Great question. Here is a short list of suggestions to keep in mind if you are beginning your 1:1 journey.
Here's an article from ISTE that outlines these suggestions: Start Small When Integrating Ed Tech.
To say that students may get distracted is like saying water may get you wet! We know it's going to happen. Having said that, students need to learn to manage their behavior and we can help them out with that with some classroom management strategies. Establishing a lid up/lid down narrative can be helpful. Announcing or posting a daily plan that outlines when their Chromebooks will be needed can also help to establish expectations for when and how the device will be used on that day. Finally, ACTIVELY facilitate and engage with your students! This is very difficult to do if you are working at your desk. Like any other classroom management strategy, the key is to establish expectations on the first day of school and to maintain CONSISTENT practices.
Because your students have a Chromebook, you, the teacher, will have access to more educational tools for your toolbox. Just because you have a tool, however, doesn't mean that it's the best tool or the only tool for the job. So, to answer the question, have the students use the Chromebook where it fits within the instructional practices of your curriculum. You are the teacher, so you are the arbiter of which tool is the best one for the job at hand. The same philosophy applies to printing. If you determine that students need to print something, then they should print. If not, they shouldn't. The goal of 1:1 is NOT to go paperless; it is to change the task to enhance learning.
On that note, here is an interesting post from Matt Miller, author of Ditch That Textbook, that outlines conditions under which you should choose a "no tech" option: 6 Reasons You Should Ditch Your EdTech.
Because students will have this device available to them at all times, you will gain valuable instructional time. Even more importantly, a 1:1 environment creates the opportunity for authentic personalization of teaching and learning for each student. Students can learn at their own pace and ability levels and can take advantage of the worldwide experiences and resources available online and just in time. Teachers become facilitators of powered up learning experiences - meaningfully linking technology to curriculum and instruction (www.one-to-oneinstitute.org). So, in short, teaching in a 1:1 environment may inspire to you to make some positive changes to the way that you teach.
Chromebooks provide the user with a web browser and a single sign on, making them incredibly easy for students to use. Since students already know how to use the Chromebooks, you as the teacher don't have to spend valuable class time to troubleshoot them. Also, from a management standpoint, the IT department can push out organization wide updates without any service interruption, ensuring that the student doesn't lose valuable learning time wrangling with their device.
This ratio simply means that there will be one device - in our case, a Chromebook - provided to every student.
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 30, 2019 8:30AM
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