2015­16 ETAC Technology Pilots ​
ETAC Technology Pilots provide teachers the opportunity to determine if advances in specific new education technologies makes significant pedagogical differences in their teachings.​
These findings provide a resource bank of feedback on technology that will support the infusion of instructional technology throughout LRSD. Acer Flip Chromebook The​
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Chromebook Flip has a unique screen that rotates a full 360°, so you can flip it instantly from a Chromebook to a tablet​
. The Chromebook has up to 9 hours of battery life and multi­touch display. The purpose of the pilot is to test the touch screen chrome technology in a Division 1 classroom and if the technology will promote digital literacy in the GAFE environment. This technology’s greatest benefit is ease of use, especially the functionality of the touch screen. Students can maneuver easily with the touch screen. Speed of logon and start up was fast and GAFE apps were streamlined for this device. The Chromebook was durable and easy to handle by Division 1 students. The greatest barrier at this time was the size of the icons. The icons were small and students often selected the wrong icon causing confusion. This device is recommended for future use in LRSD. Discovery Tech books The Discovery Science Tech book has many lessons and activities to promote inquiry based learning.Through hands on labs, digital exploration, interactive glossary, data analysis activities, students will learn to read and write like scientists. The Techbooks were a valuable resource to the students of LRSD as it allowed student to dive deep into the scientific concepts covered in class. Students had easy access to the resource at all times and allowed for differentiation of instruction to take place. The Discovery Techbook is recommended for future use and the Math and Social Techbook should be explored. Phantom 3 Drone As part of our ongoing efforts to continually expand our CTS offerings and student work at W.C.C.H.S., one DJI Phantom 3 Drone with GoPro was purchased. Benefits of the drone included an expansion of our videography and still photography capacity to include high­angle and birds­eye crane shots that increased the number of modules we would be able to offer senior students. The use of a drone copter allows for use in mathematics, meteorology and other subject areas and introduces students to the possibilities of flight and aircraft technologies as possible career avenues. Some barriers at this time include windy days in Southern Alberta, battery life, calibration time and cost. This device is recommended for future use in LRSD. Boogie Boards The boogie boards are a simple touch screen technology that allows the user to write on their screen and then push a button to erase what is written. This technology’s greatest benefit is there is no set­up required. The boards have magnets on the back so they can be stored on the whiteboard or any other magnetic surface. Kids are free to use these at anytime. They take away the hesitancy to make a mistake. If a mistake is made, a simple push of a button and the board is clean, ready to start again. It is very user friendly. The teacher is able to walk around class with one as well to demonstrate on their screen an example or show the steps necessary. The greatest barrier at this time is the brightness of the screen. In a low lit room, the screen can not be read. Also, if the sun hits the screen at the right angle, again it is tough to read. A barrier I can foresee is the loss of the writing implement that comes with the Boogie Board. Also, because they are so lightweight and compact, there might be a tendency to be a little more rough with this technology. Due to its small size as well, it is easy to put it with the rest of your belongings and walk away with it. This device is recommended for use in LRSD Sphero Robots The Sphero Robots are a Robotic Ball controlled via an App on a Smarphone, Tablet or Chromebook. These devices allow for simple remote control or introductory coding and programming. The related apps include challenges and tasks for students to complete. This technology’s greatest benefit is that they provide a reasonably simple and inexpensive introduction to coding and programming. The greatest barrier at this time was that we were never actually able to get all 6 Robots to match to a control device at the same time ­ whether this was a limitation of our bandwidth, the specific devices we used or a ghost in the machine is unclear. We recommend these devices as a reasonable introduction to coding, programming and robotics at the upper elementary/junior high level. Touchscreen Chromebooks Division 1 and Division 2 classes used a cross­school mentorship/buddy program, communicating through the Google environment. The two classes also got together for field trips, (e.g. the Crowsnest Museum), to extend digital relationships into the community. This will reinforce Digital Citizenship by demonstrating that there are real people on the other side of our on­line correspondences. Cross curricular ties: Social Studies (our Community and Stories of Alberta), sharing learning in Science (needs of plants ­ both classes, Building Things in gr. 1 vs Building Devices That Move in gr. ⅘
­ sharing creations digitally and in person), Language Arts ­ writing to one another on Shared Google Docs, as gr. 1 does not have access to email). The tool used was the touch screen chromebook. This technology’s greatest benefit is the ease access students have towards collaboration. Students were able to work together at different locations and age level. The touchscreens worked well will Division 1 students and the 1:1 ratio provided equity and functionality in the classroom. The touchscreen Chromebooks are recommended for future use in LRSD in a Div one classroom. The greatest barrier would be the cost to provide a 1:1 environment for the students. LRSD Broadcast Centre A full divisional review was conducted for the Livingstone CTS Pilot. Please see the Learning Technology website for more details. Wacom Tablets The purpose of this project is to further interface digital and traditional arts. Our school already has Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop drawing with a mouse is counterintuitive and cumbersome. Both ofthe drawing tablets to be purchased for the school include variable pressure—the harder you press on the tablet with a stylus, the thicker the line becomes and allows for a closer relationship between artist and computer. Wacom tablets, have been successfully used for many years at the postsecondary level, and even in senior high,but the purpose of the project is to implement these tablets with junior high students, and upper elementary Aside from Art art, this technology will also allow students to draw using computer programming projects such as Scratch, Code.org and 3D printing This technology’s greatest benefit is the ability to manipulate objects with the stylus in more effective and efficient manner than the mouse. This tool is industry standard and prepares the students for post secondary and career environment. The greatest barrier at this time is cost This device is recommended for use in LRSD