CLMS students are going i-tech

It’s like Christmas all over again for Clear Lake Middle School students.  This week, all 285 of Clear Lake’s sixth, seventh and eighth graders will receive a new individual Apple iPad for their personal use during the school year.

“The decision to implement iPads was made as an effort to help our students develop 21st century skills of problem solving, critical thinking, communication, and technology literacy,” explained Middle School Principal Dan Long.  “As educators, our goal is to prepare students with the skills and knowledge necessary to responsibly navigate the emerging digital world, and we feel an iPad can assist in this endeavor.”

Exactly how the iPads will be used is really only limited by the imagination of the teachers and students.

“We have been using net books in school for a while and teachers received iPads in April to begin finding applications and experimenting with the ways they want to integrate them into their curriculum,” said Megan Rasmussen, technology integration coach and sixth grade science teacher at the school.  “The students are immediately drawn to (the technology)-- teachers are a bit more apprehensive, but everyone is excited because is something new.”

Principal Long said he has received comments from parents and teachers alike about the 1:1 rollout this week. 

“One of our science teachers grabbed me after school and asked excitedly, ‘Can I take five minutes to show you how the iPads and Apple TV’s are going to change my classroom?’  He couldn’t wait to show me how much more interactive his classroom will be by using the Apple TV and the iPad together.”

Through the use of their iPads, students will be able to access information more quickly and instant feedback will be provided to the teacher and student.  Teachers will also be able to “flip” their classroom at times so meaningful information can be accessed at home and then applied back in the classroom.  

“It is exciting for me to see an already skilled and highly effective teacher talk about how he felt this would improve the - Read More Via e-Edition