RedesigningYour High Schoolwith Technology

Misty Slayter, Assistant PrincipalCathy Martinez, Teacher

Bolton High SchoolAlexandria, LA

Welcometo Our Digital Academy!

What isthe Bolton Digital Academy? is not a technology program. is the establishment of a 21st century learning

environment where students: learn to access, evaluate, communicate and make

decisions with information using 21st century skills and tools.

learn to think and problem solve is not necessarily designed to improve test scores, but

rather to develop a deeper understanding of content. This is a critical idea to communicate!

is a way to provide faculty, staff, and students with 1-1, 24x7 access to technology tools and curriculum resources.

most curriculum content provided via digital resources is a focused effort to create a world-class educational

environment.

Why Go Digital? Relevant 21st century content and environment

Textbooks and technology support only incremental change - things may improve, but stay basically the same (recent articles on pulling the plug on laptop programs)

Technology and a total digital environment facilitate a transformation of the teaching process and students’ thinking processes.

Efficient and effective Students have access to totally up-to-date and

relevant content Teachers can choose the best resources available

for a given topic

RPSB’s Vision for theBolton Digital Academy Communication

Connect school to students, staff, community, and the world

Collaboration Students work with each other, their teachers, their

community, and their world Content

Provide information, resources, and experiences students need to be successful

Creativity The school as a center for critical thinking, exploration,

and innovation Assessment

Authentic 21st century to measure how well students think

So What Does a Successful Digital Classroom Look Like? Students work individually or in small teams to solve

engaging problems or answer compelling questions. They are synthesizing their own experience, ideas from the [teacher], and sources that they can find on the Web.

The teacher has come down from the lectern and is moving throughout the room, watching what students are doing, asking questions, posing challenges …

Periodically the action is stopped. The teacher instructs the class to close their laptops,… They talk. They share their insights, their solutions, and their obstacles. The Socratic exchange is fueled by the insights developed through electronic inquiry. The powerful face-to-face questioning isn't competing with the laptops; instead, it depends on it.

Source: John Overmyer, Laptops in the classroom: Mend it, don’t end it., www.csmonitor.com/2007/0515/p09s01-coop.html

Basic Structure ofBolton Digital Academy Juniors, seniors, and GT classes received laptops in fall

Freshmen and Sophomores in January Core courses are all digital New teaching strategies All-digital content Community hotspots Internet cafe Campus-wide wireless On-site repair center 600+ laptops equipped with asset recovery device

(Lojack) Assignments posted and graded in digital environment Full parental involvement with content and assignments

How Bolton Became Digital The Beginnings

Meeting in New Orleans - Summer 2006 Bolton uniquely qualified for two grants -

Virtue Foundation grant of 160 Mac iBook notebook computers

Award of a $ 220,000 LADOE HiTech grant Meeting with staff and faculty (January 2007) Visit to Empire High School, AZ (March 2007)

Visited with superintendent, faculty, and students Observed classes

How Bolton Became Digital Early Stages (Spring/Summer 2007)

Faculty meetings to share vision, process, and timeline

Teachers received laptops Early spring - placed wireless carts at

school with two instructional technology facilitators

Teachers taught with labs Staff development

Met with parents Spring/summer curriculum development

How Bolton Became Digital Summer 2007

Wireless/server infrastructure Built on-site repair center Ordered all materials/equipment Developed Board-approved laptop agreement Met with community representatives regarding

community hotspots Purchased Lojack Imaged 300 computers the week before school started Distributed laptops with student/parent training Continuing teacher Professional Development with on-

site instructional facilitator to support instruction

How Bolton Became Digital 2007-2008 School Year

All remaining teachers receive notebooks and basic Mac Professional Development

Facilitators work with 9th and 10th grade teachers with two new wireless carts during fall semester

9th and 10th grade students receive laptops and training

Facilitators continue to work with all teachers and students through the spring semester

Technical Infrastructure Managed 3Com wireless network

55 access points - campus -wide Redundant management switches

Intel-based MacBook computers Apple xServe with Remote Desktop

RAID 1 Students’ computers locked down except for

document and desktop space Student data is backed up to server on login

and logout Mobile content filter Full-time on-site repair center with spares

Digital Resources Not simply textbooks on disk! Subscription-based curriculum content

ABC-CLIO for social studies Gizmos for math and science Visual Thesaurus

Non-subscription Internet resources Content software

Geometer’s Sketchpad and Fathom for math and statistics Debate master Microsoft Office Inspiration

Management Blackboard Turnitin Gaggle filtered student email Mobile content filtering

Projectors in all rooms with whiteboards growing in number

What Can MacBooks Dofor Your Classes? Collect, Display, Analyze, & Share Data Ready Access to Tutorials, Historical

Documents, Accurate Maps, and Enrichment Electronic Submission & Grading of Certain

Assignments Internet Access to Authentic Science Activities

and Complex Datasets

Blackboard Lets You Manage Delivery and Assignments

TurnitinLets You Go Paperless!

Screenshot courtesy of Turnitin

ABC CLIO is a Powerful Social Studies Database!

Screenshot courtesy of ABC CLIO

FathomHelps with Graphing Data! See attached handout for directions to

graph data with Fathom 2 software.

Geometer’s Sketchpad Makes Math Come Alive!

6

4

2

-2

-4

-6

-10 -5 5 10

dR = 28.9 m @ 45.99o

mCAB = 45.99°

m AB = 2.89 cm

Let 1 cm = 10 m

A

B

C

The Internet Is aTreasure Trove of Activities Simulations Tutorials Authentic Science

Activities Complex Data Sets Graphics and

Animations Videos

PhET Simulations--Downloadable and Free!

Gizmos Provide Structured Math/ScienceSimulations and Assessments

Screenshot courtesy of ExploreLearning

Other Great Sites

Grab Their Attention with Graphics and Animation!

is great!

Here’s one from the Multimedia Physics Studios:

Links Bolton High School Digital Academy

http://www.rapides.k12.la.us/bda/ Turn It In

http://www.turnitin.com ABC CLIO

http://www.socialstudies.abc-clio.com PhET Simulations

http://phet.colorado.edu/new/simulations/ Gizmos

http://www.explorelearning.com/ Toll-Free 1-866-882-4141 For sales info., email sales@explorelearning.com

Links, cont. Amusement Park Physics

http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/ UC Berkeley Physics Demonstrations

http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/physics/ MIT OpenCourseWare

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Physics/8-01Physics-IFall1999/CourseHome/index.htm

The Physics Classroom

http://www.physicsclassroom.com/ Multimedia Physics Studios

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/mmedia/index.html#top

Contact Us

Bolton High School2101 Vance Ave.

Alexandria, LA 71301(318) 448-3628

http://www.rapides.k12.la.us/bolton/ Email Misty at slayterm@rapides.k12.la.us

Email Cathy at martinezc@rapides.k12.la.us