Leadership Matters - June 2013

1:1 program unleashes power of creativity and collaboration Unity High School English teacher Christina Meyer helps facilitate the new style of instruction following implementation of the 1:1 program in Community Unit District 4 in Mendon.

role as facilitators and coaches and are able to individualize learning for all students.” The classrooms at Unity High School in Mendon even look and sound different. Round tables have replaced rows of desks and there is a literal “hum” of activity as students exchange ideas and assist one another. It’s the sound of collaboration and engagement, the new sound of learning. It’s project-, research- and discovery-based. It looks fun. And it has unleashed the power of creativity in students who now have the tools to express themselves when completing projects such as:  A photo essay comparing the structure of a cell to parts of an amusement park;  A slope/intercept math project done as a YouTube video exploring the cost of community college versus a state university; and  A digital book report done as a movie trailer using family members acting out roles. Student laptops are loaded with interactive digital textbooks, assignments and a myriad of other

Teaching and learning are being transformed in a rural school district in West Central Illinois in ways that have exceeded the expectations of even the architect of the plan to move from a mostly paper- based educational environment to a mostly digital one that is highly interactive, extremely engaging and produces real-time results. Diane Robertson, the recently retired superintendent of Community Unit School District 4 in Mendon, knew the 1:1 digital conversion would benefit students and teachers in the PreK-12 district of 700 students through the magic of technology. What she might not have been able to predict was how quickly this paradigm shift would be embraced by not only the students and teachers, but also by the parents and community when the decision was made to equip each teacher and student with a laptop. “It’s really not about the device,” Robertson told a group of teachers who traveled from a Southern Illinois school district recently to spend a day in Mendon observing the program. “The laptop is only a tool. It’s really about a paradigm shift where students take more ownership and responsibility for their own education, and teachers take on more of a

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