1-to-1 learning coming to Gresham

Erika Jonsson is used to working on a computer. When she isn’t in school, she utilizes technological devices throughout her daily life.

“With the school laptop, I connect with my teachers (outside of class) with notes. I can write papers and turn them in online,” Jonsson said. “That way, I can use my computer at home for myself to talk to friends and post things.”

The Google Chromebook the Gresham Community School sophomore uses also allows her to share papers with teachers while she is still writing them, allowing teachers to add comments and suggestions. Jonsson also finds it more convenient to tote one computer rather than different textbooks and notebooks for each class.

“It’s not like forgetting your pencil or your notebook; it’s all here,” Jonsson said.

Gresham is the latest school in the area to embrace a one-to-one technology initiative that provides computers to every student. A test run with the school’s 15 sophomores is under way this semester, and school officials hope to have every student equipped with a technological device for learning within three years.

The original initiative was to put a Windows-compatible laptop in every student’s hands, according to Troy Kuhn, science teacher and one of the committee members working on the project. However, research done by the teachers over the past two years has shown it would be better to utilize tablets for the elementary students and Chromebook laptops for grades 6-12.

“What we’ve found is that a Windows device can do a lot of other things — download songs and all that. There are times when it is not used as an educational device,” Kuhn said. “We’re now looking at the Chromebooks as something that can be managed and controlled by the district.”

Chromebooks can be programmed with software that prevents students from accessing inappropriate content, Kuhn said, but it will be a constant effort to plug any gaps.

When the school converts completely to individual laptops and tablets, students and teachers alike will need to adjust, Kuhn said. A training session is planned this summer for staff so they can better assist students once school resumes in September. School officials are still deciding how many computers they will add next year.

“Curriculum changes are going to have to be made because we’re going to try to save on paper,” Kuhn said. “How you’re getting information to and from the students is going to change. That has been the biggest learning curve.”

Kuhn has already made the shift from textbooks to online learning in his biology class. He said most of his lesson plans have been derived from websites and YouTube, which has been more visual and exciting for students.

“The kids are more engaged. They ask more real-life questions,” Kuhn said. “Overall, the class is more active than what I call ‘sit-and-get teaching.’”

Sophomore Tatelyn Ferguson finds she works more efficiently with the Chromebook, which enables her to do classwork in class instead of having to go to the library or computer lab to use a computer.

“I use it a lot to do notes, write papers, look at PDF files of packets that teachers have shared. I even have my geometry textbook on here so I can review stuff,” Ferguson said. “We downloaded some biology books, too.”

Ferguson finds it is easier to have one device for everything, as opposed to five or six notebooks and textbooks filling her locker.

Newell Haffner, math and physics teacher, said the desire to integrate technology in the classroom started several years ago when the school first started getting Smartboards, interactive digital whiteboards, in the classroom. After testing those in a couple of classrooms, it “infected” the rest of the staff, he said.

“About two or three years ago, we started building the infrastructure to handle it,” Haffner said.

District staff worked out most of the bugs related to the technological transition by visiting other schools that have similar initiatives and learning how to make it work for Gresham, Haffner said.

“It’s been neat to travel to the other schools and see how they’ve done, so we don’t make the same mistakes they told us not to make,” Haffner said.

The computers also eliminate students’ excuses for not turning in homework due to illness or other absences, and even when teachers have to miss class, they can still work with students. Haffner was out of town for a conference, but he was able to answer student questions via instant messaging.

“I’d get my notice on my iPad, would quickly look at it and type really quick to send it off so they could finish their homework,” he said.

The project’s total cost, which includes equipment and infrastructure, is expected to be about $135,000 over the next three years — $120,000 for tablets and laptops with all the programs and applications, and the remaining $15,000 to increase the school’s Wi-Fi capacity to allow more devices to access the Internet, according to Holly Burr, business manager.

Burr said the school spends $30,000 to $35,000 annually for maintenance and other costs related to its computer labs. With an anticipated marked decrease in the amount of paper used, the school is expecting to break even on the transition, she said.

“The lion’s share of this was already in the budget,” Burr said. “We can make the rest of this up through efficiencies like less copy paper and using ebooks instead of hardcover textbooks.”