[BLANK_AUDIO] I'm Jocelyn Bennett, and I'm teaching here at Pope Memorial in Berry. Berry is a small town in Quebec. We are only 1,000 people. And the countryside around us, there's mountains and rolling hills, we're fortunate enough to be beside a golf course where we take the children skiing. There are about 66 children in this school at this time. It's an elementary school from K to six. Presently we're using iPads in the grade 5 and 6 classroom, but we're also, we also have five other iPads that we're using. The grade 1 and 2 classroom are using them to study math, or to do math games. We're using it in kindergarten as well. That, and grade three and four. My classroom has 17 students and... >> My name is Sharon Priest. I am the communications coordinator, sorry, consultant with the Eastern Township School Board. My history is that I previously was a School Board Commissioner and Superintendent, and was involved when Eastern Township School Board first decided, over ten years ago, to introduce technology, a systemic approach to technology across the board. We've had as many over 5600 laptops deployed in the school board, and over the years had changed that deployment, and now we're looking at iPad minis. I'm also a mother of two children who went through the system, and one son who was that very first cohort who had the laptop that very first. Had a very interesting experience of being a volunteer parent there in, I believe it was, end of September October when we handed out the first laptops of the deployment. And it's quite interesting when you have students coming up and saying to you, thank you, thank you. It's like another Christmas Day, because they're getting this tool to use in the classroom. So that was my experience from a parent and from a school commissioner's standpoint. The introduction of the, of the technology, but as, and we were discussing I mean, this hasn't been easy. We, introduced this to a whole group of teachers and they're the key role. I really think that, you know, yourselves you're what makes it happen in the classroom, and how was there the support, training? How did you find that >> Well, when I started, I had come into teaching later in life. So I started, the first the year I started was the second year of Lockjump. So I had just been doing university for four years, so I had to know a little bit about technology, so it may not look like to me. So therefore, just some technology in something, I knew it could be a really good tool in the classroom. The, we've had workshops for iPads, there's, we just went to a workshop to learn about animation. Which we assume that you are using in the classroom, building stories and narrative... >> Mm-hm. >> And we have to buy a tripod, now. [LAUGH]. So, we can do that. So there, there are opportunities. And now, because of technology there are also webinar's are in those kind of... >> Mm-hm. >> Information sessions that can help. I really can't speak for the other teachers, because that was my experience, so it was, you know, very positive, in the way I had that background. And I was really happy to see that we would be able to, each student would be able to have their computer. I was also here before we had the one to one, volunteering as a parent and working with the big computers, when my children were in school. >> Right. >> So >> People being concerned about students encountering inappropriate information, and when you give them an assignment how do they know good information from bad information? My understanding is there's no blockers. The students are not, not blocked from any websites. There's not a list of appropriate or inappropriate, how do you deal with that on a daily basis? >> Well, we deal with it by teaching the students every day to question what is on the laptop, question what is on the Web. To help them to have the tools to judge it for themselves. So, if it's inappropriate, then they'd have to tell us right away. We help them to learn about information, because they're all kinds of websites out there. There's all kinds of information, so that's part of what we have have to teach them. And they, they are not, in this way we feel, giving them those tools helps protect them from that information, by letting them be the ones that can decide and think critically about the websites. Because in the, If you just try to ban them, it's very difficult to ban websites and children have technology all around them, very often, every minute of the day. So to teach them how to know what is good information and how to know what is appropriate to think critically, it's part of their education about life in general. And, but especially applied to laptops, we just continue it with the technology. The transfer from, because we went from MacBooks to iPads and iPad Minis. Was there a learning curve for them? How did they adapt all the sudden? >> Just like that. [LAUGH]. They, they hardly blinked an eye, because during the past ten years something has, there's been some many changes. But that is technology today, and it's just changing, changing, changing. So, what we're teaching, really, is adapting to change, and that's a big part of the classroom. And that's why we're asking the students oh, what can you do? They're not looking to me, or even to a technician that comes in once a week, they're finding ways themselves to solve those problems. And they're amazingly good at it, because they have had the technology for they've grown up with it. And they do find many ways, they share it as a community, they help each other. So it really, they, they've enjoyed this. They've had a lot of fun. I think one of the things that we had to reassure parents about, was that we weren't just going to be on laptops every minute of the day, that they were also writing. And doing, we were writing, reading, and doing math, in very regular ways as well as using this other tool. So I, I remember reassuring people at open houses and so on. Because they had questions. >> Mm-hm. >> Mm-hm. >> And I think that's a legitimate fear, that they just felt that oh, they're not even going to write anymore, you know, they're just going to. >> I know that's it. That it. It's a tool. It's another tool. So, as I was saying before, the abacus. I can remember when scientific calculators came in, and there was that fear that we would forget how to, how to do math and so forth. And it's another tool, and it's the evolution. And, I mean it's our responsibility as educators. Myself, working with an educator and a pedagogue, to prepare students, to prepare their children for their future, not what our future was. And not what necessarily what we're living now, but what they're going to be living. And I think having that ease and comfort with the technology, the world we know is getting smaller every day. We are, we'd be doing them a disservice without giving them, you know, that formation. well, as you said, you started with technology. But I think, some of the, one of the difficult things for some teachers were that traditionally, they are the ones that disperse the knowledge. The students look to them, which is only, only natural. That's the role that teachers have played. With the introduction of technology, and more specifically the internet, there's a shared responsibility. And the role of the teacher really does change, and in a sense, almost coming around the desk. And, and it, it is, it's a learning curve. It's something, a different way you have to learn of approaching your class. For you? >> For me, well once again I, at the time that I went through Bishop's University for my education, the new Quebec education plan was very much about that. So it wasn't, it was, you were the role, your role is facilitator. You do all, you use many teaching methods, and explicit teaching is still there, but there is also a lot of inquiry, project based, so that the children are managing to learn how to learn for themselves. >> There you go. >> So it really wasn't an issue for me, because I haven't been teaching for 30 years. If I would've been, I, you might get a different answer. [CROSSTALK]. Someone else that would be, but that's the [BLANK_AUDIO] I would just say to try to look at it as a tool, and then as a tool, how many uses can you find for it. So that in every one of your lesson plans you might think throughout your day oh, oh I could use this to teach math, or, how can you bring it in because it, in that it doesn't have to be in a huge formal lesson. It can be in small ways as well as larger ways. I found that it's worked for me, and that once you start think of it that way, that you will find more uses. I think once you get past the first use, the first time that you, I remember at the very beginning when I was a parent volunteer using the older computers. I think maybe I was maybe a little bit nervous then. There was all this talk that if you pressed the delete button, everything would be lost forever and we didn't understand it. But the more you use it, the more you understand it, the more comfortable you get. And I know that everything's going to change again next year, and the year after. But once you have that basic knowledge that in a general way... >> Mm-hm. >> This is the way things work, and that you can problem solve, then you lose that fear or [NOISE]... >> With the laptops, definitely there are issues, the students themselves were telling you they find the iPad minis more durable than they did the laptops. We always self financed, and the repairing and so forth ourselves. We didn't necessarily take out insurance on them, and I think that we found out that although in different pockets with different age groups and so forth there were issues. They, they do break as we all know. We have, it's happened to all of us, but they do take very good care of them. They have an understanding of respect for the technology. In the beginning, and I know that this you said, with introduction now of a new platform, an integral part is the PT, the pentagonal training. The sessions for the teachers plus the technician's and so forth, to make sure that they are comfortable with the technology, that they understand. And then, because, as you say, once we handed the iPad Minis to these kids, to the students, they knew instinctively what to do with them. But we had to make sure that that the teachers and the pedagogy there was strong. And, again, helping teachers and assisting them in finding ways to use it as a pedagogical tool. And everybody has different comfort levels, and I think you have to be prepared for that as a school district to meet those challenges and meet those needs. And make sure that you in, as you're planning it, you make sure that you put enough into your resources and into your people and into that support. Because if not, then that's where you'll start to have some of those difficulties. If you, if you possibly can to try to introduce it, because I think you will see changes in the, in the culture, in the dynamics, and how students learn. We've noticed a lot of improvements in our school board ranking. We've noticed a decrease in our dropout rate. We heard today one young gentleman in the classroom say that he's more engaged, school is more fun. And I think that I would strongly recommend to try it. There are different school boards across the, the, the world, mostly in North America, that have gone with it. I think they'd be more than willing to help and assist, but I think it is the future. [BLANK_AUDIO]
