Lancer One Update to the LUSD#18 School Board - October 31, 2013 Marc Gilbertson, Project Manager Brian Schaffer, Principal Program Goals: Universal Access - Does learning occur beyond the four walls of a classroom? Spontaneous Learning - Can all learners access resources on the fly? Equity - Do all learners have equal access to technology? Personalized Learning - Are we accommodating individual interests to make learning relevant? We’ve begun to collect data on program goals to measure our growth. Initial highlights from the student survey include an 11% increase in students who use devices for classwork every class or almost all the time, and that approximately 48% of students who responded said they are working on things based on personal interest, skills, or things they need to improve almost all the time, or approximately 75% of the time. GANTT Meetings: The Information Technology Department and administration have been holding regular GANTT meetings to discuss/debate/decide how best to acquire and maintain resources. Meeting agendas are published and documentation is available upon request. Invitations have been extended to Central Office administration and board members. Professional Development/Teacher Training: Progress has occurred as anticipated with the plan established early in the process. During June, July, and August, we held five trainings for departments and teams focusing on the use of specific apps and applying this to classes. The resources for this can be found on the Lancer One Haiku page under Summer Time. This fall, trainings have focused on collaborative team and individualized support. These have been based on collaborative team projects and support for common assessment and common planning involving Haiku LMS, and other tools. The technology team has also provided general iPad training and support to both teachers and students. Budget: Two orders of iPads have occurred per the school board approved “Model 5” plan, bringing us to 700 new devices. All have been labeled and inventoried. Originally, we had budgeted $26.00 per device for apps. Keeping this limit in mind, we have loaded $11.94 in apps. Teachers and students are finding and using free apps. An application form has been created to help evaluate the purchases of new apps but no non-departmental requests were made during the first update period which ended on October 17. Screen protectors, cases, and styluses have also been purchased. We had originally budgeted $50.00 per device for these accessories. After talking with several vendors we found a good option for $9.99 that includes the case, screen cover, and a stylus. iPads have been distributed to many paraeducators working directly with students. For the most part these have come from previously purchased student devices that have been replaced by new devices. Twenty wireless keyboards at $30.00 each were purchased over the summer. These are available for check-out from the library. The need for these keyboards has increased, so twenty more were purchased. Eleven additional iPad cabinets at $480.00 each were purchased to provide storage for 10th grade devices. Originally, these purchases were not anticipated as we had planned on having devices go home and 9th grade cabinets could be moved and used for 10th grade devices. Further, we have added some time for existing personnel so that we can ensure a successful device roll out. Overall, expenses of Lancer One purchases remain under budget assumptions, expending $359,762.87 of an anticipated $377,300 from the Technology Reserve Fund. Rollout: The GANTT Team has been addressing issues that arise with the implementation of devices which have ranged from Apple ID’s, passcode problems, and network integration. Modes of response vary from team planning to classroom support to on-demand individual student issues. Much credit should be given to students and teachers who have done a remarkable job adapting and adjusting to the new environment. The GANTT Team’s greatest challenge to date has been an internal argument regarding an approach to home internet filtering. Specifically, a question has been raised regarding the culpability of school systems to meet CIPA at the home front. Some have argued that all devices need to be filtered at home as they are in schools. Limiting devices exclusively for school use has had a negative effect on learning and is counter to each articulated program goal. Students have reported losing the ability to complete homework, research, and class projects because they can only access devices during the school day. We agree with the position taken by Peter Drescher, Vermont Agency of Education Technology Coordinator, as stated in an excerpt of an August 7, 2012 listserv email below: “In researching this a little, .. it is a hot topic… I have a couple of e-rate consultants I work with on a national level. Strictly in the legal, USAC realm… No, schools are not required to filter for off-site access because the thinking there is that once they leave your network or connectivity, they are not using E-rate reimbursed services. BUT, of course there is the school concern about a school-provided device being sent home and then possibly being used for inappropriate activity.. could the school be blamed for this? The recommendation I have been hearing from my resources is a little weak, but says that there should be something clear in the responsible use policy or in the 1:1 program that clearly states that parent supervision is an expectation of the 1:1 or iPad program. It needs to be clearly stated that if the devices are going home, the school cannot control all aspects of the student use when they are off site. My own belief is that it comes down to a responsible use policy that students are constantly reminded of and are expected to uphold. If you are running a 1:1 program, parents should be very aware of these “nuances” about connectivity and be prepared to have an active role in what happens with that device at home. There are many benefits to these devices going home.” In a follow up phone conference with Mr. Drescher held on Thursday, October 31, he reiterated that schools cannot be legally held or blamed for what people do online at home, regardless of who owns the device. According to Mr. Drescher the FCC is currently reviewing CIPA rules and held a public comment period in July and October. The FCC seeks comments to clarify the issue of at home filtering of devices but that decision will not take place until January. Lamoille Union is not the only school in Vermont or in the U.S.A. with a 1:1 initiative. We have examples of how neighboring schools have responded. We would argue that successful filtering is part technology, part policy, part education, and part parental supervision. We have communicated multiple home filtering options through communications to our families, an example being Open DNS: opendns/home-solutions/parental-controls. Policy documents guiding acceptable use and our Code of Conduct can be seen at lancerone.wix/lancer1. Weve held numerous Technicool (Prevent Child Abuse Vermont) internet safety trainings for all students grades 7-10, and will host the trainings for students in grades 11-12. The High School Advisory Committee has begun the process of posting Digital Citizenship trainings on the Haiku page using the national curriculum found at commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum. We’ve hosted multiple parent information meetings, most recently a community forum on Tuesday, October 29. Letters and communications continue to flow from school to home. Ultimately, we respect a familys decision to accept responsibility for home usage and have a system to store devices for those who would care to opt out. On behalf of those families who would like to see devices sent home, we’d request for a motion from the LUSD # 18 School Board to approve the home use of school issued iPads for students in grades 9-12. Other notes: An “immediate response” team composed of IT department members, administration,and teachers was created. This team will address and make quick decisions about concerns and issues that arise during the school year. A student panel has been created of teachers and students for help and also serve as a test group for certain applications and programs. The LUHS Student Council has been engaged to act as a student consultant group. This group has helped the tech. team make decisions about procedures and has led sessions with middle school students to help “mentor” and provide suggestions to middle level students about managing their digital life. We will be presenting more information to the school board at their November 5th meeting. We’ll have a brief overview to highlight some of the information in this report, followed by teacher and student testimony, and time for questions and answers. Next up: The focus moves to rollout for 11th and 12th graders as well as modifying and adapting to policies and procedures to adapt to the needs of students, teachers and administrators.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 16:25:07 +0000
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