So we did it. A group of teachers, administrators, and tech folks developed a proposal to move forward with this initiative and our administrators in the school and district got crafty and found a way to include it in the proposed overall school budget for next year. Here in Vermont, we have Town Meeting Day at the beginning of March. At that time, residents of each town vote on school budgets, municipal items (firetrucks, for example), the town’s budget, and other things directly impacting the town.
So now we wait. Well no, we don’t wait. Our School Board and the school needs to educate the community about the budget in the hopes that residents will vote for it on Town Meeting Day.
We’re starting our efforts to educate and inform the community about the 1:1 initiative. The iPad is the device chosen, but we all agree – it’s not about the device, it’s about the learning. We’re hearing some things from the parent perspective, which is helpful. Some have said that they see their children play games on the iPad, but they don’t have the visual of how iPads are used by students in schools. They have lots of questions, all valid. There’s a lot of planning going on, details being addressed, and questions getting answered. We’re being as transparent as possible. We’ve begun to put articles and resources on the school’s website. We’ll continue to add more, as well as examples and videos of iPads being used effectively for learning. (Feel free to share any you have with me!)
Do you have any suggestions for how we might best inform and educate our parent community about the value and importance of this endeavor for learning?
I have done exactly this on several occasions. You have to demonstrate value. Show them how there is a need to socialize for proper behavior. Demonstrate the urgency for students to evaluate the overwhelming amount of information they are bombarded with. One key for our district was the way that the iPad allos students to self differentiate to whatever their needs are. Mostly though, let the community hear the voices of students and see the direct effects devices will have. If they think this is going to be just another gadget, they will reject it as a costly extraneous folly. If they can see the potential to move education to a new and necessary model, they will be afraid not to take the leap.
Show parents how tech integration is built into the curriculum – this makes the devices necessary learning tools. This way the device is not a “wouldn’t it be nice” concept but a “can’t succeed without it” concept.
Come visit us here at Flint Hill! I did a presentation on iPads in language arts and would be happy to share the slides!