Always A Wild Ride

Where has the time gone? Over this summer our District was busy preparing for our 1:1 rollout. To give you an idea it was like riding a roller coaster and the thrill of the ride is still under way.






Check it out: This is an Interactive Map put together by AEA 267 for the state of Iowa on 1:1 schools. Yes! Howard-Winn is on the map.

But how did we get to where we are right now? With volunteers and many hours over this past summer.

If you can imagine each device came individual wrapped. So as they say 1 by 1 we unloaded the trailer with all the digital devices for the students.

Next, came how do we assign all these device. Students volunteered their time to assist with inventorying, checking devices out to students, and putting cases on the iPads. So on the night of rollout things would be running smoothly. It was a process but we are greatly appreciative the time that was spent so that rollout ran smooth and students didn't have to stand in line waiting for us to check them out a device in our inventory system.

Seriously even though this process was done, and believe me it was a load off our shoulders our work was still not done. We still needed to transfer over our faculty to new device too! Yep we had it done just in time for there Apple PD. We did 10 new computer transfers a day in order to make our deadline.

Apple professional came into our District for 2 days of training to work with our staff. The first day they explored options of iLife. Within the iLife they learned how to integrate iMovie, GarageBand, and iPhoto into the classroom. The second day training revolved around Challenged-Based training on the teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems. Both days for the Apple PD there were differentiated instructions for our staff to learn within their groups, and staff were creating, and exploring and asking questions on how to connect with the trainers for more exuberant ideas. Check out one teachers reflection from the 2 day training.

Here is a project a group created on Challenged-Based Learning:

Drumroll: It was rollout Night!

This was just the HS school laptops in which we had prepared ready to go.

Mr. Carver addresses the students about the exciting times ahead for the students.

Local Business and School Board members assisted with handing out the devices to the students.

If you would like to read more about our 1:1 rollout check out the article  Classroom Tech: Do students need iPads and personal computers? written in the Des Moines Register. Or watch the #2020Howardwinn Rollout video created by Northeast Iowa Regional STEM Hub.