The Lowell Ledger A biannual publication of Lowell School | 46th Year | Summer 2012 | Vol. 21. No. 2 Technology in Lowell Classrooms: Lowell Highlights 1988 Theresa Anderson procures 4 Macintosh eII computers. Children in K-3 are given the Launches opportunity to perform simple tasks on the computers. 1990 Lowell wins an Apple Library of 1:1 iPad Tomorrow grant worth over $50,000 of Apple computer hardware and software. 1998 Jim Hendrickx is hired as Lowell’s first Program Technology Coordinator. 1998 Lowell purchases a Newton eMate 300 computer for each member of the pioneer By Yasmin Eisenhower, 4th grade class, inaugurating the School’s 1:1 This 3D Cell app allows students to rotate a cell in three dimensions, Laptop Program. zoom in on cell structures, and view time-lapse videos. Academic Technologist 2001 Lowell is lauded in a Washington Post In 1998, Lowell established a 1:1 laptop program, purchasing Magazine article, written by alum parent Bob Thompson, for its carefully thought- a Newton eMate 300 computer for each member of the out approach to the role of computers in education (“Learning to be Wired,” September pioneer 4th grade class. This fall, with great excitement, the 16, 2001). School will launch a 1:1 iPad program for students in 4th–8th 2001 Lowell purchases iBook laptops for each grades. member of the pioneer 6th grade class. 2007 Lowell completes a multi-year initiative As with each chapter in Lowell’s history of effectively to acquire interactive whiteboards for each Primary School classroom, the Library, and integrating technology into the classroom, the decision Art Workshops (funded by grants from a family to make the switch from laptops to iPads was carefully foundation and the US Dept. of Education NCLB). 2008 4th grade word processors are considered. When it became clear that the School’s current replaced with iBooks, giving 4th graders generation of student laptops needed to be replaced and there the opportunity to learn skills on the same computers they will use for the next was no equivalent device on the market in terms of price three years (funded by a grant from a family foundation and several 4th grade families). and performance, a task force was created to evaluate the 2010 New Middle School classrooms MacBook Air and the iPad. in Parkside Building are equipped with interactive whiteboards. For five months, the task force researched the options and ultimately decided that for its ease of use and the wealth of innovative apps available, the iPad would be the 2012 Lowell launches 1:1 iPad program for 4th-8th grades. best choice for students’ everyday use. Unlike the current laptops, which take several minutes to boot up, the iPad is ever-ready, holding a charge for a full school day. Just press a button to wake it up. And, the iPad weighs only 1.44 lbs: it is a significantly lighter device to carry to school and tote from class to class. continued on page 2 FROM THE QUESTIONS AND APPLICATIONS: ESSENTIALS FOR LEARNING HEAD IN THIS ISSUE OF The Ledger, you will have the (page 3), teachers immediately saw the potential opportunity to read about several new projects at to extend a natural interest of children—growing Lowell that represent a marriage of technology things in dirt—to a whole new level by having and sustainability. All are outgrowths of our the children consider the fascinating alternative mission, our carefully designed approach to of growing vegetables and flowers without the curriculum, and the openness of our students, need for soil or fertilizers. It is through this kind faculty, and parents to seize the moment and of experimentation and comparison that many plunge into learning opportunities. Key to great ideas and inventions are born. Embracing the success of these projects are two essential and building on children’s natural curiosity How can technology help me do this? led to the ingredients: good questions and the application is the key to early childhood learning and to creation of an interactive audio tour of the trees of new skills and knowledge. developing life-long learners. on campus. For this project, students each chose a tree to study and, ultimately, speak for on the In the Pre-Primary School, the questions are In the Primary and Middle Schools, the use tour. fundamental and lead in all sorts of fascinating of provocative questions continues both as a directions. How? Why? When? What happens if? structure teachers use to build curriculum and as Personal commitment, keen observation of the How much? How big? What is the pattern? Children the basis for developing higher-level thinking. natural world, and technological skill intersected are constantly observing their world and trying in this project. Students weren’t just sitting in the to make sense of it. Wise teachers look for In the case of the 3rd grade TreeTALK project classroom memorizing 20 types of trees found opportunities to provoke further questions and (page 5), questions like How do the seasons affect on campus; they invested themselves in learning thought. the life of a tree? How can I be a change agent in the about their trees and then communicated what world and help the world become a more sustainable they learned, passing on their appreciation for When a current parent offered to build a gravel place? How can my actions affect changes in people’s garden on the Pre-Primary School playground appreciation and valuing of the natural world? continued on page 2 SUMMER 2012 1 1:1 iPAD PROGRAM the device, and many believe it to be a iADP TASK FORCE transformational classroom tool. continued from page 1 Debbie Gibbs Head of School Several teachers were particularly Doug Odom Director of Finance, Other benefits cited by task force members excited by the apps they found to Facilities and Operations include: support learning in the classroom. Elizabeth Lener Director of Primary School • The iPad makes it easy for students to access Science Curriculum Coordinator, Moira Regan Director of Middle School videos, interactive e-textbooks, and other Kavan Yee, found apps showing electronic sources of information; it also 3-D pictures of cells that he couldn’t Artur Morka Director of Technology find anywhere on the internet, as makes it easy for students to become efficient Yasmin Chin Eisenhauer Academic Technologist producers of media-rich information. well as apps providing broad access to magnified images of organisms Domi Long Librarian • The multimedia features of the iPad support and videos of scientific concepts and project-based learning and differentiated properties. Yee also found an app called instruction. Socrative that will allow him to quickly survey students’ knowledge at the beginning • Compared to the MacBook Air, iPads produce of class. He can get the results of the survey almost 5g less of CO2e emissions per hour of immediately and then use those results to promote use. iPads are the greener choice. differentiate instruction in the classroom. discussions relevant to raising digital natives, the Task Force surveyed • The iPad is easy to maintain. Math Teacher, Lee Bissett, evaluated EdModo, an parents to determine their comfort level with the online course management system. EdModo will To support student computing needs that the device and to find out what technology topics be integrated into the iPad program next year iPad cannot currently meet (including touch they are most concerned about. And, prior to and used to facilitate online communication and typing, which will continue to be taught), receiving their new devices, students will be organize work assignments. students and teachers will still be able to use the required to attend an orientation session with a parent this fall. computer lab in the main building and will also By June, all faculty involved in the 1:1 iPad have access to rolling laptop carts. Program had received their devices and Rapid advances in technology are changing participated in an initial orientation. They will As part of their study, Task Force members the tools that students and teachers use at return in August for a “Summer Summit” during attended technology conferences and training Lowell, but the School’s approach to teaching which they will receive additional training, swap sessions, reviewed industry publications and with technology remains the same. Lowell is ideas they have developed over the summer, and journal reports, and visited with colleagues at continuing to help students use technology in agree on guidelines for student use of the device. other schools who currently use iPads in the age-appropriate ways to learn more effectively and to access, evaluate, create, and communicate classroom. A group of faculty members were To prepare families for the switch to iPads and to also given iPads to test. Most supported use of information successfully in the 21st century. ● MOVING FROM THE HEAD, continued from page 1 FORWARD the natural world. This kind of personal connection to nature is what will motivate some of them to become the environmental problem solvers of the future. Sixth graders investigate sustainability issues both locally and globally through questions such as What is diversity? What is the value of diversity in the world? How does the diversity of natural resources create diverse life styles? What is the relationship between population, diversity, and abundance/ scarcity? They also respond eagerly to more action-oriented questions like What difference can we make right here, right now at Lowell? Out of these questions, a project was born: the creation of a solar-powered charging station to power laptops, iPads, and other electronic devices in Parkside (page 4). As digital natives, 6th graders embrace the challenges and possibilities of living in a digital world and recognize the importance of leaving as small a global footprint as possible.