Five Ways 1:1 Can Immediately Change Your Middle School Classroom

One of the biggest challenges to implementing a successful 1:1 program in the middle school setting is to get teachers to buy-in to finding innovative ways to integrate the technology into the classroom. In most cases the addition of new technology can instantly change the dynamics of the learning environment. Below is a list of five ways that the use of a laptops or iPads could instantly be used in most class situations:

1. Access textbooks online.  Most textbooks today come with a digital package.  Students can use programs such Diigo to bookmark or even highlight important components from the text allowing all students to actually mark in the book.
2. Remedial programs offer great opportunity for students to work at differentiated paces. Most of these program come complete with artificial instructional support.
3. Keeping a journal is easier than ever.  Using programs such as moodle or google apps it is easy for the student to continuously add to a reflective journal and the teacher can check it without ever collecting a single sheet of paper.
4. Collaborative projects are often avoided because of the lack of available technology.  But with the implementation of 1:1 devices students can use web resources such as Google Docs to work collaboratively to create projects and papers.
5. Student led presentations that involve technology are a great way to truly engage a student in the learning process.  With individual access to programs such as Power Point, Smart Notebook and Google Sites students can creatively express and share what they have learned about a topic.