K-12 (Primary / Secondary)

Kriti Kapoor, Director of Vertical Solutions Marketing
Dell Asia Pacific & Japan (APJ) - Public Sector

If every child in the world had access to a computer, what potential could be unlocked?

There are nearly two billion children of the developing world with little or no access to education. While children are by nature eager for knowledge, many countries have insufficient resources to devote to education—sometimes less than $20 per year per child (compared to an average of $7,500 in the United States).

Professor Nicolas Negroponte established the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) not-for-profit organization in 2002, to create educational opportunities for the world's poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, fun and self-empowered learning.

Professor Nicholas Negroponte, Founder & Chairman of One Laptop per Child

I had the opportunity to hear Professor Negroponte speak at the Singapore Management University last week, and I am inspired and encouraged. I am inspired by the OLPC mission to make education for the world’s children a priority, not a privilege; and encouraged by Dell’s commitment to design technology solutions that help make the learning ecosystem a reality. The Latitude 2100, the Dell Mobile Computing Cart continues to excite our customers, and the soon to launch Connected Classroom will transform the learning environment, and improve student outcomes.

When children have access to technology and the right tools in their learning environment, they get engaged in their own education. They learn, share, create, and collaborate. They become connected to each other, to the world and to a brighter future. Nations will develop an essential resource—educated, empowered children in the digital age.

Last week we held our first “International K12 Education Advisory Council” since the inception of our Global business. Twenty-five customers from 9 countries and 14 school districts from around the United States participated in the two and half day event. It was very interesting to hear about many of the similar challenges faced by educators internationally. Students from around the world are truly digital natives and all schools are faced with engaging them using the technology amidst budget issues and proper training for teachers to use that technology in their curriculums. It was great to get the feedback from these customers to make sure we are bringing technology to the classroom that helps them prepare students for future success! One overriding theme we heard throughout the event was the need for “access” for students, teachers, faculty and families to be competitive in today’s environment.

I also had the chance to sit down and discuss technology’s role in education with Dr. Sheryl Abshire of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana.

Friend is the director of SAS Curriculum Pathways, an award-winning online resource for students and teachers in high schools, community colleges, virtual schools and home settings. Available at no cost to U.S. educators, SAS Curriculum Pathways provides content in the core disciplines of English, mathematics, social studies, science and Spanish for grades 8-14. Aligned with state standards, its more than 200 InterActivities and 600 ready-to-use lessons apply technology-rich instruction to engage higher-order thinking skills.

Education, and more specifically the topic of workforce development, was key committee discussion at the Annual Meeting of National Governors Association in Biloxi, MS. Chaired by Governor Heineman (NE), the education committee discussed the critical need in our country to retrain workers for 21^st century jobs as well as a need for our K12 schools to produce graduates who are college ready and workforce ready.

Governor Heineman spoke of the need for our country to “embrace a new way to prepare students” in these areas and shared his thoughts on how our processes and environment for educating students today has changed very little since he was a school in the 1950s.

Two experts were invited to share their viewpoints on the topic of workforce development. Jane Oates of the U.S. Dept. of Labor spoke of the need to have educational options available across all sectors of education (K12, higher ed., workforce ed.) that are directly aligned to the needs of businesses in America. She provided examples of how too many students are woefully lacking in the technical and learning skills that today’s workforce require. Adding to this challenge is that fact that training programs often require students to take courseware that is not specific to the skill that the student seeks to learn and our not provided in a flexible environment that would allow for acceleration for students who are capable.

Dr. Nan Poppe, President of Portland Community College (OR), provided an overview of some unique programs that her school has created that are now being replicated by other schools around the country. The Oregon 40-40-20 program seeks to create a population of Oregonians in which 40% would have a Bachelors degree or higher; 40% would have an Associates degree; and 20% would have a high school diploma with the knowledge and skills that they need for specific technical and competitive jobs. Their Gateway to College program also provide an opportunity to for high school students to earn an associates degree by extending their high school education by one year.

Governor Haley Barbour (MS) spoke of the need for school systems to provide career tech options that all too often have been stigmatized. He shared an example of how schools across MS have de-emphasized career technical education at the same time when his state and others have an unmet need for thousands of welder, electricians, etc.

At the winter meeting of this committee in March 2009, Governor Heineman spoke of the need for private business to “step up to the plate” to help reform our educational system.

Prior to yesterday’s committee meeting I was able to spend a few minutes with the Governor to explain how we are doing just that.

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 subscriptions for instruction.

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.

 Kat Eden is the Director of Marketing Communications at www.education.com.

It’s been over a month since we kicked off our first annual Summer Activities Challenge. We created the Challenge as a resource parents could use to help their kids avoid the summer slide and to help get them ready for the next school year - while also providing a great way for parents and kids to have fun learning together through the dog days of summer.  Dell has been a fabulous partner in the project and provided us with a wonderful grand prize that one of our participating families will win.   To participate, parents need to sign up for the Challenge (free!) at Education.com and then complete 20 different Education.com activities (also free!) by the end of August. 

I’m so excited about all the progress families have made so far!  We have over 2,100 families participating and over 120 families have finished (and are therefore entered to win a Dell Latitude 2100 Netbook or one of 100 Lego Creator Mini Sets).  Here are some of my favorite stories so far from the Challenge:

• One mom let us know her daughter’s day camp is participating in the Challenge together - and check out the awesome 4th of July streamers they made!

A summer day camp works together on the Challenge!

• A soldier told us she’s participating in the Challenge with her kids even though she’s currently deployed far from home.   She prints out and mails activities she thinks her kids will like, they complete the activities with the dad and grandma, and then they talk about their experiences doing the activities when she calls home.
• My kids got so excited about the duct tape wallets they made that they’ve now moved on to more elaborate creations.  Last week I went on a fancy night out on the town and Whiz made me an oh-so-elegant duct tape evening bag to carry.  (photo to come!)
• Another mom let us know that she was having so much fun doing the Challenge with her five year old daughter that she posted a note about it in her Mom’s Club newsletter and now a bunch of those moms are doing the Challenge together.

There are 21 days left in this year’s Challenge.  Plenty of time left for those who aren’t yet participating to get off the couch and join in the fun!  And if you have a fun story to share about your family’s experience so far - post a comment or send me an email…I’d love to hear about it!  keden@education.com.

Good Luck!

Kat