Students at Middletown Prairie Elementary will get school-issued Chromebooks and tablets beginning in the 2020-21 school year. The Mahomet-Seymour School board voted to allocate $275,272 in CARES money for the 1-to-1 initiative.
Mahomet-Seymour has been 1-to-1 in grades 6-12 since 2018. Used Chromebooks are rotated into Lincoln Trail for grades 3-5.
On the other hand, Middletown Prairie has shared Chromebook carts, with 20-25 devices per cart. Kindergarten has also had an iPad cart with 25 devices.
But when school was canceled in mid-March, and the district moved to remote learning, teachers at Middletown Prairie saw that providing at-home technology options for students would be helpful. Teachers also felt that having the devices in school would help to provide uniform technology for all students, making the tools easier to use during classroom instruction.
First grade teacher Tracy Beecher said that school is likely to look different as students come back in the fall.
Mahomet-Seymour outlined some of the options for returning to school in the June 8 board packet. One option would keep students home on Mondays with asynchronous learning while teachers are on-campus doing professional development.
There is also the possibility that Illinois could move back into Phase 3, where Mahomet-Seymour students would learn remotely again.
Beecher said that while students have the devices at home, virtual lessons and morning meetings would be a possibility.
During the stay-at-home order, students were at home using their parent’s devices, when needed.
“We could actually begin instructing and using the instructional tool, the way we would want it to be with our virtual read alouds and interactive lessons and actually being able to host Google meets and see our kids face-to-face. I know a lot of teachers felt like in the K-2 world we were missing that face-to-face time because our kids didn’t have a uniform way of contacting us.”
She added that whether students were at home with the devices or in school, teachers would be able to teach digital citizenship.
“It really helps to meet the needs of today’s learner, it gives us more time to troubleshoot things with the technology we use, and it truly connects that big picture concept to our real world as we are trying to reach kids every day,” Beecher said.
“It’s an important role that a teacher plays in teaching this generation of digital natives. Our children have in their hands right now is the worst technology they will ever hold. And I think as our as the classroom teachers we hold a strong responsibility in teaching them the difference between these two uses.”
By having a device for every student in the classroom, teachers also feel like it can be more of an active tool that they can integrate into the lessons with global connections, design and peer collaboration in mind.
Beecher said that the devices would not be the only way that students would learn, but they would be considered another tool in the teacher’s box for years to come.
The CARES money will purchase 250 tablets for kindergarten and 188 Chromebooks for first grade. The district also used Title 1 money to purchase and additional 62 Chromebooks. Second grade students will get Chromebooks that are already at Middletown Prairie and those that were returned by eighth grade and senior students at the end of this school year.
The tablets will be 100-percent touch and have a ruggedized case. The Chromebooks will also have a ruggedized case, and come with a mouse so that the students don’t have to use the touchpad.
“The technology the children are using today would then be a skill that they would continue to take with them grade level to grade level developmentally, and through like a sort of scope and sequence there would be skills that would be taught with the use of the laptops,” Beecher said.
The leftover CARES money, $6,492, will pay for stipends for staff who worked on the Reopening Task Force.
