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Luverne District registers as official 'Google School'

By
Mavis Fodness

Teachers and students at Luverne Public Schools will have another tool available for learning when school resumes next month.
The well-known search engine for the Internet, Google Inc., has developed user-friendly applications for use in education.
After piloting the network this spring, local school leaders decided to make the applications available to all staff and students.
“Luverne has been able to register as a Google school,” said Elementary Principal Stacy Gillette. “We will be able to access various programs and applications for free.”
The district will use a common platform that offers a common e-mail and chat system, a series of cloud-based collaboration tools and a multi-media streaming service, among other applications.
Teachers can implement as many of the applications in their classrooms as they want or deem necessary.
It will be Susan Beers’ job to assist teachers in bringing Google into the classroom.
“It’s a very exciting time and a motivator for kids,” she said.
As the district’s technology integration specialist, Beers will help teachers with networking tools such as Google Calendar and Google Classroom that allows teachers to communicate electronically with students.
Using Google allows students to access learning materials at home as well as at school from any computer or electronic devise.
Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Amy Cook has already incorporated lessons using a similar Internet-based program called Schoology.
The technology has been helpful in introducing lessons to Cook’s seventh-grade students who have limited exposure to cooking and tasks such as sewing.
“I think it is super easy to use,” she said.
In one such use Cook developed a video demonstrating how to use a sewing machine. Students watched the video on their cell phones, and they could view the video again if necessary.
The technology has saved time for Cook.
“When I look at my lesson planning, what used to take a week (to introduce) is now down to three days,” she said. “No rushing kids on to the next lesson.”
The commitment toward Google has already saved the Luverne district thousands of dollars in just the purchase of updated equipment alone.
Chromebooks, a simplified laptop dedicated to Google Apps, costs $350 for each unit. Traditional personal computers cost upwards of $1,200 a piece.
Since April, the Luverne district purchased more than 100 of Google’s laptop and desktop versions, after several of the laptop versions were tested in the elementary and high schools.
Called Chromebooks, fifth-grade teacher Katie Mostad piloted five of the laptops in her classroom this spring.
She used them in small groups to enrich her student’s mastery of a lesson.
“When the kids have technology as part of the lesson, they learn better,” Mostad added.
This year, she plans to expand its use by pairing with another teacher in a different district on lessons.
“It opens the doors for use and we might as well use it,” she said.
As a Google School, each student in grades 3 through 12 will be able to access a shared education network though personal user names and passwords.
Because Google Classrooms can be accessed through any computer or electronic device, worksheets and/or tests can be completed and submitted to the instructor from home or in school. Students can also complete group projects together.
Middle/High School Principal Ryan Johnson said two mobile carts containing 25 Chromebooks were purchased for staff to use this spring.
The devices didn’t sit idle.
He said it was an inexpensive way to get more computers in students’ hands.
“Ten years ago, we bought the computer with all the stuff (programming),” he said. “Now we buy the computer and add the stuff.”
Because Google can be accessed from any computer, the District will still utilize its current computer labs.
Students, however, can access Goggle from their handheld devices.
Gone, Johnson said, will be the use of flash drives for transport work from home computers for use at school.
Students can no longer forget homework at home due to electronic storage of projects and assignments for access anywhere and at any time.
This year will have educators catching up to the technology skills of students, according to Beers, who started her technology integration position last year.
“They (students) are coming in with technology skills,” she said.
Technology, however, is meant to enhance students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills but not replace basic instruction from teachers.
Said Beers, “We are trying to prepare kids for jobs that don’t yet exist.”
There are 30 more Chromebooks on order to arrive this fall.

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