On the Eve of Change

Roughly 16 months ago, I was asked to be a part of the district technology team.

Since that day, my mind has not stopped.

Committee meetings, conferences, school visits, blogs, tweets, news articles, videos...

Plans, change, more plans, more changes, and on and on and on.

In 16 hours, 140 students in the 8th grade at Edgerton Middle School will receive an iPad mini and spend the next two days of school getting a crash course in care, apps, usage and more.

Some may ask how does this work?  What will students use them for?  Why ________?  I have heard thousands of questions and hundreds of opinions and I am convinced that this is the best step forward.

8 months ago or so a fellow educator was asking me if she should invest in an iPad for herself and I explained it in this way:

"It is a whole new world.  If you choose not to get one, you will have no idea what you are missing.  If you do get one, there will be no going back."

The possibilities are endless, I have seen the staff at EMS take on the devices and learn with fervor over the past few months.  I have seen teachers do awesome things on an app few knew existed weeks ago on a device that some touched for the first time only a few short months ago.  While the teachers are phenomenal, that's not what this is about...

Students will have with them a device that can take a photo, record a video, communicate instantly with anyone in the world, and so much more.  They can carry their books, annotate their notes, and share what they are learning and thinking with anyone, anywhere.  New tools are available every single day and most are free.  There literally is no limit to what these students are going to accomplish. None.  The door to a whole new world has been opened...

Some may be concerned about the device: Did you pick the right one? Are you putting too much on one device/company?

Some may be concerned about safety: What if the kids do ______?  What happens if _______?

Some may wonder about students being able to do math without a calculator, write in cursive, or type 60 wpm...

This is what I know for sure... tomorrow, we are opening the door and there will not be any coming back.  The world is changing, learning will be on a whole new level, and our students are going to love it!