turn them back in at the end of each year; students will keep the same computer each year, which should provide incentive to take better care of them, Porter said.

The goal is that parents would pay no more than they currently pay for textbook rental. The district also is applying for grants to help fund the initiative. The netbooks will be paid off in four years. “Beyond that, we’re trying not to make too many plans because things change so much,” Porter said.

The district will keep textbooks and continue to use them, she said, but the goal is that in 21⁄2 years, teachers will no longer rely on them.

“That’s where my job comes in, to help find digital resources to replace those paper textbooks and to train teachers in how to use them,” Porter said. Those resources will include the required academic standards students must learn.

Teachers have varying comfort levels with the change, although they recognize increased use of digital tools is inevitable and the way today’s students learn.

Health teacher Sarah Norton has found students are more eager and enthusiastic learners when digital tools are involved. They’re also more willing to do things outside of class.

Social studies teacher Michael Butler believes the digital curriculum and use of netbooks will give students greater access to resources, but his concern is “getting prepared” for the transition, he said.

Some teachers say it’s important to use digital tools to teach, not entertain. Others say they plan to use a combination of the new with traditional methods of teaching.

Books won’t completely go away, Porter said. “We don’t feel it’s a best practice to say we’ll never use a book. But, we don’t want to be reliant on a static paper textbook, so we’re trying to get away from that.”

Orr suggested that in some cases, the district may buy a classroom set of a new textbook adoption, but not one textbook for each student.

The district is not abandoning paper-pencil learning. “We’re not convinced that’s truly best practice,” Porter said. Best practice includes a variety of learning tools and strategies, but it also is more and more digital in a lot of areas, she said.

As Kyle Kersey, Riverton Parke assistant principal, said, “There are still situations in life that call for contracts, signatures and use of paper and pen, and students need those skills just as much as anything else as they get out of high school and get into the real world.”

People do have concerns about such issues as penmanship and the future of cursive writing, he said. All those things need to be considered.

But the driving force behind the move to a digital curriculum will not change. “Every decision we make is with the students’ best interest in mind,” Kersey said. “What best fits their needs in this current setting of educating students for careers that most likely don’t even exist yet?”

In terms of timelines, Porter will work with eight teachers this spring “to try and get them completely transitioned to digital curriculum by the fall,” she said.

That involves two teachers in each elementary, Rosedale and Montezuma, and four at Riverton Parke.

In the fall, all students in grades 2-12 will receive the DakTech laptops.

The district recognizes that teachers have varying degrees of comfort with technology. “Obviously, there will be a giant need for [professional development] and maybe even some summer institutes,” Kersey said. Porter will fill the gap between where teachers currently are and where they will need to be.

“I’ve already been in several classrooms, helping teachers learn how to do things with technology, so they can put it to use in their classroom,” Porter said.

All staff will answer an extensive questionnaire “so I can find out where every teacher is — which ones can do this pretty independently, and which ones will rely on me a lot for help,” Porter said.

Use of digital curriculum will be one component, “a small part,” of teacher evaluations, Kersey said.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

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