New technology being implemented at Randolph schools

RANDOLPH — Randolph Public Schools will be implementing new technology in both the Elementary and High School.

The school district has invested in several new Chromebooks for this school year. At the high school building, each student will be given a Chromebook to utilize at school and to take home.

The Elementary will have several more Chromebooks that will be kept in the classroom for individual student use for grades 2-6.

Kindergarten and first grade will utilize iPads and transition to Chromebooks.

The purpose of the new technology is to provide a tool to enhance quality instruction in our classrooms and to provide meaningful skill development for students in a technology driven world.

We believe it is important for students to learn to utilize technology in a professional sense.

Many of our students are skilled in using smartphones and tablets for entertainment and socialization. This does not always translate into an ability to cultivate presentations, filter online content into fact or fiction, collaborate professionally or engage in constructive ways online or with technology.

The timing of this new initiative could be perceived as a way of preparing for another school closure and transition to remote online learning.

While the school closure did have some impact on our comfort level in implementing the 1 to 1 Chromebook distribution, preparing for another school closure is certainly not our intention.

We are not looking to create online classes for our students. We believe the new tools will enhance our face to face learning through a blended approach of good instruction utilizing technology as a tool.

The Chromebook will be equipped with additional safeguards to allow school staff to monitor all activity on the device both inside school and outside of school.

The safety guards will protect students from inappropriate content as well as prevent cheating on academic content.

Students will be expected to use the devices for school work only and to use other devices for personal business.

We are also looking forward to professional development for our staff to really focus on strategies to improve our delivery of instruction in school.

There are many online tools that can be used to assess student learning and efficiently report this information to the teacher. Teachers can use this information to make instructional decisions and provide individual help.

We are excited to be taking this step toward improving the educational opportunities for our students.