Administrators from the Bettendorf Community School District discussed the district’s plans for bringing more technology into the hands of students during a public forum Monday night.
The major piece of the plan is a move to “1:1” technology access at Bettendorf High School, which will be done in phases starting in the fall, Associate Principal Matt Degner told a group of about 50 people who attended the session at Bettendorf High School.
About 800 iPads will be provided to freshmen and sophomores at the beginning of the 2012-13 school year. Members of each incoming freshman class will be provided with an iPad in subsequent years, Degner said.
Students will be taught about “digital citizenship,” the responsible use of technology, before they are given their iPads, he said.
The move to 1:1 technology at the high school and technology improvements at other levels in the district will require an investment of about $1 million per year.
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Superintendent Theron Schutte said the process of coming up with the new technology plan began about three years ago with research into what is available and how it is being used. For about 18 months, administrators have been visiting school districts throughout the country to see how technology is being used in classrooms.
“We tried to work very hard to dream big,” Schutte said.
The district’s goal is to use the technology to teach students skills such as creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving, said Marcia Hartman, the district’s director of technology.
Assistant Superintendent Michael Raso said it is critical to remember that technology is only a tool and that staff must be properly trained how to use that tool to improve student learning.
Raso said while Bettendorf will not be the first school to implement 1:1 technology, “we’re going to be the first district that does it right.”
Jefferson Elementary Principal Lisa Stevenson said the district’s elementary schools have begun pilot programs using iPads in the classroom. She said 12 classrooms in third through fifth grades will use iPads next year, and the program will expand to all third- through fifth-grade classes the following year. After that, iPads will be introduced into K-2 classrooms.
Elementary students already are using Smart tables, netbooks, Flip cameras and MP3 players for audio books.
Bettendorf Middle School Principal Lisa Reid said technology will play a critical role in the school’s movement to project-based learning, which will be implemented in the sixth grade next fall and in the seventh and eighth grades in 2013.
Project-based learning presents students with real-life scenarios and challenges them to think creatively and collaboratively to solve problems, Reid said.
Through the use of technology, students can have access to a wide variety of information and resources, Reid said. She said 95 laptop computers will be used in the sixth grade next year.
Mike and Mindy Pace have three special-needs children in the Bettendorf district and said the use of technology there already is far ahead of the school district in Columbus, Ga., where they lived before moving to Bettendorf a little over a year ago.
Mindy Pace said the use of a Nook e-reading device has dramatically improved the reading of her daughter, who is in fourth grade and has autism.
While her daughter showed little interest in books, the interactive features of the Nook make learning fun for her, she said.
“I’ve never seen her learn so quickly or be so interested in anything,” she said.
The Paces said it was nice to see the district committed to improving student access to technology and in training teachers to make the best use of it.
“We’re definitely headed in the right direction,” Mike Pace said.
