Area students are using technology to enhance their learning through 1:1 technology initiatives. (Pioneer file photo)
MECOSTA COUNTY — Students across the country have been able to take advantage of technology in learning, and with 1:1 technology initiatives, local students are being given the same opportunity.
A 1:1 technology initiative gives students access to a school-provided electronic device they can keep with them and carry from class to class, and eventually from grade to grade.
At Morley Stanwood Community Schools, this initiative started at the beginning of the year, and is already proving itself to be beneficial to students, Roger Cole, superintendent at MSCS, said.
“I think it’s an advantage already,” he said. “Students today are used to working with technology. It’s part of the world they live in.”
Students in all grades at MSCS are able to use the school-issued electronic devices, but only students in eighth through 12th grade are given the option of paying a $25 insurance fee to bring the devices home.
Cole noted more than eighty percent of high school students are taking advantage of this option and using their devices at home for continued learning.
Big Rapids Public Schools also are working toward a 1:1 technology initiative by gradually implementing Chromebooks into the classroom.
Through its bond, BRPS has been able to purchase more than 800 Chromebooks for students to use.
Students in fifth and sixth grades are able to carry them from class to class, but other students are only using them within the classroom.
Haist added in the future, more students will have access to the Chromebooks, but it will take time before each student has a device of their own.
“We are trying to grow at a pace where we understand the best ways to be successful,” he said.
Currently, teachers at BRPS are working on ways to integrate technology into their curriculum so they can understand the best practices in using technology in learning.
While teachers work to understand the best ways to use technology, students at MSCS will have access to a technology coach, who will not only help fix students’ devices, but who also will help students learn to use their devices in ways that are beneficial to their education.
Cole added the electronic devices are intended to be used as a learning aid, and the teacher will always play a vital role in a student’s learning.
“The technology doesn’t replace the teacher,” Cole said. “It’s just another tool in a teacher’s tool box.”
