Preparing to go 1:1

In October of 2013 our very generous district presented an opportunity for teachers to apply for a grant to receive a class set of Chromebooks. Both Christi and I felt compelled to apply for the grant in hopes of creating a more inspiring, innovative, engaging and student-centered learning experience through the implementation of 1:1 technology.

And so our journey began with researching every blog post, twitter post, and educational journal we could find that discussed the topic of 1:1 technology. Our minds began to spin as we discovered the never ending possibilities. Our motto became, “Let’s take it one step at a time…”

After spending a great deal of time looking into how we would use these Chromebooks, if we were provided with the opportunity to receive a class set, we began writing our grant proposals. This was an exciting and yet exhausting process. (If you would like to read our grant proposals here are the links: Larissa’s proposal & Christi’s proposal.)

Fast forward two weeks later...both of our proposals were accepted and we were each going to receive a set of Chromebooks in January! We were thrilled and decided that we didn’t want to wait until January to begin implementing some of the incredible tools and websites available for our classrooms.

So we started slowly, which is our biggest advice to anyone who is about to implement 1:1 technology or any type of technology for that matter. We began teaching our students how to become more savvy with Google docs, presentations, and forms. We then signed our classes up on Edmodo and taught our students about the world of social networking within the confines of a safe and educationally engaging environment. We also taught our students how to become more effective researchers as well as how to safely navigate through the internet. (Check out our blog at a later date to learn more specifics about some of our early implementation of technology.) Our students began to feel more comfortable using the Chromebooks and exploring their potential.

The more we implemented the use of technology the more our students were inspired to create new ideas and learning experiences for themselves. We quickly learned that our students have the ability to teach us just as much about using technology and the benefits as we could teach them. We would often hear our students saying, “Well I think you could do it this way,” or “Could we use [blank] to do that?” This only inspired us to further explore and implement.

Now that we are only days away from receiving our Chromebooks we are filled with anticipation, fear, and excitement for all that is to come. Our blog will be a place where we will take you with us on our journey of implementing 1:1 technology. We hope to inspire and encourage you through our successes and much anticipated failures.

Please feel free to comment on any of our posts about your own personal experiences or questions you may have about our journey. We look forward to sharing with and hearing from you!