Mentor Schools will join neighboring school districts by adding new technology to its classrooms.
Students in one Ridge Middle School math class will begin to use Google Chromebooks to assist in everyday learning activities, while also preparing them for a tech-filled future.
The Chromebooks are slender, netbook-like devices that allow students to do online research, communicate with teachers through a secure server and turn in assignments all in one place. The devices also allow them to chat with fellow students and do group work.
The initial class introduction will serve as a pilot program for the district.
Officials met recently with Google representatives to hammer out further details. A set of 25 Chromebooks will be loaned to the district at no cost from Google so that teachers have the opportunity to explore the devices and become familiar with them.
The district has also purchased a class set of 25 for $6,000 that should arrive within a week or so, said Jeremy Shorr, the district?s supervisor of Instruction Technology.
The pilot program will serve as a way to determine what grade level the new technology should be introduced at, as well as if the Chromebooks are the best solution. The district is also evaluating other options, spokeswoman Kristen Kirby said.
Tommy Dwyer?s eighth-grade math class was selected for the pilot because of his knack for working with technology, Shorr said.
?We chose Tommy?s class because he?s one of the best in terms of trying new things and integrating technology into his classroom and he has a unique ability to not only envision what the classroom should look like with these new tools (but) to make that happen,? Shorr said.
Dwyer said he is excited to help the students prepare for their short-term and long-term futures. Continued...
?Technology is not going away,? he said. ?You really have to teach the students how to use it and how to use it properly because they?re going to have jobs 10 years from now that don?t exist (currently, and) technology is going to be a big part of it.?
The introduction of new technology will also prepare students for the online assessments that will be introduced state-wide in the 2014-15 school year.
The district should have a final decision of whether to integrate the Chromebooks or another type of device, as well as what grade levels they will be introduced in within the next three to four weeks, Shorr said.
Painesville City Schools recently introduced the same technology to their seventh-grade students.
Heritage Middle School Principal Melissa DeAngelis said the Painesville students have really enjoyed using the Chromebooks.
?Teachers are doing very interactive lessons when they can,? she said, citing a science class that used the devices for a virtual lab.
That district introduced the laptops to students in November.
Source: http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/01/11/news/doc50f03df5805de121301089.txt
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