A polar vortex that brought sub-zero temperatures to central Indiana in January canceled school, but it didn’t cancel learning for students at Franklin and Indian Creek schools.
They were able to use Chromebook laptops and iPads to connect with Google Classrooms and complete assignments during an electronic learning day, also known as an eLearning day. ELearning days, however, are just a microcosm of the rapid advancement of technology in school districts that has taken place during the last decade.
Increasingly, schools have been implementing Chromebooks as the go-to device for students in third grade and above.
This fall, Clark-Pleasant Schools will start distributing Chromebooks to every student in the fifth grade, marking the first time elementary school students at the district will be one-to-one in terms of the device-to-student ratio. As of last year, every middle school student was using a device, said Michelle Allee, Clark-Pleasant’s eLearning coach.
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“I don’t think they realized how much it would enhance their lessons, but our teachers have done an amazing job of implementing Chromebooks into their classrooms,” Allee said.
“Now, students are able to record themselves, work the program out on their Chromebooks. They’re turning something from a fraction to a percent to a decimal, and the teachers could hear their voice and how they’re working through the problem. It’s a deeper level of understanding.”
There are no set plans to have one-to-one Chromebook distribution in the younger grades after this year, Allee said.
Any plans to bring Chromebooks to students fourth grade and younger would have to be approved by the school board.
In Edinburgh schools, every student from second through 12th grade has had Chromebooks since last year. Since 2014, each high school freshman receives Chromebooks they can take with them after they graduate. It is included in the textbook rental fee, said Bob Straugh, the district’s technology director.
Like other Johnson County elementary schools, East Side Elementary hasn’t introduced Chromebooks to students in kindergarten and first grade because iPads are more geared to those children than Chromebooks, which are larger and have keyboards.
“The size of the devices is a big factor for kids. These kids are tiny; the apps they use on there are more geared to pre-K, kindergarten and the first-grade level. It’s easier to use a device that complements what they’re doing in the classroom," Straugh said.
“In the second grade, we get them prepared for the ILEARN and IREAD (exams). They’re all taken on Chromebook devices, not on an iPad.”
Unlike at Edinburgh and Clark-Pleasant schools, Center Grove schools provide iPads for everyone except in grades three through five, where students use Chromebooks to learn how to use a keyboard and prepare for the ILEARN and IREAD, said Jason Taylor, chief technology officer. Chromebooks have been in place in those grades since the 2015-16 school year, spokesperson Stacy Conrad said.
“Chromebooks have the physical keyboard and more of a traditional learning experience. Grade three is when we start focusing on writing and composing across all subjects," Taylor said.
“It’s a better fit for that type of learner. It’s also the year all the assessments kick in for students. We don’t choose when to start those assessments. It’s a good time to have a physical keyboard.”
After fifth grade, students return to the iPad. The device has a wider range of applications, such as sheet music students can use while playing instruments, and is more user friendly. Administration continually gets feedback from teachers, however, to see if they are satisfied with the current setup when it comes to devices, he said.
“For the Chromebooks, it’s more about productivity,” Taylor said. “A student can create a document or slide presentation to show the learning that they’ve mastered. They can share content with teachers or peers. They can all work on the same presentation at the same time, but it’s probably not as user friendly as the iPad.”
Greenwood schools have relied more on Mac Books, HP laptops and iPads, and have not yet provided each student their own device because of the costs associated with it, Superintendent Kent Dekoninck said.
“One of the challenges of replenishing laptops is the cost,” Dekoninck said. “We’ve tried to balance that cost with having one-to-one. We’re not going to be one-to-one in the district, but we may be getting close to every kid having access.”
Franklin Community Schools has been gradually introducing Chromebooks in younger grades, starting out with high school, then the middle school, then the intermediate school and finally the elementary schools, where students from second grade and up got their devices during the fall semester, technology director Matt Sprout said.
“From ELA to biology to math, the Chromebook allows access to online resources,” Sprout said. “In English language arts, we utilize Reading Counts. Students can read a book of their choice and take a test associated with that. They get points, with different schools doing different awards.”
Students can also access the Discovery Education application, which allows them to find accurate and precise results on topics they are researching, Sprout said.
