Bring your own device, it’s okay
“It’s BYOD day!” says a girl as she enters Jon Selby’s Senior English Literature class and pulls out her iPhone. She’s happy about it, and so is Selby. It’s Friday, and he has designated this a BYOD (bring your own device) day because it fits well with today’s study of personalized essays.
Selby’s daily agendas, lesson plans, and homework assignments are posted on his website, and BYOD days are listed prominently. From school, home or anywhere between, students can see at a glance when they should plan to bring their personal > > >
Computing devices power energy studies
Working in teams, students research energy sources. Each team member takes a different perspective. One looks at engineering aspects; another examines benefits to people, to the planet; another checks out historical aspects; and someone looks at cost factors and limitations. The students are 9th and 10th graders in the Integrated Science class at Vancouver School of Arts and Academics (VSAA).
In this class of 35 students, everyone has a tool—a laptop computer, an iPad, or an iPod—at her or his fingertips. > > >
Interactive Mobis spur debate
The 4th-graders are divided into six teams named after continents. Each team has a Mobi tablet, a hand-held mobile device, which interfaces with a whiteboard in front of the class. On the whiteboard is a pie chart, divided into segments marked with shapes. Each team has been assigned a shape to figure out probability for that shape, then corresponding fractions and percentages. They work in groups, discussing, and marking on their Mobis. The pressure’s on; the work is timed. > > >
Kindergarten students weigh in
Kindergarten students sit in semi-circle fashion before a StarBoard screen. On the screen are pictured several fruits and vegetables beside a balance scale.
“Which fruit do you think is the heaviest?” asks Miss Fink. Students make their guesses. Some think it’s the pineapple.
“Which do you think is heavier: a banana or a pineapple?” asks the teacher. “Let’s weigh them.” A student goes to the StarBoard and, with an electronic wand, > > >
Small voices make loud impacts
Everyone has a voice, and everyone can be heard. At least that’s true in 2nd-grade classrooms where voices are boosted by amplification systems.
Each system has a hands-free microphone, used by the teacher, and a hand-held microphone used by students. Two speakers are strategically mounted on classroom walls. Amplification systems are now in all 2nd-grade classrooms in Vancouver schools. > > >
The world’s an encyclopedia of knowledge
Three years ago, Felida Elementary School teachers Aimee Demaret and Anne Bowling submitted a proposal for Microsoft Technology Grants. They each received $10,000 worth of equipment for their 4th-grade and 2nd-grade classrooms. They each purchased a StarBoard, a large electronic whiteboard with imbedded age-appropriate software. Felida PTA paid for some supporting equipment, like projectors and document cameras.
Bowling and Demaret took part in extensive training to find ways to use technology for learning. The training and tools have changed the way they teach and the way their students learn. In fact, they’ve changed the environment of their classrooms. > > >
“Thank you to all the teachers
who put their time into this event. My three kids have seen another source of inspiration and outlet for academic expression."
