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Technology in today’s classrooms not really about
devices, but about new ways of teaching, learning
By Jason Smith, Director of Business
Services & Technology, Coal City District 1
As many districts are moving toward 1:1 learning
environments, it is important to realize that these
initiatives are focused on changing instruction and
not on the devices being made available to
students.
Schools all across the state are implementing
iPads, Chromebooks and Android tablets for
students to access information and create
products for assessment of learning. Bring your
own device (BYOD) allows students to utilize their
smartphones and laptops to make them more
efficient. Platforms like Google and Edmodo have
made sharing resources between students, teachers
and the world, a simple and effective day-to-day
practice.
Classroom teachers are creating opportunities
for students to collaborate, communicate, express
creativity and to critically think as districts deliver
Common Core curricula to students from
kindergarten through high school.
In elementary classrooms, iPads are used in
centers, as part of Daily 5, and for interventions.
Apps are leveraged to reinforce, practice and
explore concepts from handwriting to phonetic
awareness, a n d c o nceptual mathematics to
digital music. Interactive whiteboards are being
replaced by iPads as common workspaces that can
be shared and accessed wirelessly.
These mobile devices, along with their Android
counterparts, allow students to access the web,
acquire curriculum content and express creativity
as they build products that articulate their
understanding. Teachers are using these devices to
monitor progress of students and provide
appropriate differentiated experiences for their
students by accessing a multitude of apps that meet
students where they are.
In higher grades, students are using iPads as
their backpacks. This single piece of glass and
aluminum takes the place of notebooks, folders,
textbooks and, in many instances, the need for full
computers. Students take their notes, write their
essays, produce their videos, take their quizzes and
surf the web easily, eliminating the need for even a
single #2 pencil. Tablets and smartphones will soon
become the primary tool for learning in most middle
and high schools.
Chromebooks give students the ability to access
the web and be productive as they create word-
processing documents, webpages and podcasts. In
tandem with Google Apps for Education, schools
can manage both content and devices from a single
dashboard. This powerful partnership makes the
Chrome operating system a viable and economical
alternative to other full operating system devices.
Students can collaborate as they write and create
presentations. On today’s web, students are able
to be productive in any medium. From video
production to real-time collaboration, sites like
Twiddla.com or InfuseLearning.com, Chromebooks
offer the best of the web on a device that is just
around $250.
Schools have realized the power of technology
as a tool for learning. They have also come to see
that the device is not as important as the skills
the device allows them to learn. Those 21
st
Century fluencies and skills become the context in
which schools are delivering the Common Core.
This transition to 1:1 learning environments is
about giving students the opportunities to
collaborate, communicate through social media, be
creative and create products that demonstrate their
understanding. Further, it allows for critical thinking.
As students explore a topic, they can identify gaps
in their understanding, and then use the Internet to
find information that they can apply just in time
and in a contextually appropriate manner.
This is the real power behind technology in
today’s classrooms. It engages and empowers
students in ways that have never before been
seen.
“This is the real power
behind technology in today’s
classrooms. It engages and
empowers students in ways
that have never before
been seen.”
— Jason Smith, Coal City District 1
Technology in the classroom
