Here are my main notes from the day, in no particular order:
- They wanted to create a stimulating yet flexible learning environment.
- There wasn't a technology initiative when they began thinking about the design of the new school. The technology came into play when they looked at how many computers they were going to be buying and they were only a few shy of 1:1.
- Personalization was important, which is why they went with the iPad.
- Their focus was on Iowa Core outcomes 4 and 6.
- They were not looking at how they could increase student achievement as a result of the environment. Instead, they were looking at how they could make a qualitative change in the classrooms. (This seems to make sense, at least to me, since we know the kind of teaching that leads to increased student achievement so take the focus off of measuring achievement since that's done anyway, and focus efforts on the changes you can see taking place in the classrooms. Other's thoughts?)
- Each grade level has a shared resource area that anyone can use for larger group tasks or even individual work.
- Teachers take the approach when designing homework that the students don't have Internet at home. This way they don't create something students can't access.
- The community was not consulted in the project and the group making the decisions was relatively small by design.
- Classroom management was huge on day one. Challenged much of what everyone knew and there was a bit of confusion the first few days.
- Parents are stepping up to enforce their own rules at home.
- Students can get two days on a single charge.
- In classrooms, they leverage communications as much as possible.
- Students take advantage of the tools when they can (example was given from Math teacher how his students created videos of him working out a problem during class so they'd have access at home).
- The iPads allow students to differentiate on their own.
- Students liked the convenience of the iPad outside of school since everything they need is available.
- If teachers had technical problem with app, they contacted the developer directly and often an update would be released in a timely manner.
- They are working on creating a culture of responsibility: leaving iPads out, unlocked lockers, etc.
- Students do more collaborative problem solving with other students and with the teacher.
- Only about 40 iPads have broken, which is on par with their predictions.
- They filter content on campus to a minimal extent and don't off campus.
- They don't use an LMS yet, but are looking at options to maybe use next year when the high school comes onboard with 1:1.
- Flash hasn't been an issue and it won't be moving forward (Adobe isn't supporting it any longer).
- Student teachers from Wartburg will be issued an iPad by the college to use during experience.
- Used Naiku as an assessment system they all seemed to be using (I'll be honest, I didn't really ask much about this since it wasn't my purpose for the day, but it sounded interesting. Google it if you want to know more).
Here are some pictures I took and you'll have to excuse the poor quality as it was on my phone and there were people everywhere making it tough to take pictures.
This is a large TV in the commons area when you first walk into the school. I assume announcements and other items are on display when students are eating lunch, before/after school, etc. There is another one on the other end of the room.
In each of the grade level wings there are medium sized gathering areas for students and teachers to use. In these areas are a number and variety of chairs and tables, a projector, printer, storage areas, whiteboards, and whiteboard tables. In this picture you can see two of the three types of seats they have. The small stools are a light weight chair that fits about anywhere in a room and allows you to rock back and forth. I tested one out and they were surprisingly comfortable. I wouldn't replace my desk chair with one, but I would certainly replace the chair I sit in on Tuesdays and Thursdays in my night class. You also see a number of comfortable chairs you would expect to see in a lounge. These were nice, but not easy to move or small.
Another view of the same room. Here you can see the projector behind the people in the picture, as well as more seating and the storage cabinets.
This is the back of the same room where you can see there is space to show student work, and really just general space to hang things on the wall.
Again, the back of the same room. Here you can see the whiteboards students can use for group projects as well as some more seating.
Here is the last picture from the common grade level room. This picture shows the whiteboard top tables. These tables were throughout the different classrooms. I personally like these tables since they can provide the medium for collaborating on a project, perhaps the development of a deliverable. The teachers said the students will typically work on something on the table and then will take a picture with their iPad. This way they have that content where ever they go, even though the tables could be considered "low" tech.
This is one of the science classrooms. Here you can see they have tables with wheels as well as a more traditional chair. The chairs were comfortable enough, more so than the typical chair you would think of students sitting in. I was a bit disappointed with this classrooms layout, mainly because of the rows of desks pointing to the front. I'm sure amazing things can happen in this classroom, but given the type of environment potential available for this classroom, I would have liked to see more indications of collaboration.
This was a language arts classroom. In this classroom the furniture is about the same as the last room, only the tables were configured a little different, even though this picture doesn't show it. The tables and chairs all have wheels to allow for easy moving. There is also a small table at the front of the room that controls all the equipment in the room (projector, document camera, etc.). Also interesting in this classroom was the use of Apple TV to connect all the student iPads to the projector. So instead of hooking the projector up physically, the students were able to do so wirelessly, adding another level of collaboration that can take place.
In each of the classrooms, the teachers started the year with a mix of the different furniture. They each had thirds of everything from tables to the different types of chairs. This is the most common type of comfortable seating we saw in the rooms, but overwhelmingly the most popular were the more traditional type chairs that had wheels. The tables were about a mix in terms of popularity.
Not sure what classroom this was, but it had the best mix of furniture. There was one teacher I remember who had a room like this that said he changed the furniture arrangement everyday based on the type of activity they were doing. He later in the tour said that he rarely uses textbooks, supports everything they do through his website, and everything he gives to and receives from students is done electronically through email or other electronic transmission. He was probably the most innovative that we saw that day. He even played music during group work time to help "insulate" the students and their voices from the other groups.
Action shot of me in one of the stool chair things. Really they weren't that bad, and they were super light! I liked them enough I'd consider getting one for my desk at home.
My general impression is that they have a great foundation for creating a truly transformational physical learning environment. I think there is a need to develop an online learning environment to complement and complete their physical one. My impression is that they are actively looking at options to fill this void. So overall, I really liked what I saw. Finally I visited a school that didn't feel like the kinds of classrooms from the early 1900s.
Your thoughts? If you went, what did you see that I missed?
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