John David Son Chief Information Officer for the Marshall County School District is the KDE Liasion for KySTE Members of ISTE KASA and the BLE Group. He was Tech and Learning’s 2008 Administrator Leader of the Year.
How did it come about?
We define innovators as someone who is one of the first to do something and opens up a new area for others. The fourth grade teachers at Calvert City Elementary in Calvert City KY can be defined as innovators as they have embarked on a journey that started approximately a year and a half ago.
After the Kentucky Teaching and Learning Conference in March 2008 Mrs. Amanda Mott fourth grade teacher at Calvert City Elementary approached me about a unique idea – she wanted to revolutionize her classroom and make it paperless. As the CIO for the school district I was immediately excited that one of my teachers in my district believed that educational technology could have such a profound impact on her student’s learning that she was willing to completely change the way she teaches and the way they learn. However I also begin thinking of the financial side and how were we going to accomplish?
I tasked Mrs. Mott with seeking out classroom partners for this project. Find local businesses who will be willing to sponsor various components of this project and I will assist with funds from my budget. With a short period of time the fundraising was underway and Mrs. Mott had collected the necessary dollars to begin the project.
How did we implement?
The implementation required some basic rewiring of her classroom to allow for additional power and data. Once that work was complete we started to focus on the technology necessary in the classroom. The technology that made the paperless classroom so affordable is a device made by nComputing the X300. The X300 allows up to 6 other “virtual computers” to join a host computer thus providing a total of 7 computers for approximately the price of 4 computers. The X300 is energy efficient (only 1 watt per user) and has no fans or disks making it very compact and reliable. For more information on the X300 visit: http://www.ncomputing.com/Products/X300.aspx. The classroom also features a projector interactive board and pad student response system laser printer and additional software / web subsc
The first day of school did not begin with each student logging into the computer and never picking up a book for the next 174 days. Rather a phased approach has been used. Students began the school year by relying on texts for research / information. Gradually the Internet became the primary source for collecting information. The teachers felt this approach would allow for students to become comfortable using technology daily while they themselves became accustomed to teaching in a paperless environment.
Are we getting there?
After one year this is a very difficult question to address. Did we see an increase in student engagement? Yes. Did these students create communicate and collaborate more than their peers at other schools? Yes. Has this initiative created excitement about learning – not only in the school but in the community as well? Yes.
I believe our successes are too early to count. We have seen many positives from this including the addition of a second paperless classroom in the other fourth grade last year. However there are still modifications and changes that the teachers students and administration must make to ensure the success of the paperless classrooms. Both teachers have said this initiative has required them to completely reinvent the way they teacher and their planning.
When one teacher as asked about the impact on student learning she said “The impact the paperless classroom has had on my students has been remarkable. The students are the driving force behind their learning. Before my classroom was teacher directed; now I am the facilitator and they are in charge.”
The other teacher was asked the same question and responded with “The impact has been remarkable. The students are more engaged and excited about learning. Students that have difficulty staying on task find it easier to focus using the technology. The learning has been more meaningful and they seem to be retaining the information better. “
We will continue to grow this project and while obviously this solution does not meet every student’s need or the teaching styles of all teachers – I hope to see many other innovative teachers continue down this path and give their students the opportunity to share communicate collaborate and problem solve in an environment not available to all students.
Feedback?
The feedback we have received from this project has been tremendous. The journey has been chronicled in local media state education journals and national education magazines. Other schools and school districts have visited the classrooms to observe and watch this unique form of learning take place. The community has embraced this project specifically because of the shared ownership of the project.
Moving Forward
This fall we have tentative plans to add a third paperless classroom in the same building. (This is assuming numbers work out.) The biggest concern at this point is how the school transitions these students from fourth grade to fifth grade – when they are digital learners at the fourth grade level and must return to pencil and paper at the fifth grade level. This is a challenge the teachers administration and school must address – otherwise we could have student regress in their learning and engagement.