Page 6 - Flathead Beacon // 1.15.13

6 | JANUARY 15, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM

Teaching with Technology

Evergreen School

District launches new

program embracing

iPads and smartphones

in the classroom

By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon

Last week at Evergreen Junior High,
Jean Crofts’ sixth grade social studies
class spent the morning studying conti-
nents and oceans around the globe.
Instead of lecturing from the front
of the room and instructing students to
leaf through textbooks, Crofts bounced

from table to table directing web traic.
Her 22 students were each engrossed in
a device, whether it was an iPad, smart-
phone or other type of computer tablet.
Instead of inspecting a traditional globe
or atlas, they each poked and pinched
the small screens, zooming in and out of

interactive maps that displayed vibrant
colors and geographical contours.
One student, using his inger like a
wand, centered the screen on an elabo-
rate satellite snapshot of the Himalayas.
At a nearby table, a young girl clicked a
button and suddenly watched the real-
time climate pattern sweeping across

Asia. Another classmate clicked an icon
and India’s population density of 1.2 bil- Sixth-grade teacher Jean Crofts helps students, left to right, Matthew Dalton, Cody Libby and Kord Collier, as they work on a geography assignment during
lion people dotted the screen.
the “Bring Your Own Device” day at Evergreen Junior High.
Crofts’ class and four others in the GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Evergreen School District are the latest with something, you have to do it,”
examples of the modern classroom in a Crofts said.
new era of education.
The movement to expand new tech-
The rapid evolution of technology
nology in the classroom is not without
and proliferation of devices like iPads its doubters and critics, particularly as
and smartphones have changed the ways cyberbullying continues to come into
educators are nurturing young minds. view as a signiicant problem among
School districts across the country are teenagers.
increasingly embracing technology in But Evergreen Superintendent Lau-
the classroom, including Evergreen, rie Barron believes educators have a
where a new initiative aims to utilize responsibility – and opportunity – to

state-of-the-art resources while shaping create a positive, conducive learning en-
a generation of frequent Internet users.
vironment within the modern world of
At Evergreen, educators have estab- technology.
lished a new “Bring Your Own Device” “For the generation of students
program that establishes designated growing up now, to them iPhones, com-
days during the week when students can puters and iPads are not even technolo-
bring iPads and other devices to school. gy, it’s their daily needs. It’s part of their
On those days, teachers and students daily lives,” said Barron.

work together on assignments and les- “We cannot continue to believe that
sons that fully involve the Internet or as educators we are the sole providers of
online programs, such as Google Earth. knowledge for students anymore. That’s
The students are required to have par- not what educators can be focused on
ent approval, are under constant teacher anymore. We need to be facilitators of
supervision and must sign into the dis- that knowledge. Students no longer need Sixth-grader Lanee Vitt works on a geography assignment during the “Bring Your Own Device” day at
trict’s safe and secure network, which us to just provide information to them. Evergreen Junior High. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON

bars them from accessing inappropri- They can go to Google and get it in an in- largely because of her innovative ideas we keep it out of the learning world? Re-
ate content or websites such as Face- stant. What we’ve tried to do is use that for keeping students engaged and suc- search out there will show (devices do)
book. Along with common lesson plans, tool and utilize it to our advantage.”
cessful in the classroom. One of those improve student engagement, achieve-
the BYOD classes also focus on teaching Barron took over as superintendent innovations included implementing ment, behavior. And it’s preparing kids
responsible social media etiquette, and last fall after nearly 10 years as a middle technology through devices like iPads for real life after school.”
raise awareness of the Internet’s pitfalls.
school principal in a large district near that are becoming commonplace.
In one of her irst moves as superin-
Five classes enrolled in the upstart Atlanta, Ga. She was named National “Kids are immediately engaged in tendent, Barron proposed revising the
BYOD program this year, two at the el- Middle Level Principal of the Year in these devices. But then when they come district policy to establish the BYOD

ementary level and three in junior high.
2012 by MetLife and the National Asso- into the educational world, those things program. Although eyebrows were ini-
“As a teacher if you can hook them
ciation of Secondary School Principals,
are not allowed,” she said. “Why would
tially raised, Barron pitched the idea