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Watertown-Mayer Schools could soon be ditching their traditional teaching methods in favor of, high tech, digital classrooms.

School officials and members of the district's new Innovation Committee have been exploring programs that would would pair each student in the district with a digital device. Such programs, called 1-to-1 programs, would go a long way toward eliminating the traditional textbook, pencil and paper-oriented approach to education.

Such programs can use any number of devices ranging from iPods to iPads and even laptops. Watertown-Mayer Superintendent Dave Marlette said no decision has been made on what device the district might actually pursue, but the district seems to be leaning toward iPads. Representatives of Apple visited the February school board meeting to give a presentation on how iPads can aid student learning and development in a technology driven world, and how 1-to-1 technology can be equally beneficial for teachers and staff.

Marlette said the Innovation Committee - which is made up of administrators, teachers, school board members and parents - is still working out some of the details as far as an official proposal is concerned. However, Marlette said he hopes to have a recommendation to the school board in time for the March 26 meeting, and hopes to have a 1-to-1 program in place for the 2012-13 school year.

"This is going to transform the classroom," Marlette said. We've been doing education the same way for the last 100 years. We bring our kids in, put them in a row, give them a pencil and paper and a book and away we go. Now, our kids go home at night and put their books away and play with their technology. We can't expect them to be excited about a book anymore."

The Innovation Committee formed after successful passage of the school district's operating levy increase in November. The additional funding - $300,000 of which was designated for technology and curriculum upgrades - gave the district the flexibility to explore its options, and Marlette said he feels

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strongly that a 1-to-1 program is the best place to start.

The district looked at models already in place in numerous other districts, mostly in the metro area, with teachers and administrators spending significant time in those districts learning how they have used technology to transform the way they teach students. The district looked most closely Minnetonka's 1-to-1 program that has had success in increasing student achievement and test scores since it was implemented roughly a decade ago.

"As we grapple with performance and accountability, this is just another way of us meeting those goals," Marlette said. "It's not even a question of if anymore, it's a question of when we move into it. It's really exploding."

Excerpt from:
School district exploring options for 1-to-1 digital programs