A NE5 Innovation Fund Proposal

By The Grenoble Learning Team

April 15, 2011
Slide To Unlock The Learning
A NE5 Innovation Grant Proposal
April 2011
Name of School
Grenoble Public School

Project Name
Slide To Unlock The Learning

Amount of Funding Requested

$15,000

Learning Team
Colin McAuley
Ted Goldring
David Fry
Julie Van Huyse

Proposed Project
Summary
The 21st century learner is someone who is: collaborative, creative, can
think critically, participates in inquiry or problem-based learning, clearly
communicates ideas and can use the latest technology in an authentic,
effective manner.

How do we create classrooms that support our vision of the 21st century
learner?!

We, the members of the learning team at Grenoble propose that this can
be accomplished by combiming!innovative, modern tools with a group of
teachers committed to step beyond conventional teaching paradigms.
Our Team feels strongly that we can make this vision a reality!

Our proposal involves purchasing a number of iPads to be used as an

innovative, mobile learning tool in a variety of learning environments (e.g.
Special Ed., Junior, ELL, Kindergarten, Primary). The iPad will be the
catalyst that enables participating teachers to modify their practice to a
more student-centred, problem-based teaching style.
How is This Project Innovative
Our project is innovative in that it combines a cutting-edge, tactile,
‘connected’ device (the iPad), with an accompanying change in teaching
practice (Problem Based Learning). We are proposing a combination of
both ‘structural’ and ‘instructional’ elements that will drive change in
teaching and learning.

The Device
The first central pillar of our proposal is the purchase of 16 iPads. The
iPad’s high-resolution display, with its responsive Multi-Touch screen
make it a whole new kind of device for learning.

Our main reasons for choosing the iPad are:

1)The Form Factor!"

The 10 inch iPad is light, portable, flexible and hands-on. The 10 hour
battery life means it lasts the whole school day without the need for a
charge. With the inclusion of two cameras, a microphone and speaker, the
iPad has been transformed it into a personal learning ‘studio’. Finally, in
it’s short lifespan it has proven to be very reliable, backed by Apple’s
inclusive warranty and is priced at roughly half the price of a laptop.

2)Differentiation
There are over 350,000 apps available for download currently, thousand’s
of which are educational. The majority of the apps are inexpensive or free.
This means that by choosing the most appropriate app, a teacher can
match the exact skill level of instruction to a student’s ability, thereby
providing a differentiated and personal learning experience. As well, the
simplicity of the touch interface makes it an extremely useful device for
students with special needs.

In summary, we feel the iPad is the best device to fit with our instructional
goals. It has the features we are looking for to differentiate for all the
learners in our school, as well as, being the ideal device for users of all
ages.

To help manage the iPads and to provide a measure of security, we are

also including a Bretford Powersync cart (as part of the Apple iPad 2
Learning Lab Bundle) to charge and sync the iPads.
The Teaching
The use of any engaging, mobile device in the classroom without an
accompanying shift in teaching strategy is not enough to bring about
significant change in learning. In order to leverage the power of these
devices, participating teachers will focus their teaching practice on a
Problem Based Learning (PBL) model.

The Key Characteristics of PBL are:

• Learning is driven by challenging, open-ended, realistic problems.
• Students generally work in collaborative groups.
• Teachers take on the role as "facilitators" of learning.

Students work over an extended period of time on a project centred

around a driving question. Students are considered to be active agents
who construct their knowledge in groups. PBL gives students both a
voice and a choice in their learning.

As a facilitator of learning, the teacher asks probing questions, provides

appropriate resources, gives descriptive feedback and designs, with
student input, assessments. In this model the teacher helps to uncover
the content rather than just cover the content.

Benefits to Students
In Dr. Spence’s “Our Vision of Hope - Report to the Community” he states:
“Growing up in a digital age, today’s students want to learn and express
themselves in a way that’s relevant to them.” We strongly believe our
proposal contains the necessary components to help our students
develop 21st century academic and life skills.

Our goal is to strengthen competencies for self-directed learning, provide

tailored learning experiences and to encourage students to go deeper and
advance their learning from anywhere.

We have provided 5 different learning scenarios in the Appendix that

illustrate what this could look like in different settings at Grenoble.

Finally, more than 50% of students at Grenoble were born outside of

Canada and over 80% report speaking a language other than English at
home. As well, many of our students have little or no access to
technology and the Internet in the home. Many of our students will directly
benefit from the use of this new technology. It will allow them to advance
their Literacy skills and give them opportunities to to demonstrate their
learning in a variety of new ways.
SIP Alignment
Our proposal aligns with our SIP plan in three key areas:
1)Technology
The use of iPads will fulfill many of the ICT integration goals in our SIP
plan. The incorporation of the iPads across the curriculum will allow
participating teachers and students to be engaged in a technologically
rich learning environment. Part of our goal is to incorporate the iPads in
our Pathways planning to enhance the effectiveness of this targeted
learning.

2)Literacy
Using the iPad will aid participating students will be able to research
various topics, watch relevant media and capture images and video. This
process will allow for collaboration with classmates to create graphic
organizers, revise their non-fiction writing and present their learning in
engaging ways.

3)Numeracy
The iPad will allow teachers to equip students with a variety of tools and
resources to solve real-world problems. As well, students will be able to
communicate their thinking through pictures, podcasts and videos.
The wide range of apps available on the iPad supports remediation of
different math skills.
Measurable Outcomes
Measurable Outcomes
iPads are used by students and
teachers on a continuous basis
Progress of the iPad project
documented on-line through
blogs and on our school website
Ongoing use of the iPads as a
professional development
resource for teachers in the NE5
Increase in ICT integration at the
school level and increase use of
mobile technology in the FOS
Teachers integrate mobile
learning with greater frequency
Teachers and Students develop
an increased comfort level with
the different elements of
Problem-based learning
Teachers comfort level with
mobile technology increases
Students’ “Twenty-First Century”
Skills increase
How Outcomes Could Be Measured
or Observed
On-line School calendar to be used
to schedule usage
Creation of an iPadFOS site/blog to
capture the progress and the
process with links from site to
project specific work done by
students
Liaison with the NE 5 ICT
committee to plan and develop
FOS PD and FOS LTM
Increase in technology related
projects observed, report card
language and reporting begins to
change and attendance at NE5 ICT
event begins
Report Card data reflects ICT
integration and student learning
Teachers and Students are given
surveys before and after the project
to measure their understanding of
PBL as well as their comfort and
confidence with the different
elements of PBL
Participating teachers collect
anecdotal evidence and reflections
following projects involving the
iPads and complete learning
surveys
Report Card Learning Skills Data
increase in participating
classrooms
Itemized Budget

Item Description Price

Apple iPad 2 Learning Lab $8,049

Bundle
10 iPad 2 16gig wifi
with 2 years of Applecare
Warranty
+
Bretford Powersync cart
(charges, syncs and
securely stores ipads)

6 ipad 2 16gig wifi 6 x $580 =

with 2 years of Applecare $3480
Warranty

Protective covers 16 x $30 =

$480.00

TDSB Cisco Wifi Router $570

Educational Apps from the $395

Apple App store

2 VGA adaptors to connect 2 x $35 =

the iPad to a projector $70

Total $13,044

Total with Tax $15,000

Support/Sharing/Replication

Support
In an effort to ensure the success and sustainability of this project, we
have prearranged support and sought advice from a number of sources
from both within and outside of the TDSB.

• Apple Canada has agreed to assist this project by pledging to

support the initial setup of the iPads as well ongoing technical
support as needed.

• The Teaching and Learning with Technology/ICT department, lead by

Kevin Bradbeer and his team of Instructional Leaders have pledged
their support to help Grenoble’s staff to implement the new TDSB ICT
standards and develop Problem-Based learning tasks.

• Jack Conroy and Martin Ashbee, from End User Computing, the chief
technical architects of Mac computing within the TDSB, have been
consulted and have offered their technical advice for successfully
integrating the iPads within the TDSB environment.

• Instructional Leaders from the Library and Interdisciplinary Studies

Department have been consulted regarding the areas of inquiry and
project-based learning, as well as their experience with mobile
devices (e.g. iPod, iPad).

• Teachers within the TDSB who employ mobile devices within their
Special Education classes have also been consulted.

When considering the aforementioned list, combined with our Personal

Learning Networks, we feel that we have put in place the necessary
structure to ensure our project will be properly supported.
Sharing
Grenoble Public School and its staff have a long history of formal and
informal learning and sharing. Grenoble has a collaborative culture and a
successful, team-based approach to teaching and learning. There are
numerous example of Grenoble teachers sharing ICT expertise with their
colleagues and fellow educators.

We have:

• Provided support as members of TACIT, the volunteer teacher

organization that provides after school ICT workshops.

• Presented at the ECOO provincial ICT conference and at Media

Literacy and ESL conferences at OISE.

• Hosted beginning and experienced teachers through the TDSB

Demonstration Classroom program.

• Created a learning site for preservice teachers from Queens

University.

• Organized the TDSB East FOS Interactive Whiteboard Symposium in

2010.

• Facilitated professional development and modeled the integration of

new technology in the classroom (e.g., Smartboards)

• An Apple Distinguished Educator on staff.

At the family level, we have:

• coordinated the NE5 FOS iBook program

• provided leadership as part of the NE5 ICT committee.

• shared ICT information to beginning teachers and mentors at FOS

functions

• provided Professional Development to FOS Grade 6 teachers

involved in the TDSB Mobile Computing Strategy.

Based on the above list of involvements and partnerships, we believe that

the staff of Grenoble are well prepared to make this program a success.
Furthermore, it is our hope that this proposal could serve as a model for
mobile computing within our FOS and ultimately our Board.
Replication Strategy
Our Replication strategy for this project is to capture both the process of
implementing iPads as a learning tool, and changes in teaching practice.
We will be documenting our work in a variety of ways including posting
our progress on-line for other educators within our FOS, TDSB and
beyond. To help project members plan and document their learning,
Grenoble’s administrators have pledged to support the project with
release time in the amount of $1500.

Within the FOS, we will invite interested administrators and teachers to

visit the project team throughout the implementation year and, if possible,
present at the FOS leadership team meeting or hub meeting. As well, we
would agree to host an NE5 ICT integration function featuring our work
with the iPads as well as other FOS ICT integration projects (e.g.,
Smartboards).

Finally, we will be returning to the annual ECOO conference and Apple

Distinguished Educator symposium to dialogue, network and present our
work with other Ontario Educators.
 Grenoble iPad Implementation Timeline

April 2011: NE5 Innovation Fund application is due and evaluated.

May 2011: Funds transferred and equipment is purchased.
June 2011: Equipment arrives and setup begins, using support from
various sources.
June 2011: Participating teachers are selected based on their interest and
receptiveness to new technology coupled with their experience and
willingness to adopt Problem-Based Learning and to design authentic
learning tasks.
September 2011: Planning session #1 (release provided by Grenoble
Admin team)
Participating teachers meet to complete attitude surveys, plan projects
and assessments for first term and set goals. We will also design ways to
capture the process with support from different TDSB departments.
October 2011: We begin to share our journey through entries on a blog.
October 2011:Staff meeting: iPads highlighted and PD sessions for all
staff begin
November 2011: Informal and formal visits from interested teachers and
administrators in the FOS can begin.
December 2011: Parent Teacher Interviews
Work from students participating in the project can be shared during
parent interviews.
January 2012: Planning session #2
Participating teachers meet to assess student learning and professional
development from first term, plan new projects for second term and set
new goals. They will also be sharing the process at grade team meetings
within the school.
February 2012: We will share our work to date at a FOS Principals
meeting.
May 2012: NE5 FOS ICT sharing event is hosted at Grenoble and we
begin to look for ways to expand the project going forward.
June 2012: We will review teacher participation for 2012, analyze attitude
surveys, student assessment information and the impact of this initiative
on teacher practice. We will also consolidate our learning online.
2012-2013: Continuation of the project and presentation of our work can
occur at various professional conferences (e.g., TACIT, ECOO
conference, Apple Distinguished Educator Symposium, etc.).
Other Info
Learning Scenarios
To end our proposal we would like to present five learning scenarios.
These vignettes highlight what teaching and learning could be like in an
iPad equipped classroom in the hands of engaged students guided by
committed teachers.

Special Education
Victor has fine motor difficulties which make writing and typing difficult. In
order to create notes for his research he opens Dragon Dictation, a
speech recognition app, and records his thinking. His recorded thoughts,
are automatically transcribed into text and emailed to his teacher. Jordan,
his classmate, uses Proloquo2go an augmented communication app to
point to the included symbols to communicate his basic needs.

Junior
When Lakshmi arrives at class her group is already working around one of
the iPads and is looking at the information on child labour that they have
entered into their Google Doc. As they plan for the best way to present
their findings, they review the success criteria they earlier created with
their teacher. Flipping back to their work, they decide on creating a video
PSA. They begin to use Storyboard to plan the shots they will need and
finally use iMovie to shoot and edit their masterpiece.

Kindergarten
Mohammed loves to listen to stories and is showing an interest in creating
his own. Before he starts, he listens to the instructions his teacher has
recorded and placed on the iPad. When he’s ready he opens the Puppet
Pals app. He chooses the setting (the woods) and the characters he want
to include in his story (the wolf and the prince). He moves the characters
within the setting while he tells his story. As he is doing this, the app is
recording the movement of the characters as well as Muhammed’s voice.
At sharing time, the teacher plays Muhammed’s story to the class.

Primary
Maneesha has been learning about the water cycle. After reading the
interactive book her teacher placed in iBooks on the iPad, she is ready to
plan her report. She opens up one of the graphic organizer apps and
begins to plan what she needs. She uses Doodle Buddy to draw and label
the pictures she needs. Next, using Sonic Pics she records the narration
to explain her thinking. Before she’s done she checks the list of “Look
Fors” her teacher has preloaded on the iPad. Finally, when complete, she
shows her narrated slideshow to her class.
ELL
Masi is learning about ancient civilizations in his ELL classroom. To help
him his teacher has pre-bookmarked a series of websites and videos on
the iPad that are at his reading and comprehension level. Before Masi
starts, he listens to the instructions his teacher has recorded for him.
While working he comes across a section on a website that he is unsure
of. He copies it and pastes into another app to translate it into his own
language. He emails his notes to himself as he begins to work on his
presentation. He creates slides in Keynote to help him with his oral
presentation.

Thank you for considering our proposal.

The Grenoble Learning team