Mobile Technology @ Manhasset
Recognizing the growing presence of mobile technology in the lives of our students and staff, the school district convened the Exploratory Mobile Computing Committee (EMC2) in the spring of 2014. The committee was comprised of teachers, technicians and administrators and first determined the criteria that was most important for a mobile device when used in the classroom. The committee then weighted each criteria according to relevant importance. Among the top criteria were: boot up time (the time it took for a device to turn on and connect to our network); battery life; a physical keyboard; durability;cost; and device management.
Each committee member was then loaned a different device type to use for several weeks. Next, devices were scored against the rubric. The committee's choice was the Acer Chromebook which scored high across all criteria. In the summer of 2014 100 Chromebooks were purchased and deployed in key areas across the district. Seven Chromebooks went to sixth grade science and social studies classrooms for use with Discovery Education's "Techbook", an internet based, interactive, multimedia resource. Our thanks to the Manhasset Tower Foundation, who funded the Techbook project. Other Chromebooks were placed in the High School Library Media Center and on a cart shared by various departments.
Throughout the 2014-15 school year, the district continued exploring mobile computing options and in the winter of 2015 the Manhasset Tower Foundation agreed to fund the summer purchase of class sets of Chromebooks for each English Language Arts classroom in the Secondary School. Also in the winter of 2015, the Manhasset Teachers' Resource Center used its funds to purchase a Chromebook for each Secondary School ELA teacher and to provide two days of professional development for ELA teachers so they would be ready for the fall 2015 deployment.
In the fall of 2015 Secondary School students returned to classrooms equipped with Chromebooks and began using them for writing assignments. During that time, Google introduced many of its tools, Google Apps for Educators, which allow for Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations, and more to educators and students.
Today, we are a full 1:1 Chromebook district utilizing many software titles to enhance our learning and students become digital citizens of tomorrow.