This article was originally posted on Chalkbeat Detroit.
A group of kindergarten students stood at the front of their class at Cooke STEM Academy Tuesday morning, using their fingers on an electronic whiteboard to drag together the words "block" and "clock." Their teacher joined them at the screen, and the four yelled "Cookie Crunch!" before switching to another word game featuring Cookie Monster. This classroom scene could come to every school in the Detroit district over the next five years—if Superintendent Nikolai Vitti can find the money to support it.
Vitti's goal is to give every core teacher an electronic whiteboard and get a personal laptop in the hands of every student in his district by 2023—a move that he says is sure to improve learning.
"This isn't about replacing teachers, this is about supplementing the core curriculum," Vitti said. "It is my opinion that all technology can do is enhance learning."
For now, three schools—Cooke STEM Academy, Bagley Elementary School of Journalism and Technology, and Nolan Elementary-Middle School—have gotten the new technology in recent months thanks to roughly $500,000 in state and federal grants.
In the schools currently using the technology, teachers present a lesson, then students break into small groups to work independently with online tools, Vitti said. Those tools include programs such as Kahoot! and i-Ready, which provide interactive online lessons and quizzes. In some cases, students in the same class will work on different levels, while the teacher interacts with groups one at a time.
"It's letting them work at their own pace," said Dionne Garrett, a kindergarten teacher at Cooke STEM Academy.
The approach, which some call "personalized learning," has fans in powerful philanthropist U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, even though there is little evidence to suggest that it boosts student learning. Research about giving students personal laptops is similarly mixed: One meta-analysis of 10 studies released last spring by researchers at Michigan State University and the University of California, Irvine pointed to a "significant" increase in English and math scores when school districts gave every student a laptop, though there were not significant improvements in reading.
Garrett said she is seeing promising signs in her classroom. In addition to making her workload lighter because computer programs prepare lessons and reports about student performance, she said, some students are tackling more complex work.
"It has made kids enjoy using technology more and … they're able to cover more skills than we generally wouldn't cover just yet," Garrett said. "Some kids are doing measurement and geometry. … I think it's putting them ahead."
The district will need thousands of new computers to fulfill Vitti's goal. The ratio of students to technology district wide before the new initiative was about six students to one computer, according to data released at the end of January.
But increasing access to computers is a pressing need if students are to be comfortable taking tests online. Michigan's new M-STEP exam is designed to be taken online.
The district is also looking for ways to give students access to the online learning tools at home. Currently, the laptops can only be used in the classroom, but that could change in the future, Vitti said. He also said the district does not track whether families have internet access but would never make online lessons be mandatory to complete at home.
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.
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Makala hii awali ilichapishwa kwenye Chalkbeat Detroit. "Wanafunzi wa shule ya chekechea walisimama mbele ya darasa lao katika Chuo cha Cooke STEM Jumanne asubuhi, wakitumia vidole vyao kwenye ubao mweupe wa elektroniki kuvuta pamoja maneno ""block"" na ""clock.""" Mwalimu wao alijiunga nao kwenye kiwambo, na wote wanne wakapiga kelele "Cookie Crunch!" "Kama unavyoona, ni mchezo wa maneno unaoitwa ""Cookie Monster.""" Mandhari hii ya darasa inaweza kuja kwa kila shule katika wilaya ya Detroit katika miaka mitano ijayo <unk> ikiwa Msimamizi Nikolai Vitti anaweza kupata pesa kuunga mkono. Lengo la Vitti ni kumpa kila mwalimu wa msingi ubao mweupe wa elektroniki na kupata kompyuta ndogo ya kibinafsi mikononi mwa kila mwanafunzi katika wilaya yake ifikapo mwaka 2023 - hatua ambayo anasema ni hakika kuboresha kujifunza. "Hii si kuhusu kuchukua nafasi ya walimu, hii ni kuhusu kuongeza mtaala wa msingi", Vitti alisema. "Kwa maoni yangu, teknolojia inaweza tu kuboresha kujifunza". Shule tatu za msingi, Shule ya Uandishi wa Habari na Teknolojia ya Bagley, Shule ya Msingi ya Uandishi wa Habari na Teknolojia ya Cook na Shule ya Msingi ya Nolan, zimepata teknolojia mpya katika miezi ya hivi karibuni, shukrani kwa karibu $ 500,000 katika ruzuku ya serikali na shirikisho. Katika shule ambazo kwa sasa zinatumia teknolojia hiyo, walimu huwasilisha somo, kisha wanafunzi huvunjika katika vikundi vidogo ili kufanya kazi kwa kujitegemea na zana za mtandaoni, Vitti alisema. Vifaa hivyo vinatia ndani programu kama vile Kahoot! I-Ready ni programu ya mafunzo ya mtandaoni ya kuingiliana na maswali. Katika baadhi ya kesi, wanafunzi katika darasa moja watafanya kazi katika ngazi tofauti, wakati mwalimu anaingiliana na makundi moja kwa wakati. "Kama walivyofanya, walijaribu kufanya kazi kwa kasi yao wenyewe,"" alisema Dionne Garrett, mwalimu wa shule ya chekechea katika Chuo cha Cooke STEM." "Mtazamo huo, ambao wengine wanauita ""kujifunza kwa kibinafsi,"" una mashabiki katika waziri wa elimu wa Marekani, Betsy DeVos, ingawa kuna ushahidi mdogo unaoonyesha kwamba huongeza kujifunza kwa wanafunzi." Uchunguzi wa utafiti wa wanafunzi wa kompyuta ulionyesha kuwa matokeo ya utafiti wa utafiti wa mwaka wa 2010 na utafiti wa mwaka wa 2013 uliofanywa na Chuo Kikuu cha Michigan na Chuo Kikuu cha California, Irvine, yalionyesha ongezeko kubwa la alama za Kiingereza na hisabati wakati wilaya za shule zilitoa kila mwanafunzi kompyuta ndogo, ingawa hakukuwa na uboreshaji mkubwa katika kusoma. Garrett alisema kwamba anaona ishara zenye kuahidi katika darasa lake. "Amesema: ""Kwa kuwa programu za kompyuta huandaa masomo na ripoti kuhusu utendaji wa wanafunzi, kazi yake hupunguzwa, na wanafunzi wengine wana kazi ngumu zaidi." """Tunatoa huduma kwa watoto wetu kwa njia ya teknolojia na kwa njia ya teknolojia, na kwa njia hii tunaweza kuwa na uwezo wa kupanua ujuzi wetu wa teknolojia kwa njia ambayo tunaweza kupanua kwa njia ya teknolojia,"" alisema Garrett." "Wanafunzi wengine wanafanya vipimo na jiometri. ...Nafikiri ni kuwaweka mbele". Wilaya hiyo itahitaji maelfu ya kompyuta mpya ili kutimiza mradi wa Vitti. Uwiano wa wanafunzi kwa wilaya ya teknolojia kabla ya mpango mpya ulikuwa karibu wanafunzi sita kwa kompyuta moja, kulingana na data iliyotolewa mwishoni mwa Januari. Lakini kuongeza upatikanaji wa kompyuta ni haja ya haraka ikiwa wanafunzi wanapaswa kuwa na starehe kuchukua vipimo mtandaoni. Mtihani mpya wa Michigan wa M-STEP umebuniwa kuchukuliwa mtandaoni. Wilaya pia inatafuta njia za kuwapa wanafunzi upatikanaji wa zana za kujifunza mtandaoni nyumbani. Kwa sasa, kompyuta ndogo zinaweza kutumika tu darasani, lakini hiyo inaweza kubadilika katika siku zijazo, Vitti alisema. Alisema pia wilaya haifuatili ikiwa familia zina ufikiaji wa mtandao lakini haitafanya masomo ya mtandaoni kuwa ya lazima kukamilika nyumbani. Chalkbeat ni tovuti ya habari isiyo ya faida inayofunika mabadiliko ya elimu katika shule za umma. Je, unafurahia hadithi hii? Kujiandikisha kwa ripoti ya bure ya ufumbuzi katika sanduku lako la barua pepe kila wiki