Spotlight on 1:1 Technology in the Classroom: Renton School District

OUTCOME

All 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science students in the Renton School District use school issued laptops to augment their learning. In their science classrooms, the students use the laptops to run simulations, manipulate data, and record detailed findings. Their work reflects the way scientists engage with technology.

WHY?

All middle school science teachers collaborated with each other to focus on best practices in 1:1 classrooms. Teachers discussed how to adapt their prior work focusing on student discourse into a setting that includes laptops for each student. They asked questions about when students should be using laptops and more importantly when they should not be using laptops. They implemented new curriculum resources built to engage students with technology to learn new science standards.

WHY?

ISB Education worked with district leaders to plan time for teachers to engage in new learning. ISB Education drew on their foundation including their deep understanding of how people learn and their experience with “initial use” to create opportunities for teachers to use the provided time to collaborate to address challenges and opportunities of 1:1 classrooms.

WHY?

District leaders in Renton Schools raised funds to allow all secondary students to have access to a laptop full time. Knowing that this transition would create both opportunities and challenges for the whole system, district leaders engaged a variety of support, including ISB Education to support the middle school science transition.