Chromebooks help California teachers engage students

1:1 classrooms

Joanna Olmedo receives help from California Middle School English teacher Heather Schoeneberg as Brylie Smith works independently using the 1:1 Chromebooks provided to the English and Science classrooms this school year.
Joanna Olmedo receives help from California Middle School English teacher Heather Schoeneberg as Brylie Smith works independently using the 1:1 Chromebooks provided to the English and Science classrooms this school year.

CALIFORNIA, Mo. -- Before California Middle School seventh-graders Lauren Spillars and Megan VanLoo grabbed electrified wires during a hands-on science lab, they used the classroom's 1:1 Chromebooks to create a virtual electric circuit.

"It's helpful to do online first," VanLoo said. "It tells us what we're going to be doing without the dangers of an electric current. That way, we're prepared for the real lab."

The virtual lab is but one of several ways Krista Davis is taking advantage of the new 1:1 technology in her classroom.

This summer, the California School Board approved a three-year plan to purchase enough Chromebooks for each student in sixth through 12th grades to have a personal device throughout their school career.

About 230 Chromebooks have been purchased, first targeting science and English classrooms. About 750 devices over the next three years will cost the district about $225,000.

And the 2014 bond issue provided California schools with the infrastructure required to accommodate so many devices on the network, Superintendent Dwight Sanders said.

In Davis' seventh-grade science class, the individual Chromebooks allow her to collect data on student learning throughout a unit, rather than at the end of it, she said. The class can access the Discovery Education Techbook online anywhere they have an Internet connection.

"I have found that I am able to more readily engage students and help them process information through seeing, hearing and doing," Davis said.

"The glossary of the Techbook includes in-text usage of the terms, cartoon/animations and video segments. The Techbook also includes a "speak-it" feature that reads the text to the students. These features help to address the variety of learning styles and needs of our individual students."

The Chromebooks are a daily tool in Heather Schoeneberg's sixth-grade English classroom.

"I have made significant changes to my daily lessons to better use and incorporate these tools," Schoeneberg said.

The tools have also helped the young teacher, who will earn her master's degree in teaching and technology this semester.

"(Students) seem to be paying closer attention to details - especially when we type or create a piece of writing," Schoeneberg said. "They give each other specific feedback and are better at finding their own mistakes.

"They are becoming better writers due to the world of resources at their fingertips."

The devices enable a greater depth of learning, problem solving and critical thinking, she said.

"If they don't understand a concept, I can assign them practice and provide immediate feedback that would have taken days in the past," Schoeneberg said.

Schoeneberg said she feels like the class time functions more efficiently. And students likely are more engaged, as these are devices they use outside of school to stay connected with the world around them, she said.

For teachers, the greater use of these technological tools requires greater flexibility.

"Don't be afraid to make changes when something doesn't work," Schoeneberg said. "There have been many days that I have started something with my students only to find that I need to add or make changes."

Students like Spillars and VanLoo like the incorporation of more technology in their daily lessons.

"Using computers comes naturally," Spillars said.