By Ryan Cox and Carissa Hopkins-Hoel
This fall, students at North and South Junior High Schools and Kennedy Community School, as well as Apollo and Tech High Schools, will once again have access to interactive learning in a digital environment as part of the iNSPIRE program. The program’s name, selected by various stakeholders including parents and school staff, began at the middle schools in the 2014-15 school year for all district students in grades six through eight. During the 2015-16 school year, students in ninth grade joined the iNSPIRE program with laptop computers and have continued with the program ever since.
Breanna Stueve, a new-to-District seventh-grade student at North, says “It’s weird. I’ve never had anything like this. [Before] We’d use them in class and share. I feel like it’s going to be better than just paper. Kids are more into electronics than paper.”
Another seventh-grader at North, Elijah Bufton, is getting his iPad back again this year.
“Math was the best [on the iPad],” says Bufton. “It’s much easier doing it than on paper.”
The purpose behind this opportunity is to give District 742 students the best tools to support a learning environment that will prepare them for today and tomorrow. At the core of District 742’s mission are the words: prepare, engage, educate, empower and inspire.
Kristen Allen, another new-to-District seventh-grader at South, is excited about getting her iPad for the first time.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” explains Allen. “This is my first year to have one, so I don’t know all the things it can do. My stepmom has one at home that I sometimes get to use.”
Students are encouraged to show their parents how to use the iPads. It’s engaging.
Rachel Eisenschenk, language arts teacher at South, addresses the class, “Show your parents how to use it. Show them how to login to Skyward and how you do your homework.”
The use of technology is also about learning digital citizenship. Students learn to respect themselves and others. They are responsible for the device, its care and how it is used.
District 742 views technology as a means to put actions behind these values, to prepare and engage our students. Technology acts as a tool to support both foundational educations such as literacy, numeracy, science and global awareness as well as the skills necessary in this ever-changing world referred to as the 4 c’s: communicating, collaborating, critical thinking and creativity.
District 742 wants to empower and inspire students to be self-directed and lifelong learners beyond the traditional school day.
As Bufton says, “It’s fun to do homework on the iPad.”
The future is looking bright for District 742 students and technology is leading the way.
Would be nice if there were a parent survey on this program.
Thanks for the input! We’ll pass it along to our Director of Technology Integration.