From textbooks to MacBooks

Spirit Lake Superintendent Dave Smith says the deployment of over 900 computers to district students in grades 5-12 on Tuesday, Aug. 24, was something of a celebration.

"We're estimating it was close to 3,000 people in our gym," Smith said. "It was an unbelievable event; it was really more or a celebration in a lot of ways than a deployment. We wanted to make sure we took time to thank everyone, our community, et cetera, that made this all possible, and yes, we deployed the laptops."

During the Tuesday evening event, parents and students split into groups where they received basic application training, learned about proper use and care of the machines, and received their machines after signing insurance agreements.

Rising deployment

Last April, 115 laptops were issued to teachers across the district, who then had the summer to familiarize themselves with the MacBooks and ways to integrate the technology into their classrooms. An additional 100 laptops were also distributed to the elementary school.

As of Monday, Aug. 30, the first day of school in the Spirit Lake District, enrollment sat at 1,234, meaning the total number of laptops, originally set at 1,054, may go up. But that's OK with with Smith.

"We budgeted for that and it's a good problem to ... have more students -- that and a combination of some guest teachers needing computers, et cetera -- our numbers keep climbing," Smith said.

Teaching with 1:1

With only a few days of school under their belts, teachers and students are acclimating to the 1:1 initiative with excitement and nervousness.

Annette Kalkhoff, a sixth-grade teacher at Spirit Lake, sees students with a variety of ability levels clicking a mouse instead of sharpening a pencil in her classroom this year.

"Some are very computer-savvy, others are a little computer shy, but everyone is looking forward to using them in the classroom," Kalkhoff said.

Still, Kalkhoff kicked off the 1:1 in her own classroom with a wide range of programs on day one, and will continue throughout the year.

"I started the first day using a Keynote (similar to PowerPoint on a PC) presentation of advice from last year's sixth graders on how to survive sixth grade math," Kalkhoff said. "I had fun adding music to it using Garage Band."

Angela Olsen, an eighth grade teacher at Spirit Lake, says her lesson plans are heavy on technology, as well as "real world" applications.

"I plan to do several interactive lessons on the computer, utilizing the online algebra book," Olsen said. "In addition, I plan to use it to help students make connections between the math skill they are learning in my classroom and how it connects to something in the workplace, community, and/or world."

Tuned in, not out

Smith says that, while utilizing the 1:1 will be a definite goal this year, students won't simply be staring at their MacBooks all day.

"This doesn't mean that the computer is going to be on 24-7 in the classroom, but it means that there's going to be more opportunities to use this technology," Smith said. "The way that teachers teach with technology in their classroom, in the hands of students, cannot be done without having it available 24-7."

Olsen says keyboard strokes and mouse clicks will add, not subtract, from the way her students grasp her math concepts.

"I know they believe this will change the way they learn -- and it will," Olsen said. "The kids are ready to go and thrilled to have their own computer. The kids need to keep in mind that this is a tool to help us better educate them. It will not replace all textbooks, paper and pencil."

While students received some basic training on MacBook applications on Deployment Night, both Olsen and Kalkhoff plan to include training on different programs in their individual classrooms.

Kalkhoff says another important tool she will arm her students with is how to be safe in cyber space.

"The most important thing in my opinion is how to stay safe while on the Internet -- realizing that there are inappropriate sites to avoid, and learning about being careful with personal information," Kalkhoff said. "We leave a 'digital footprint' wherever we travel on the world wide web, so we want to teach our students to recognize that and be informed."

Teachers teaching teachers

Smith says that, when it comes to successfully implementing 1:1 in the Spirit Lake District, the requests have been clear.

"We've listened closely and carefully to our teachers over the last year and what we've heard them say loud and clear is that they need more time to work with ... other teachers," he said. "They do not need to hear from experts outside or from administrators telling them how to teach, what to teach."

The alternative, Smith said, is to allow other educators using the 1:1 in other districts, including Sioux Central, Graettinger-Terril and Laurens-Marathon into the Spirit Lake District for a day of professional development on Oct. 11.

"What we're going to do is have a structured environment where we can get our teachers talking together about what this technology looks like in their classrooms and ... capture the best ... of what teachers are doing in other districts and develop a network or a hub as a resource ... where they have these relationships with other teachers from other schools and they can share the best ideas they have and ... access resources on a regular basis," he said.

In the meantime, Spirit Lake educators such as Olsen are grateful for a community that supported a new era in education for all Spirit Lake students -- in time for a new school year.

"Our entire community deserves a 'thank-you' for giving its teachers and students this opportunity," she said. "It is going to open up many avenues for all students that did not exist in education before this. It truly will change teaching and learning in Spirit Lake ... and without a doubt better prepare our students as 21st Century learners."