Westwood High School’s 1-1 Chromebook Initiative
Westwood High School’s 1:1 Chromebook Initiative John J. Antonucci Superintendent of Schools Westwood Public Schools Westwood, MA
[email protected] @westwood_ps
Reasons to Go 1:1 ● Shift from teacher-centered to student-centered ● Authentic learning experiences ● Personalized learning (blended learning) ● Productivity and organization ● Availability of online textbooks/resources ● Spontaneity ● College/career expectations ● Readiness of staff and students ● Inevitability
Guiding questions As We Considered 1:1
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How can ubiquitous access for our students improve the learning and teaching process? How will we prepare the school community to take full advantage of these benefits? How will we provide this ubiquitous access to students?
Logistics
● What device? ● How will we pay for these devices? ● Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), district● ● ● ●
provided, or some combination? How will we handle/provide tech support? How will we deal with loss or damage to the equipment? What professional development will be needed to ensure success? What will be the implications for acceptable use?
2008 - 2009 2009 - 2010 2010 - 2011
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timeline
2011 - 2012
School Year 2012 - 2013 2013 - 2014
The Game changer: Google APPs
● Westwood’s large-scale launch of Google Apps
in 2011 was the game-changer for enhanced teaching and learning. ○ Gold standard for communication and collaboration ● Visited several districts - no matter what device they had chosen, the one common denominator was they all used Google Apps. ● Demand for ubiquitous access became apparent.
Why not BYOD?
● Strongly considered BYOD, especially because
Google Apps is not device-specific. ● Providing each student and teacher the same device was the only solution that would ensure simplicity and consistency ○ We gave them a device that we knew would work every class, every day.
choosing chromebook ● Next logical step after the Google App rollout: Why
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not use the device that’s designed to integrate seamlessly with Google Apps? Ease of use ○ Chrome OS ○ No software to install ○ Updates automatically ○ No tech support required ○ Long battery life & fast boot time Low up-front cost Low cost of ownership It does everything (or, almost everything) we need
Choosing Chromebook
Rollout details ● 1030 Samsung 303 Chromebooks ○ 950 for students ○ 40 loaners ○ 16 w/ 3G ● 70 Acer C7-2487 for faculty (delivered Spring 2013) ● $280/device, no cost to students ● Optional insurance for $30 94% opted-in ● Custom cases
Student Technology Assistance Team • Full-year internship for course credit • First line of defense for student tech support • Loaners & logistics • Independent projects
STAT members gain skills in: Customer Service Communication Organization Technology
things to consider ● Still need to supplement with other devices, ● ●
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including Macbooks Durability of the Chromebook an early, but now waning, concern Cost and value were driving concerns ○ Easier politically ○ Relatively modest up-front and annual cost lowered the stakes Involving stakeholders early was critical Year 1: Important to regularly communicate progress with the school community Remain flexible
teacher perspective
[My greatest success has been using] collaborative, integrated writing assignments where students are able to work with their classmates practicing literary analysis, structural development, sentence patterns, vocabulary integration, etc. It really is amazing to see.
Student Perspective
I believe this initiative is fantastic. I have the ability to access all the information I could ever want, immediately. Last year I would ask teachers to look up information on my smartphone during class. This year I do it without them even knowing and then contribute to class discussions. This is absolutely fantastic.