Upper St. Clair purchases Chromebooks for 1:1 technology initiative
The Upper St. Clair School District took the last step to complete its 1:1 technology initiative by purchasing Chromebooks for all high school students.
Starting in the fall, all students between grades 5-12 will have either an iPad or a Chromebook to use at school and home. The initiative began in the 2014-15 school year in the middle school and has since branched out to all students above fourth grade.
“Our goal is to customize instruction and customize learning,” said Ray Berrot, director of technology. “To create that customized classroom, you have to have progressive tools like 1:1 devices, best instructional practices and skilled instructors. When you put those things together, you get a customized classroom. For a customized classroom to be at its best, you need devices.”
The decision to purchase Chromebooks instead of iPads, which were previously used by all students with a district-provided device, stems from months of research by students and staff, Berrot said.
The district relied on a group of 25 ninth- and 10th-grade students to pilot the Dell Chromebook 2-in-1 devices and compare them to iPads. After several months of piloting, which required weekly reports, the students voted 24-1 to switch to the Chromebooks that allowed usage as both a touchscreen with an active pen and a laptop with a keyboard and Android applications.
“They can meet both needs with annotated tablet-like experience but also laptop typing experience that our students need,” said Brad Wilson, supervisor of customized and online learning. “I think it’s the improvement in technology that led us to this new device. It can be folded back and used purely as a touchscreen and it can run Android apps.”
Danny O’Brien, a sophomore member of the pilot team, wrote in his assessment that the Chromebooks were better for the “high school environment.”
“With better access to Google Drive and flash programs, superior externals and keyboard, easier annotation with the stylus, and Google Drive-based software, the Chromebooks prove to be better than the iPads for high school students,” O’Brien wrote.
Berrot said while staff did research and gave feedback, the students’ pilot test was the main reason for choosing the Chromebooks.
“Students being successful with these devices in their education is the outcome we want, so why not get feedback from the sources that are actually using them?” Berrot said. “We included staff members too, but the student feedback was essential.”
Each device, including installation and additional costs, is $392, Berrot said.
Some of the existing iPads will be refurbished and sent to Upper St. Clair’s three elementary schools. The goal is to have six to eight iPads in each classroom. While technology does have a presence in every elementary school classroom, Berrot said there is no plan in place to extend the 1:1 technology initiative to the elementary schools.
The middle schoolers will continue to each have their own iPads.
Berrot said the district started thinking about a 1:1 initiative since it was awarded with the Classrooms for the Future grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in 2006-07. In the eight years after the grant, the district piloted 1:1 classrooms, made visits to other schools and underwent professional development before rolling out the initiative in 2014-15.
The program began with each seventh grader receiving his or her own iPad. In 2015-16, every middle schooler was provided a device, and the ninth- and 10th-graders were given devices in each of the last two years, respectively.
Wilson, who works directly with the 1:1 initiative, said having technology present in the classroom is important for today’s student.
“Once you experience a lot of the opportunities when students have a device they can rely on, you realize how much more you can do and learn,” he said. “We all use technology quite a bit, and it provides different strategies for teaching and learning.”