CMS Digital Conversion in Middle Schools
Beginning Dec. 15, 2014, our school will begin to offer a Chromebook laptop computer for every student to use in their classes. We were selected as an Early Adopter school for CMS as a part of a Digital Conversion to a 1:1 School Environment.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is committed to meeting Goal 1 of Strategic Plan 2018, which calls upon us to “Maximize academic achievement in a personalized 21st-century learning environment for every child to graduate college- and career-ready.” This commitment will require new strategies to inspire and nurture learning, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship through technology and strategic school redesign. Strategic Plan 2018 has established the expectation that by 2018 all CMS students will be able to access the worldwide classroom using technology tools to foster learning everywhere, all the time. This year, middle schools were invited to apply for consideration as Digital Learning Conversion Early Adopter schools.
Why begin with middle schools? For several years, CMS has used a digital techbook in middle schools for science and social studies. Middle schools have received several carts of mobile learning devices to support the curriculum, so teachers have built a familiarity with teaching using mobile devices. Embedded professional learning is provided by professional development facilitators at each middle school.
Research has shown that Middle Grade students may experience a loss of proficiency when transitioning from the elementary to middle grade levels. Devices have been strategically placed in middle schools to address these challenges with a focus on two key levers: increasing student engagement and providing opportunities to extend the learning through the flexible use of devices.
Goals: for the Digital Learning Conversion Early Adopter initiative are:
Why Digital Learning?
Technology in the form of devices, and internet connectivity is embedded in nearly all career paths in the 21st Century. State and National Learning Standards are requiring students to be agile learners capable of using digital tools for communicating, collaborating, critically thinking and creating. But most importantly, digital learning has the power to motivate learners and provide learning environments that:
Why Chromebooks?
In the fall of 2013, CMS equipped all middle grade schools with 60 to 240 Chromebooks to deliver Discovery Education’s Techbook for Social Studies and Science classes. These Chromebooks not only provided students access to the virtual and interactive textbook resources but they also gave students access to limitless file storage in Google Drive and a modern productivity suite of services in Google Apps for Education. The Chromebooks also required minimal technical support, stood up to daily student use, and were cost effective. For these reasons, it was decided that Chromebooks are a suitable computing device for middle grade students.
A Chromebook is a laptop computer using a Google operating system. CMS uses Chromebooks in part due to cost and in part, due to extensive services provided in Google Apps for Education, free to students. Learn more about Chromebooks.
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools is committed to meeting Goal 1 of Strategic Plan 2018, which calls upon us to “Maximize academic achievement in a personalized 21st-century learning environment for every child to graduate college- and career-ready.” This commitment will require new strategies to inspire and nurture learning, creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship through technology and strategic school redesign. Strategic Plan 2018 has established the expectation that by 2018 all CMS students will be able to access the worldwide classroom using technology tools to foster learning everywhere, all the time. This year, middle schools were invited to apply for consideration as Digital Learning Conversion Early Adopter schools.
Why begin with middle schools? For several years, CMS has used a digital techbook in middle schools for science and social studies. Middle schools have received several carts of mobile learning devices to support the curriculum, so teachers have built a familiarity with teaching using mobile devices. Embedded professional learning is provided by professional development facilitators at each middle school.
Research has shown that Middle Grade students may experience a loss of proficiency when transitioning from the elementary to middle grade levels. Devices have been strategically placed in middle schools to address these challenges with a focus on two key levers: increasing student engagement and providing opportunities to extend the learning through the flexible use of devices.
Goals: for the Digital Learning Conversion Early Adopter initiative are:
- Provision Early Adopter schools with learning devices to complete their existing inventory to a level of one device per student, for students to use while at school.
- Train teachers on quality approaches to using individual devices inside the classroom, digital content, and instructional materials
- Foster a network of educational leadership in CMS that become leaders in a transition to digital learning.
Why Digital Learning?
Technology in the form of devices, and internet connectivity is embedded in nearly all career paths in the 21st Century. State and National Learning Standards are requiring students to be agile learners capable of using digital tools for communicating, collaborating, critically thinking and creating. But most importantly, digital learning has the power to motivate learners and provide learning environments that:
- enhance student engagement
- provide more personalized learning
- extend learning time
- provide equitable access to learning resources
- prepares students for college and careers
Why Chromebooks?
In the fall of 2013, CMS equipped all middle grade schools with 60 to 240 Chromebooks to deliver Discovery Education’s Techbook for Social Studies and Science classes. These Chromebooks not only provided students access to the virtual and interactive textbook resources but they also gave students access to limitless file storage in Google Drive and a modern productivity suite of services in Google Apps for Education. The Chromebooks also required minimal technical support, stood up to daily student use, and were cost effective. For these reasons, it was decided that Chromebooks are a suitable computing device for middle grade students.
A Chromebook is a laptop computer using a Google operating system. CMS uses Chromebooks in part due to cost and in part, due to extensive services provided in Google Apps for Education, free to students. Learn more about Chromebooks.