It all starts with a plan...

The mission of the Marshalltown Community School District is to nurture students to become intellectually and personally empowered for citizenship in a changing world.  

Last Spring, Marshalltown Community School District took the next step in fulfilling that mission and shared a plan that would result in a major change in Marshalltown Schools.  A Digital Conversion Plan was announced that would involve allowing all students individual access to technology by the end of 2016.  Doing so would support a belief in the district's Strategic Action Plan that "Technology must be an important learning tool for all students and staff" and an action of part of that plan to "Ensure student and staff access to technology necessary for increased academic achievement." The first, and very important, part of this plan was to upgrade the district's network.  The core network was upgraded to a fiber optic network and then a dense wireless network was put in place in all schools.

Next, the device.  With all sorts of options out there, Marshalltown chose to go with the Samsung Chromebook, powered by Google.  With the district's recent decision to join Google Apps for Education it made a great choice.  They are light, thin, have a decent battery life, and are capable of doing the tasks our students need to do.  They will serve the purpose well of bringing online resources into our classrooms. Unfamiliar with the Chromebook and the Chrome OS?  Check out these videos.

So when will students get them?

Beginning second semester of this school year students in grades 7 - 12 science classrooms will be able to start using the devices along with students in grades 3 and 4.  Waiting to roll out the devices until second semester will seem like a lifetime for many of us, but it will allow us to get prepared and offer teachers some professional development on how to use the Chromebooks with students.

Speaking of how to use Chromebooks in Education, check out this post from Richard Byrne showing 30 ideas for using Chromebooks in Education.

Another thing about using Google products - they offer tons of resources.  Check them out!
Lesson Plan Search
Understanding YouTube and Digital Citizenship
K-12 Guide to Going Google
Google Apps For Education Deployment Guide
32 Ways to Use Google Apps in the Classroom
Education on Air
Google in Education YouTube Channel