We have been 1:1 for years, and these are a few things I've learned.
Make sure the lessons that you use laptops for are actually better with laptops. Our students quickly became very tired of lessons that used technology for the sake of technology.
Nothing about a laptop makes every student work on a group project equally hard. You have to do that. (Initials on separate slides constructed on a costume research presentation, etc., can help.)
Be aware that the addition of data projectors, which came along with 1:1 for us, means some students will sit in the dark for most of the school day, staring at a screen on the wall. Your fancy-schmancy PowerPoint better have some solid content in it, because students will not impressed with the pretty backgrounds and silly graphics you learned in that teacher training session. Ditto for the PowerPoints you want them to look at on their laptops outside of class.
We have switched from Moodle to Canvas. Makes no difference. The vast majority of my students won't read the comments I put on their quiz answers or their submitted writing assignments. They LOVE the comments I write on papers, but they won't read the comments on Canvas. (I will you better luck.)
Laptops are fabulous for doing dramaturgical research for shows. You'll need to allow class time to evaluate it with the class to get much benefit.
Laptops are wonderful for playwriting. My students do most of their prompts, and all of their drafting, on their laptops. We have gone totally paperless for the playwriting units. (Added bonus: nothing makes kids care about punctuation, grammar, and spelling like having classmates read their script from a screen. Give them some time in class to have peers read their work and help them correct issues before the draft is read.)
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C. J. Breland
Asheville High School
Asheville NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-02-2017 14:44
From: Richard Silberg
Subject: One to One (Chromebooks) and Moving
I did two things with my 8th grade drama classes this past year with chrome books
1. Set up a google classroom and they used the chrome books to write "villain monologues"--this way I could view their work as they were writing and offer ideas, on the fly.
2. Bigger project: Using the free platform Wevideo we engaged in a digital storytelling project. Each student made a digital story based not the prompt: "If you really knew me, you'd know that...." It was an extension of a tableaux creation project built from that same prompt, but this time using the technology (if you don't know the site, join yourself and make your own digital video first). It is very intuitive and there are great onsite tutorials and the students all seemed to enjoy this approach to storytelling.
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Richard Silberg
Drama/ESL Specialist
Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
Berkeley, California
( On leave 2015-16 for teaching fellowship in Cambodia)
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-01-2017 10:49
From: Corey Ragan
Subject: One to One (Chromebooks) and Moving
Hello!
I hope that you all had a great end to the school year. We just received news that our school will be going 1:1 next year. Every student in our school will have a chromebook for the entirety of the year. I am about to start my third year of teaching. The first two years have been pretty successful so far. But, I am very interested to hear how you have successfully incorporated technology into your classrooms! I want to utilize the computers in an authentically engaging way and not just use them for no real reason.
Thank you and I'm very much looking forward to hearing all of your responses!
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Corey Ragan
Theatre Teacher/Director
Groveport Madison High School
Groveport, OH
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