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6 | February 7, 2019 | The tinley junction news
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CHICAGO SOUTHWEST
CHICAGO NORTHSHORE
MALIBU
District 230 grows technology
innovation for blended learning
Romi Herron
Freelance Reporter
A growing technology
program at Consolidated
High School District 230
is taking students outside
the boundaries of their
classroom walls, leveraging
technology so teachers
and learners can experience
a blend of educational
spaces.
“These days all of our
kids are basically walking
around with a high-definition
camera in their pockets,”
said Antonios Roditis,
an English Teacher at Amos
Alonzo Stagg High School.
Also a Technology Innovation
Facilitator for the district.
“With the students, it’s
meeting them where they
are [with smartphones and
other technology access].
We now can create in the
classroom.”
But expanding lesson
plans so students can
make podcasts, for example,
doesn’t happen overnight,
said Chief Technology
Officer John Connolly.
Blending technology with
traditional education is happening
gradually.
“We had a vision of better
preparing our kids
with technology,” he
said. “You’re not going to
have staff members flip a
switch and be 100 percent
one-to-one. We’ve taken
our time.”
One-student-to-one-digital-device
is terminology
that has actually been replaced
by one-student-tomany-devices
in District
230, Connolly explained.
All students are provided a
Chromebook, or they can
use their own smartphone.
Some students have their
own additional devices too.
Educational applications
are accessible 24/7 online,
and the district identified
nine tech-savvy teachers as
coaches for other instructors.
Those individuals
teach three class periods
of their specialty subject
and dedicate two additional
periods to coaching technology
innovation in their
building.
“There is a conception
out there that young teachers
who come in know
how to use the technology,
but I would not say that is
necessarily the case,” Connolly
said, explaining the
coaches represent a variety
of experienced educators.
Entry level teachers as well
as veteran educators have a
technology learning curve.
The technology innovation
facilitators, and virtual
coaches from a company
called BetterLesson, help
familiarize teachers with
the resources.
Roditis said one resource
teachers are learning to use
is an online content management
system.
“That moment of panic is
gone for students who can’t
find a paper or material they
need,” he said. “Online programs
give students immediacy
to resources.” They
can access assignments, research
material, grades and
due dates, and also communicate
with instructors
online to share progress and
ask for feedback outside of
class time, he added.
Desi Vuillaume, a psychology
teacher at Carl
Sandburg High School, is
also a technology innovation
facilitator. He observed
students may have familiarity
with some types of
applications, but the education
set is new territory for
them.
“I think there is this idea
that students know how
to use the technology, but
that’s not really the case,”
he said. “They are discovering
the phone in their pocket
can be used for so much
more than Snapchat.”
For instance, instructors
can Skype with historians
and scientists, reinforcing
to students what they may
have heard from instructors
or read in textbooks.
Connolly said the program’s
growth is measurable,
climbing from 40
teachers in the first year to
140 in the third. The district
has also won a State of Illinois
Those Who Excel
award for the initiative.
Stacey Gonzales, director
of curriculum and instruction
for Consolidated District
230, spearheaded the
initiative.
“The intention was to create
spaces for blended leadership,”
she said. “Students
can take ownership of their
own learning, and teachers
can innovate and take risks
and are designing meaningful
lessons.”
Working with BetterLesson,
the district teams virtual
coaches with its teachers,
bi-monthly. A learning
lab and video coaching are
also offered.
“They leverage deep intellectual
conversations,”
Gonzales said. “The coaches
ask them next steps and
see if they have any questions
or need anything to
further their goals.”
In addition to increased
efficiency and improved accessibility,
Roitis said engagement
is a priority.
“The coolest part about
this is we get to make learning
more exciting for the
kids,” Roditis said. “That’s
why we do what we do.”