Guest Post: Thoughts on Year One of 1:1 in Grade One

On April 1, 2013August 8, 2017 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, Burlington Public Schools, iPadLeave a comment

This was first posted on Ms. Farmer’s Classroom Blog:

One of the lucky ones?
Through a grant announcement at the end of last year, I learned that I would be one of four first grade classrooms in our district to pilot a 1:1 initiative with iPads this year. I was excited and VERY NERVOUS to embark on such an endeavor.

Why Me?
I wasn’t chosen to pilot the iPads because of my extensive knowledge and experience of iPads. I had very limited experience through the use of a some school-wide iPads made available a few times the previous year. The classrooms chosen to pilot this initiative were ones which taught struggling readers specific skills through targeted instruction. My job was to learn how to use these devices to enhance their learning. But how? I needed answers — and quick! So I attended many summer workshops in preparation prior to the beginning of this school year. And I consulted with the technology gurus in my district (there are many in Burlington — thanks to our incredible Tech team!). I also immersed myself in reading about the first scientific study which was demonstrating the success of iPads in improving literacy in kindergartens in Auburn, ME. (To read more about this incredible study, click here: ipad-improves-kindergartners-literacy-scores )

I had so many questions, but the more I looked for the answers, the more questions I had. Little did I know that I was to learn the most from simple exploration … and from the students themselves.

The iPads Arrive…
The iPads rolled into my classroom around the third week of school. I was still in the midst of teaching classroom rules, routines and how to take care of classroom materials. Perfect. They had some apps already loaded onto them, but we weren’t going to start there. The students needed to know how to turn them off and on; how to carry them; where to use them; how to plug them into the charging cart (still a challenge), etc.

OK, first item to check off the list was “Routine”. This took a week. One thing I am sure about is the nature of a first grader. If you don’t teach them proper care at the onset, you are teaching proper care for the entire year…and not much more. It’s very similar to teaching them to put the cap back on a glue stick to keep it from drying out. The difference being that this “glue stick” was very expensive!

Now What?
It took the children nearly no time at all to learn how to use the iPad. In the beginning of the year, they would have to use the apps in a small group with a teacher present to make sure they were using the app correctly and not just pushing random buttons (it happens). As the year went on, the app could be introduced merely by displaying it on my Smartboard through the use of “Reflection” on my laptop. We would play a few rounds of an app as a class and then I would set it out as a station. My wonderful colleague and fellow iPad pilot, Erin Guanci, then created (and shared with me!) many iPads menus with apps from which the children could choose. Here is a sample:

I also used the Voice memo on the iPad to have the children record themselves reading. The student and I would then listen to the recording. I would pause the recording when the child made an error and then teach the child how to use their strategies to self-correct their miscue. The Voice Memo app became both an invaluable teaching tool and an electronic library collection of books which the children had read throughout the year. (Plus I could now share the child’s reading with their parents via e-mail and at parent-teacher conferences).

In Math, as in reading, the iPads were also invaluable in reinforcing skills. Time, money and fact skills need repeated practice. A teacher cannot teach a week-long unit on money, for example, and have first graders magically remember what a coin looks like, its value and how to add them together. The iPads were useful in helping the children practice these skills for 10 minutes or so every morning during “free time” after I taugt the unit. They loved it and it helped to reinforce these skills. I could not have done this without an iPad. No amount of “drill and kill” worksheets could give students the immediate response they need. And I am only one person, so I certainly could not get to every child in the class on an individual basis in a ten-minute time frame. Invaluable.

How Else Were The Ipads Used?
For more detailed information on how the ipads were used and what apps were used, click here: one-to-one-elementary-classroom by andrew-marcinek

This article details how Erin Guanci and I make use of the iPads. More to follow on this subject in a future blog.

Now For the Big Question:

There is no doubt in my mind that the iPads have been effective and have increased engagement in a number of ways. I know for a fact that all children are engaged when I am teaching a lesson as a whole group if they have an iPad in front of them and are working on the same task. I can quickly glance around and see who understands and who is struggling. My feedback can then be effective and immediate. They are not daydreaming, rolling on the carpet or fooling with their friends. They have a device in their hands and are very engaged. By using the iPads to record their reading, students are increasing their reading fluency and providing me with a useful teaching tool.

However, something continues to come up in conversations in regard to iPads which troubles me personally.

I hear and read how educators need to teach 21-Century Skills and I agree with that 100 per cent. But I have also read and heard some discussions (in casual conversation) about how districts may consider using less construction paper, markers, glue, building blocks, etc. since we have iPads. This goes against every fiber of my being! I am totally on board when it comes to making technology accessible to every child at an early age so that they can not only learn how to use the devices and learn from them but so that they also may be able to make educated and responsible decisions in regard to technology in their future. However, I do not agree with reducing the use of paper, pencils, crayons, markers, paint, construction paper, scissors, building blocks, etc.

What I do support is providing every child with a rich array of experiences — both technological and traditional. In my view, balance is key. Choice is important.

I have a simple observation to share. Occasionally, when our school has indoor recess due to inclement weather, I invite the neighboring classroom of children who do not have iPads to come in and share iPads with my students. In the beginning of the year, every child wanted to use the iPad and they had the opportunity to do so. As the year progressed, however, and the novelty wore off, the childrn were given the choice of staying in my room to use the iPads or going into the neighboring classroom to draw, read books, play with blocks, paint, etc. Can you guess what happened?

As the year progressed, the number of children using the traditional materials of paper, pencil, glue, paint and building blocks become equal to that of the number of children choosing to use the iPads. I counted and it was equally split. Choice had won. This has since happened on numerous occasions, so I’ll consider it my “informal” research.

How can children choose or gravitate toward that which they love and are passionate about if they are not given the opportunity to explore all paths of learning? Should you sacrifice some traditional opportunities in lieu of technology? Isn’t it our job as educators to provide the landscape which allows choice and provides varied experiences? Where are our future budding artists, builders and craftsman without tactile experience of paper, scissors, construction paper, paint, blocks, etc.? Also, what will lack of these hands-on experiences do to their cognitive and physical (fine motor) development? What is wrong with providing it all? It is possible. I can attest to that. As much as I am open to the idea of providing technological opportunities for our young children, I am closed to the idea of taking the other more traditional opportunities away. I consider myself a very open-minded educator who embrace change. Am I being too “old school?” What are your thoughts on this?

If It Aint Broke, You Still Need To Try Something Else

On March 11, 2013 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, Burlington Public Schools, ettipad, iPad, iPadedLeave a comment

For the last two years here in Burlington, there has been a great deal of focus on our integration of iPads into our classrooms. It has been an exciting time where many people have changed their workflows and started to rethink what learning environments can and should look like. But even as I witness the excitement from students and teachers as we continue to add devices at the middle and high school level, I am always wondering if we are going to remain open-minded to other possibilities that may come along.

A recent post by Royan Lee on his must read blog, Spicy Learning, got me thinking more about this. In the post, titled “Why Mish-Mash Is Better Than 1:1,” Royan states the following:

“I prefer teaching with the limitations of no class sets, because it means we’re constantly reflecting on the merits of each tool for the given purpose.”

As I think about the skills that our students will need most, I am sure that flexibility and adaptability will be at the top of the list. I think the best option for students would be a buffet of options where they can choose which option is best for them and the task at hand. I am worried that we will be handicapped by traditional thinking and forget that the question of which device is best or which tool is best to perform a particular task will never again have a static answer.

This whole thing is a moving target that I don’t ever see stopping. We need to make sure that we are helping our students see beyond the device or resource of the day and keep their eyes open for what comes next.

Going 1:1? How Would You Respond To Comments Like This?

On January 11, 2013 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, Here and Now, iPads, Learning in BurlingtonLeave a comment

Also posted on the Connected Principals Blog:

I had the opportunity to appear on National Public Radio’s Here and Now Program last week along with one of our students to talk about our 1:1 iPad program here in Burlington at our high school. The segment was titled Educator Answers Your Questions On iPads In The Classroom. While the interview went well, I really enjoyed reading the comments from listeners who choose to enter their feedback. Our first appearance last March resulted in 122 comments and while this year’s appearance prompted a bit less feedback, I think it is important for people who pursue these types of initiatives to be ready to respond to comments like the one below.

For about three thousand years or more all that was needed for learning and writing was some sort of pencil. Plato never wrote his master piece The Republic on an iPAD. Leonardo Di Vinci never used and iPAD. Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa did not use an iPAD to write his Sicilian masterpiece The Leopard and Hemingway never wrote A Farewell To Arms with on a iPAD. Pencil and paper are a thousand times cheaper, yet we continue to spend my tax money on iPADs which don’t seem to improve learning, or on car race tracks as part of the Fiscal Mythical Myth phony deal which produced a modicum for revenue to pay down deficits. Apparently if a young person at school does not have access to an iPAD he or she can’t learn! The simple process of using pencil and paper is good for students. This simple process exercises and induces the brain growth plus coordination of other areas of a young persons developing body including learning how to write. So what does a young person really for a quality foundation to learn? He or she needs a grownup at home to help them with their after school home work. To many households in America have two people working and are to tired to help their children with their homework. Really, this is just a slick promotion for selling Apple products (which are quit good) which in turn make money for investors and does not guarantee success in the class room.

While there are a number of predictable questions that you will need to answer in regards to WHY you support such a financially significant initiative, the one above is one that is common from taxpayers who don’t want to spend the money necessary to put modern resources in the hands of teachers and students. I know I did not respond to all of the arguments that were made and I am not even saying that my comments were “the right answer.” The point is that schools and/or individuals entering into this type of an endeavor need to be prepared to provide a response that they are comfortable with. Of course, the best part is that we have a growing number of schools creating concrete evidence of what can happen when these initiatives are implemented thoughtfully.
As I conclude with my response below, I am wondering how others would respond to this type of comment?

I agree with some of what you say, but the point is that none of the creators of classic work that you mentioned had the opportunity to use technology like an iPad. While I have no problem with pencil and paper or someone who prefers to get a task done with those tools, I think we have to face the fact that the world has changed and that the jobs that our students will be working in will probably not be employing paper and pencils. Learning happens and it happens in many more ways than what you and I were programmed to think in our traditional experiences.

Having said this, I think that the role of public education is to prepare students for the real world. The fact of the matter is that the people outside of our schools, in the real world, are using these tools more and more. My doctor walks into the exam room with an iPad in his hand and the pilot who flew the last plane I traveled on also utilized an iPad in lieu of his old flight manual.

Whether we like it or not, I think that the our students need experiences utilizing modern resources like tablets or whatever comes next. While I do not think technology can be used to do everything (i.e. DaVinci’s masterpieces), I am pretty sure these great minds woud have taken advantage of modern technology. In fact, I am thinking that Plato would have been much happier with a pencil that had an eraser instead of something along the lines of a metal stylus that was probably in his hands at the time.

In regards to the change that has occurred with families in our world today, I do not think we can blame technology for that. My belief is that we can utilize some of the technologies we have available to keep families connected in a time when so many more factors keep them apart. While nothing can replace the physical presence of a family member or loved one, we need to be thankful that we have ways to stay connected when we can’t all be together in the same place.

That reminds me, I need to facetime my son to see how his day went at school today. It’s so much better than a text or phone call. I am thinking Alexander Graham Bell would approve?!

Marshall Simonds Middle School 1:1 iPad Program Details

On January 8, 2013 By Patrick LarkinIn #BPSChat, 1:1, iPad Integration, iPads, Marshall Simonds Middle SchoolLeave a comment

Thanks to BPS Director of Technology Integration Dennis Villano for the great overview of our Middle School 1:1 program that will begin next month!

MSMS iPad.003

Marshall Simonds Middle School will soon be Burlington’s second full 1:1 school. The BPS EdTech and IT Teams have been preparing for the deployment to students. Here are some important details about the initiative.

All students in grades 6-8 will be assigned iPads. Students will be using iPad 2s. Students will not be taking iPads home at this time. The MSMS iPads will be fully managed by Burlington Public Schools. The iPads have been set up using Apple’s Configurator program. Students will not be able to install or delete apps. Students will also not have access to the iMessage app. Safari will remain as the web browser for all devices since the iPads are staying at school. Burlington will be providing cases for all student iPads. Parents and families will not be asked to purchase insurance for student iPads.

Marshall Simonds teachers have been working on developing digital content and materials. Teachers have also selected curriculum based apps to be installed on student iPads. Although student iPads will have just over 40 apps installed during the initial deployment, we have always believed that any 1:1 program should not focus on just the device and apps. iPads and 1:1 environments provide students with constant access to powerful digital learning tools. These tools can be used to help create engaging content and lessons. Burlington continues to focus as much as possible on what we call Foundational Apps. We are also committed to having students and teachers use cloud based apps and services.
MSMS iPad.002
Foundational Apps provide students and teachers with powerful digital content creation, distribution, and storage. Students can use these apps to complete assignments and return completed work to teachers. While not all classrooms will be paperless, the workflow provided by our Foundational Apps can enable teachers to use digital forms of content as much as possible. These apps serve as the basic workflow for students and can be used in any curriculum area.

Please see the BPS EdTech Apps blog for a complete listing of MSMS apps. Click on the Middle School category tab to see all the apps being installed on MSMS iPads.

One of the best aspects of the Burlington High School 1:1 program has been how BHS students have take an active role in the learning process. Students have been involved in every step of the program from initial planning to daily classroom best practices. The 1:1 program has given students many opportunities for leadership in the program. A great example of this is the BHS Student HelpDesk.
Marshall Simonds will also have a similar program to the BHS Student HelpDesk. Each homeroom will have two Student Tech Leaders who will assist with the iPads and iPad Cart Management. Students will also the opportunity to be part of a new MSMS Student Tech Crew that meets during activity block periods.
MSMS iPad.013

The MSMS iPad program will have the added benefit of some great new classroom technology. Marshall Simonds has recently completed a major renovation as part of a Massachusetts School Building Authority project. Every MSMS classroom has been outfitted with new wall mounted LCD projectors and AppleTVs during this project. Teachers also have access to the Reflector app for iPad mirroring. AppleTVs and Reflector provide MSMS with an outstanding technology infrastructure driven by a student centered classroom.

All MSMS students will receive their iPads during introduction sessions. These sessions will be similar to the iPad Driver’s Ed sessions that we have completed during the deployment of all BHS iPads. Students will learn about responsibility, care, foundational apps, workflow, and expectations.
MSMS families were welcomed to a special 1:1 introduction night on Monday, January 7. Here are some key points if you missed the event:
MSMS iPad.016 MSMS iPad.017 MSMS iPad.020

Please continue to follow this BPS EdTech blog and the Marshall Simonds Middle School blog for more details and information about the 1:1 iPad program. We will also have posts about upcoming Parent Technology Events and family learning opportunities.
Dennis Villano, Director of Technology Integration

BYOT and one-to-one initiatives are literacy initiatives

On September 13, 2012 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, BYOT, ISTE, Literacy, National Council of Teachers of English, NCTELeave a comment

The following post was on the Smart Blog On Education earlier this week.

As a school leader who recently sold my community on the importance of moving to a one-to-one environment where every student has access to a web-based device, I believe strongly that our students will be more literate than students in other schools who do not have access to web-enabled devices. A look at the world outside of our schools and the technological resources being accessed in so many professions that allow people to work “smarter” is a clear indication of the track that our students need to be on in order to be able to function in the “real world.”

The biggest stumbling block in schools even if we can get the devices is the proficiency level of the adults in the building in utilizing the technology resources effectively. This is not meant to be an indictment of educators, but it is a critical question that we all have to look at, assess, and then move forward. Technological tools/resources can assist educators in some of our biggest undertakings (i.e. common core standards integration, teacher evaluation, providing relevant professional development, etc.). However, because so many educators in schools are not comfortable with the most modern literacy skills we are not able to make better progress.

Are these your literacy standards?
From an educator’s perspective there are a few places that we can turn for a concrete look at the standards. The best resources for modern literacy standards are the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Let’s start with NCTE. The Definition of 21 st Century Literacies listed below was adopted by NCTE in 2008. While you look at the list below, think about how many educators in your community are comfortable in these areas.

Develop proficiency with the tools of technology
Build relationships with others to pose and solve problems collaboratively and cross-culturally
Design and share information for global communities to meet a variety of purposes
Manage, analyze and synthesize multiple streams of simultaneous information
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multi-media texts
Attend to the ethical responsibilities required by these complex environments

As educators, we need to be able to start to list concrete examples of how we meet each of these standards and then assist our students in doing the same.

What about the ISTE standards?
Like NCTE, ISTE also provides us clear standards to help schools better prepare students in the digital age. Unfortunately, the vast majority of educators look at the ISTE standards as technology standards when in reality they are learning standards. As the introduction to the standards states on the ISTE website, “Technology has forever changed not only what we need to learn, but the way we learn.”
Like the NCTE standards, ISTE’s contain six focal points:

Creativity and Innovation
Communication and Collaboration
Research and Information Fluency
Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Digital Citizenship
Technology Operations and Concepts

As with the NCTE standards, I question how many of these our staff members are comfortable with at this point.

Is this even on our radar?
So as we look towards the new things on the agenda for schools throughout our country like common core implementation and new teacher evaluation methods, I am worried that the integration of technology is still looked upon as a detached task that will have to be kept on the back burner. The reality of the situation, however, is that if we understand how to utilize the vast array of collaborative resources out there that we can accomplish our tasks more effectively. But we cannot even start down this road if we do not provide access.

There is a great quote about technology in Jim Collins’ book “Good to Great”: “Technology alone is not going to move an organization or an individual from Good to Great. However, technology that is thoughtfully deployed can help us move a bit faster. ”

In closing, I have to mention the seven survival skills that Tony Wagner discusses in his book “The Global Achievement Gap,” skills that our students need whether they are going on to college or the workplace.

Critical thinking/problem solving
Collaboration/leading by influence
Agility and adaptability
Initiative and entrepreneurialism
Effective oral and written communication
Accessing and analyzing information
Curiosity and imagination

We cannot get where we need to go, if we as educators do not model these skills and we cannot model these skills if we do not provide learning environments where staff and students have access to digital resources that allow them to experiment and discover the power of being a connected learner. We are at a point where we have to consider whether or not those who are learning in “disconnected” environments can be called literate by today’s standards.
So as you are thinking about whether or not a BYOT or one-to-one initiative is right for your school, you need to ask yourself the following question: Is it important that students in our school are literate?

Patrick Larkin (@patrickmlarkin) is the assistant superintendent for learning for Burlington Public Schools in Massachusetts. He is a former high school principal and former commission member of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

BYOT and one-to-one initiatives are literacy initiatives originally published by SmartBlogs

Trusting Students (and Staff) – Looking Back At Year 1:1 (with iPads) – Part 8

On August 24, 2012 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, bhs news, iPadLeave a comment

BHS staff member Andrew Marcinek, who blogs regularly for Edutopia, had a great reflective post regarding our first year as a 1:1 school with iPads. It is extremely helpful for me to see the reflections of staff and students from the past year. One of the major points I take away from Andy’s post is the focus on trusting students.

Trust students.

“One of the best decisions we made before we deployed 1000+ iPads to our student body was to create a student-run genius bar. With this decision, we were putting a lot of trust in the hands of our students. However, it turned out to be a core component of the launch…

…Aside from simply troubleshooting, our students help their former teachers at the middle and elementary levels as well as create how-to scripts and videos for students, faculty and the Burlington community. Our students have not only helped within the BPS community, but have helped our Tech Team organize two major conferences in the past year…”

Beyond the student help desk, I think the trust of students in regards to access of social media sites and other apps and sites that can be used for non-educational purposes allowed our efforts to focus more on supporting educational uses of the technology. We did not go into this undertaking with a mindset of blocking and denying access.

We went into this with a mindset that we are preparing our students for life after school where they are going to have to know how to make choices about appropriate use of apps and sites that do not apply to their work. We felt strongly that the conversations that need to take place and the authentic experience of making choices about what to access and when to access it is not something that can be replicated with theoretical conversations.

As an organization, we do not feel we can have the type of learning and interactions between learners that we envision if our default reaction is that the individuals who inhabit our school will choose to do the wrong thing.

We trust teachers and we trust students. Then on the rare occasion that someone misuses that trust, we address the situation with that individual. Should it happen any other way?

Related articles

Looking Back At Year One of 1:1 (with iPads) – Part 6

On August 14, 2012August 8, 2017 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, iPad, iPadedLeave a comment

ipads with students (Photo credit: patricklarkin1967)

So it’s time to look at the feedback from 177 of our students who responded on our brief end-of-the-year survey asking about some of their impressions after a year of 1:1 with iPads. For today, I would like to focus on the responses to the three questions below:

While others may not think this is important data, I think that we have to take some time to look at this data and recognize the fact that most of our students and staff managed to alter their workflow to incorporate the new tools at their fingertips in a very short period of time. I think this is a credit to the work of our staff and the support provided by the adults and students who make up our BPS EdTech Team.

I love the way that Bernajean Porter describes the technology integration process as one that contains the three distinct steps described below:

Literacy Uses: Student uses are described as technology stories Adaptive Uses: Learning is telling the same stories with new toolsTransforming Uses: Learning is creating new stories with new tools

It is exciting to see that we seem to be moving well into the adaptive uses in just one year. While it is important that we look for an even higher percentage in this area in year two, the focal point also must move to transforming uses and ensuring that we are supporting a learning environment in which these types of opportunities will be prevalent.

It reminds me of an excerpt from Cathy Davidson’s Now You See It:

“What if instead of telling (students) what they should know, we asked them?”

We need to continue to learn from and with our students as we continue to seek to maximize the potential of our devices. While some people are quick to question the cost of an iPad and whether our money was well spent, I believe they are missing the point if they are only focusing on the technology.

This quote about iPods could easily be transferred to our iPads initative:

“The iPod experiment was not an investment in technology. It was an investment in a new form of attention, one that didn’t require the student to always face forward, learn from on high, memorize what was already a given, or accept knowledge as something predetermined and passively absorbed.”

Related articles

Looking Back At Year One of 1:1 (with iPads) Part Five

On August 13, 2012 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, iPad, iPadedLeave a comment

As we begin to look at the data from our students at BHS on their thoughts on year one as a 1:1 school, I thought it would be interesting to look at how teachers and students from other schools who also just completed a year of 1:1 felt about the impact made by putting a web-enabled device in the hands of each student.

I found the following information which was posted by Ian Jukes on the 21st Century Fluency Project’s blog very relevant:

Data Brief (from Digital Wish):We surveyed 30 teachers and 465 students participating in 1:1 computing initiatives this year:

Student Engagement – Student engagement increased 140% in word processing and writing, creating presentations, and video production. 52% of teachers now feel that the majority of their students are highly engaged as opposed to only 37% pre-initiative.

Problem Solving – Students who say they can “figure out just about anything on their own” increased from 38% to 51%, a 134% increase. The number of students who say they have participated in ten or more technology projects that required them to solve a problem, gather information, or draw a conclusion, has nearly doubled, from 23% to 42%.

Creativity – Teachers now say that 46% of their students are experts or peer coaches in creating a new idea or original project using technology, a value that almost quadrupled the pre-initiative’s mere 12%.

Students becoming Tech “Experts” – The majority of students say they are experts at digital media, word processing, making presentations, safely and responsibly using the internet, solving problems using technology, and researching a topic on the Internet. At the beginning of the initiative, almost 50% of students said they didn’t know how to do these things.

While the questions on our student survey at the end of the year may have been a bit different, I think there are equally positive data points. We will look at these tomorrow!

Related articles

Looking Back At Year One of 1:1 (With iPads) Part Four

On August 7, 2012 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, iPad, iPadedLeave a comment

During the course of the year, we talked to students and staff and asked them to share some of their thoughts on the iPad initiative at BHS. Here is a glimpse of what some staff and students say about the iPad initiative thus far.

http://swf.tubechop.com/tubechop.swf?vurl=Dl-ImuCEKYQ&start=88.26&end=265.65&cid=460334

Looking Back At Year One of 1:1 (With iPads) Part Three

On August 4, 2012 By Patrick LarkinIn 1:1, iPad, iPadedLeave a comment

One of the positive things about our iPad initiative has been the positive recognition that our school has received due to the efforts of our staff in undertaking this exciting work. The Boston Phoenix published an article this week that highlighted the work of BHS and other schools integrating the use of iPads.

I do want to say that I am not a fan of the headline – iPads Innovate Education in Massachusetts Schools because I think we need to continue to be clear that technology does not innovate by itself. It is thoughtful practitioners who know how to integrate the right tools at the right moment who are innovative.

Here are some of the other articles and that have been done on our efforts at BHS due to our wealth of innovative educators who are willing to take risks and integrate new technology in order to create more engaging classrooms:

July 2012

The iPad Initiative Did it Make the Grade – Burlington Wicked Local

June 2012

7 Habits of Highly Effective Tech-Leading Principals – THE Journal

March 2012

Schools Abandon Textbooks To Go All iPad – WBUR Radio

November 2011

How Students View Digital Citizenship – Edudemic

September 2011

How Steve Jobs Transformed The Classroom
How Steve Jobs Influences BHS – WBZ News
A Student’s Tweet Lands Me On Fox News
BHS Featured on WGBH TV

August 2011

Associated Press – Many U.S. Schools Adding iPads, Trimming Textbooks
Daily Times Chronicle – iPad Program Drawing Attention For Burlington High
Boston Globe – Leading The Way To Cyber-Learning
T.H.E. Journal – When Students Run The Help Desk
Fox 25 Boston Checks Out Our iPad Deployment
USA Today – Students Cast Wide Net For Mentoring With PLN’s
Edutopia – How My School Is Transitioning to Digital Textbooks (Organizing: Step 1 of 5)
Edutopia – How My School Is Transitioning to Digital Textbooks (Organizing: Step 2 of 5)
Edutopia – How My School Is Transforming to Digital Textbooks (Process: Step 3 of 5)