My students are bright and inquisitive. They search out knowledge and information in all aspects of their learning. In the Fall, we participated in a math challenge with Khan Academy. Prior to our Holiday Break, we completed the Hour of Code and, since returning, have begun a unit on computer science. Cheers abound when they see "Code" on the agenda for the day. Unfortunately, we have some major problems accomplishing our goal of becoming more technologically savvy.
Right outside of the heart of Silicon Valley, at a school that is working on integrating Compute Science standards TK-5, my students are using outdated, damaged technology that cannot keep up with the rigorous demands of today's technological future.
Technology is an ever growing part of education. All of the new curriculum that is being created, piloted, and adopted has aspects which require students to use technology during the school day. Between the 4 third and fourth grade classrooms, we share 84 Chromebooks for 114 students (which could increase to 124 students total if class size reduction were to go away). Of these 84 Chromebooks that we do have, 56 are outdated and damaged.
My Project
Our ELA, Math, Social Studies, and Computer Science/ Coding programs all have online content and resources for the students to access. We use a blended learning, rotational model in class, where some students are working in small groups with the teacher or volunteer, some students are working with paper and pencil assignments, and some students are working on assignments on Chromebooks.
The most beneficial aspect of Chromebook usage for the teacher is getting immediate scoring and results to better differentiate student learning.
This also provides immediate feedback for students, so they are more responsible for their own learning. Having one-to-one Chromebooks allows this learning to take place.
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