Southwest Allen County Schools... Fort Wayne, Indiana
One To One Computer Initiative
"Transforming Education Bit By Bit"
The SACS 1:1 program vision is to provide students a sense of engagement allowing each individual to be at the center of their learning. Through this empowerment students in SACS become seekers of information and creators of new knowledge. It is a district goal that the 1:1 be transparent while facilitating rigor and authentic learning. The district 1:1 program provides a foundation for the important skills of collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity to be infused and assessed assisting students in college and career readiness. It is a SACS mission to have the 1:1 program drive classroom transformation, allowing for student centered learning and a development of a robust digital curriculum. While noting the points of emphasis please also take a moment to visit expectations and guidlines for the 1 to 1 Program in SACS.
Engagement: Using technology allows students to be at the center of their educational experience. They become active participants in the learning process. One-to-one technology allows students access to information when needed and also allows students to remix and create in support of innovation. Real learning comes alive and relevant, supporting rigor based on content standards and 21st Century Skills.
Empowerment: In a one-to one classroom students are transformed from passive recipients of the teacher's knowledge to active\participants. They become knowledge-seekers and even more important, students learn to be knowledge-builders.
Information: Today's internet provides access to an awesome range of information. In a one-to-one classroom, students not only learn to find information, but also to evaluate and select appropriate information for each task. They learn to become effective digital citizens as they practice proper use, behavior, and etiquette while learning to be contributors to a worldwide society of learners.
Transparency: A one-to-one classroom allows students' use of technology to be ambiguous and transparent. This integration with knowledge, content standards, and 21st century skills is seamless and provides the potential for anytime/anywhere learning. Just as a pencil and paper was a tool of the 19th and 20th century school, technology should be a similar tool for the 21st century school.
Collaboration: Technology in a one-to-one classroom allows students the opportunity to collaborate and work as teams in person and virtually. The walls of the classroom disappear as opportunities to connect to the real and relevant community become a reality. It allows for real time feedback from the teachers and demonstrates how learning can occur online in both a synchronous and asynchronous environment.
Preparation: Students must be ready to embrace their future. Whether it be further education, lifelong learning, occupations, or adaptability technology will play a role. Students in a one-to-one classroom learn the technology skills to integrate and assimilate into a world that will require an aptitude based on understanding and learning tools to communicate, create, collaborate, investigate, and innovate.
Transformation: Technology allows students and teacher in a one-to-one classroom to see a new paradigm in the education process. The curriculum arena is now open to multiple resources allowing for differentiation, multiple modalities, authentic assessment, scaffolding, and experiential learning. Students are immersed in a hybrid experience as the textbook and lecture moves from the center to what is a still important peripheral. In this new circle, technology joins lecture and textbooks with multimedia, digital information, communication beyond the classroom, simulations, real world application, problem solving resources, and online learning experiences.