SV embraces classroom technology
The Susquehanna Valley School District continues to embrace new, emerging and established technologies as it prepares students for the high tech world in which we live and learn. One component of that purposeful integration of technology is our iPads in the Classroom program, begun during the 2014-15 school year as a pilot program with 7th grade students at Richard T. Stank Middle School.
“We currently have a one-to-one iPad program (one child, one iPad) in grades 6-8 grade, with plans to expand it through 10th grade next year,” explained Jason Luke, SV’s Director of Technology. “Eventually the goal is to be one-to-one in grades 6-12. At present, we have 360 devices one-to-one at the middle school with iPad carts and classroom clusters at the elementary schools.”
In the classroom, students use their iPads as part of daily instruction. Students - with parental consent - are allowed to take the devices home, which allows for additional learning outside the school walls. The program helps provide a more individualized learning experience for students. Learning becomes more student-centered, expanding upon the traditional approach of the teacher telling students information.
“It also allows for more creative lesson planning. Rather than writing a paper, students can create a video or cartoon explaining the same material,” Luke said.
In a “real world” application of the iPads program, (pictured above left) Brookside Elementary School teacher Anthony Ruffo turned his students into teachers. In early March, Ruffo’s 4th graders sat with Doreen Hopkins’ Kindergarten students to work on their iPads. “They were using a math application called IXL,” Ruffo explained. “It was neat to see the older kids “teaching” the little guys the math in their own words.”
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