Yesterday was PLC day and I met with the 6th Grade Language Arts team to discuss some preliminary plans for next year. The district has a proposal that will be presented to the Board tonight. The proposal is called the Educational Technology and Information Literacy Plan (ETIL).
The plan calls for embedding netbooks (Asus eee PCs) in every 5th, 6th and 9th grade Language Arts class next fall with follow on plans for grades 7 & 8 in future years and the high school grades too.
The team seemed real excited with where this is going and very open to taking the next steps. We have arranged for a field trip next week to see the process in action at three elementary schools where the 5th grade class has been piloting this project this year. I know there have been successes at Hopkins and East and we will be visiting a third school too. It will be wonderful to see how classroom management is handeled, how productive the kids are and to tap into the teachers experiences after using the netbooks for the past year.
This is a great opportunity for our students and I feel encouraged with how our teachers are showing interest in how to tackle this new opportunity for next fall.
So teachers, how does this roll into your plans for next year and beyond as these netbook-enabled students (focused on writing) begin to fill your classes?
What follows are some links to the 5th grade pilot programs and samples of what they students have been producing.
East Elementary
Moody Elementary Class Blog
Hopkins Class Blog
Hopkins Class Web page
I am really excited about these eee pc's. I can't wait to get my hands on one of these little buggers. Mason, thanks for giving us a heads up on what's coming. I'm looking forward to our little fieldtrip to see them in action.
ReplyDeleteI believe our students are definitely ready for technological tools that can assist them with the writing process. Anyone who uses computers for composition work understands how much more easily ideas can be editied, moved around, and revised when using word processing. I, too, am very excited about the opportunity to see the eee classrooms in action! I want to see first-hand how getting students connected to internet resources inspires and helps them learn! Thanks, Mason,for your presentation and enthusiasm! Thanks, Gary, for giving us release time to take this "field trip". Rebecca
ReplyDeleteStudents, Your blogs are great fun to read! I can't wait to talk to some of you in person!
ReplyDeleteRS Raleigh, EMS