Reflection on "A Side Trip to the Sea Side"

Monday, July 08, 2013 12:50am-Originally posted on MOC website

The main purpose for my trip to the USA has been to gain information and ideas to continue to “make learning better @MOC” such that our children and young people achieve. This was the reason for my visit to the Del Mar Union School District (DMUSD) to look at what could be another “game-changer” in the area of digital technology.

MOC committed to a 1:1 digital program at establishment in 2010. Our 'philosophy' is that technology at MOC is to be used to “level the playing field”. Devices are seen as a tool for creating, not consuming – it's not the device - it is what our students do with them that is critical.

This has led to us having a “fleet” of over 1600 devices. As we continue to grow and some of our machines get older we currently need to find over $100,000 annually to buy new machines- or do we?

The pace of change in the area of innovative technologies is phenomenal. The classic example for us was the iPad. The iPad was not even on the agenda (or the market) for our new school when we began, it was introduced mid 2010 and yet by mid 2013 MOC has over 400 in our digital fleet.

One of the speakers at EduTECH in May 2013 was Suan Yeo, Head of Education for Google Asia Pacific Region. Suan gave an insightful (and a little terrifying) look at the changes. Here are some selected highlights

• Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2006) did not exist even 10 years ago. They are now major local and global communication tools.
• It took from 1996-2011 (15yrs) to grow to 700 million smart phones in use. In 2012 – there was a growth of 300 million such that there are now 1 billion smart phones in use on the planet!
• You Tube is now the second most used search engine after Google.
• Over 40% of web searches are now coming through a mobile device (usually smart phone)

In effect whilst for most of us,adults, our first device (note we don’t talk computer anymore) was a desktop or laptop – for our kids it  is/will be a mobile device, probably a smart phone but maybe a smart watch or smart glasses or …….? The concept of BYOD (bring your own device) will increasingly grow traction as young people (children) have their own browsers in their pockets. Those browsers can connect to more information and people than have ever been thought possible.

So to the reason for the visit to Del Mar. Del Mar is an affluent beach town in San Diego County, California. Del Mar is Spanish for "of the sea" or "by the sea", because it is located on the Pacific Ocean. The Del Mar Union School District  (DMUSD) is a small public school district based in Del Mar. The district was founded in 1906. DMUSD comprises eight schools with approximately 4,500 students. Those students go to schools from K-12.

Like High Tech High the DMUSD achieves outstanding results. This year the district’s Academic Performance Index was the highest in San Diego County and the 3rd highest in California. Over 6 million students attend Californian public schools.

DMUSD committed to a state-of-the-art approach to teaching 21st century learning skills which has included a resolute focus on teaching children prolific writing skills, and expert interaction within the digital world.

As one result of that commitment they have introduced Chromebooks. In short a Chromebook is simply an internet appliance (a web browser) in which there is no operating system or applications like Microsoft Office or iMovie etc. There are no applications to support. They do however have a camera, USB ports, Media card slots.  All work is done on-line and stored in the cloud.

Each machine turns on when you open the screen. If there is a “reasonable” internet connection they are immediately linked through the web. Students can personalize the machine through their log-on but nothing can be stored on the machine it is all in the cloud (automatic back up) plus if desired to their own USB. They also cost under $300 A.

DMUSD chose this option because of the ability to utilize Google Docs (which MOC also use) such that they could have an ongoing relentless focus on writing. Via Google Docs the drafts can be edited and the developmental changes seen continually by the teacher and the student or other students, if peer critiquing.  Google have also recently made the interface with Microsoft Word much simpler through their acquisition of Quickoffice, often used as the interface ion iPads etc.

Through the use of a teacher dashboard the teacher can see the work of any student at any time and mark, make corrections, provide direct feedback - anytime anywhere. At this early stage DMUSD are delighted with the increase in volume of writing and the standards they are achieving in all literacy based subjects.

Could Chromebooks complement our fleet with the specific focus for MOC of targeted improvement of Literacy. Could Chromebooks be a cost effective solution $30,000 compared to $100,000. Is this the way forward for MOC as we consider our next stage?

Chromebooks may or may not be the game-changer or our answer but they certainly provide much more food for thought and also show how quickly this area continues to develop. 

Many thanks to Jennifer Oliveira of the DMUSD  for the generosity of her time and expertise.