Since the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year Envision Science Academy has been 1:1 Chromebooks in grades 2 - 8. All classrooms in these grade-levels have a full set of devices, with a few exceptions. This means that each teacher has their own set and no longer have to share with the rest of their team or other grade-levels. Accommodations are also being made for each specials or elective teacher.

The characteristics of a 21st century student are many, but at the forefront of the skill set of such a student is the ability to use technology as a productivity tool, not just a social networking and gaming tool. The Envision student needs to learn how to use technology appropriately and in a way that helps them achieve the goals of thinking critically and working with others in a collaborative environment. But what are the advantages?

• Long Term Money Savings
  A lot of schools are shy to implement 1:1 classrooms due to the high initial costs involved. Purchasing a tablet or netbook for every student can be an expensive endeavor, but when you actually take the time to consider the long-term savings, the investment is often more than worth it.
• Greater Student Engagement
  Another common concern schools have over implementing 1:1 classrooms is that these devices will create a distraction for students. In reality, however, most teachers report that these devices actually increase student engagement, keeping them more interested in the subject matter than they would be if they were simply listening to a teacher give a lecture at the front of the classroom.
• More Creative Learning Outlets
  No matter what subject you may be teaching, electronic devices provide your students with unique opportunities to learn. Rather than composing “traditional” written essays in class, these devices allow students to get creative in demonstrating their learning. In fact, they’re able to do anything from create a video presentation to recording a Podcast and everything in between.
• Tailored Learning Experiences
  It’s no secret that not all students learn in the same manner. Some are visual learners, whereas others are better off learning through hands-on activities. When every student has access to their own device, they’re able to learn in the way that’s best for them. Based on each student’s learning style, teachers can provide different versions of the same lesson. This can be especially useful for math lessons, but come in handy across all subject matters.
• Improved Student/Teacher Communication
  Finally, many teachers have found that they’re able to spend less time grading while still providing specific feedback to each student thanks to 1:1 teaching.

Our kindergarten and first grade core classrooms will each continue to have an Apple Crate containing 10 iPad Minis for use by the students daily. Our Elementary specialists will have Chromebooks and/or iPads to support their classroom needs. Since the beginning of the 2018-19 school year each of these grade have a dedicated Chromebook Cart (20 devices) in order to focus on:

• Basic Computer Skills
• Keyboarding Skills
• Beginning Collaborative Learning
• Internet Research
• Digital Citizenship

Envision Science Academy is in the process of rolling-out a 1:1 take home program for students in 5th grade through 8th grade. We started the roll-out with the 2018-2019 school year with the assignment of new Chromebooks to our rising 6th grade students. Since the fall of 2021 all students 5-8th grade are 1:1 with Chromebooks.

More detail on this initiative can be found in the Upper School Technology - An Overview for Parents presentation.

In addition to the student’s benefiting from this initiative, teachers also benefit. Teachers experience the following benefits:

• Reduction of Shared Device Logistics - Teachers spend a significant amount of time and energy coordinating the sharing of devices between grades-levels and classrooms. This will be virtually eliminated thus freeing up more classroom and planning time.
• Paper Consumption - Print and Copy is one of the largest office supply expenses that we incur each year. The implementation of this initiative will greatly reduce the amount of material needs in paper format and in turn reduce these expenses.
• Online Assessment Testing - The State of North Carolina, NC Department of Public Instruction, and Envision are strongly committed to executing student assessments through online tools. The school must had enough devices to accommodate these assessments. 1:1 implementation eliminates the scramble to ensure that each student is covered.
• Enhanced of delivery curriculum - Having a device available to each student in each class or as a take-home device we can streamline the delivery of curriculum materials into the student's hands. This saves time for everyone and reduces possible confusion between the teachers and students.
• Accountability - 1:1 allows for the assignment of specific devices to each student in each class. This provides the teachers a way to determine all players involved if an incident should occur.

Parents stand to benefit from our 1:1 initiative as well. Under this initiative, parents are forced, a bit more, to face the technological realities that students either will have to face in the future or are already engaged in everyday. Matt Levinson, author of From Fear to Facebook, writes about this parent dynamic when the Nueva school implemented their 1:1 laptop program:

Schools need to help parents find the language to use to speak to their children about limits online.  Parents feel alone.  Some resent the wave of technology sweeping their children out to sea, while others simply are at a loss when it comes to engaging in a conversation with their teenagers, who, naturally and developmentally, are pushing away from them to be more independent.

Matt Levinson, author of From Fear to Facebook

Each year parents and students are required to agree to some simple rules and guidelines as part of the 1-to-1 Chromebook Intuitive. A copy of this agreement can be found here.

1-to-1 Chromebook User Guidelines & Agreement

Click here to read information regarding Envision Science Academy's efforts related to CIPA.

A Chromebook is a computing device that operates with the Google Chrome Operating System (Chrome OS). These devices afford students both the ability to “surf the net” for information (consumption device) as well as produce and collaborate on documents, research, and projects (production device).

If you don’t have a Wireless network at home, students can still use them, but in a limited capacity. Some applications will work “offline” (such as Google drive) but content saved to the device will not be backed up online until an Internet connection is available for the device. We have configured your student’s Chromebook so that offline support has been enabled. 

If your home has a wireless network, the device will have the same filtered web access as they would at school.

We do our best to ensure our child’s online experience is safe. Before each Chromebook device connects to the Internet, it must pass through our network firewalls and filters. This happens whether the device is browsing on campus on school-owned networks, or off campus using another wireless router that is providing the Internet connection. If your child is using the Chromebook at school, at home or at a public library, it will always pass through our web filtering and network firewall system before they can see or access web content. Our web filters are programmed to block inappropriate content as much as possible.

Chromebooks are considered one of the most secure user devices available on the market today. They run Google’s Chrome Operating System, which was designed from the ground up with security in mind. Its closed eco-system significantly limits the ability to install local applications which prevents the install of viruses, ransomware and other malicious applications. They are considered so secure that the NSA uses them as employee devices. Google even offers a $100,000 reward to anyone that can hack or bypass the security of the system.

Envision will have two categories of Chromebooks with this initiative. The first are those that are assigned to a teacher’s classroom. Any student or staff member has the ability to login to these Chromebooks. It is the role of the teacher to manage access to them.

The other category is those Chromebooks that are assigned to a specific student as part of the 1:1 take-home program. Login to these Chromebooks is restricted to the assigned student and our technology administrators.

When a student is logged into the Chromebook, parents can use them to check on student work, view their browsing history or connect with teachers through our PowerSchool parent portal, Google Classroom or via the student’s email. The Chromebooks are not intended for personal use for the student, their siblings or their parents.

Online file sharing between staff and students is the great advantage of the Chromebooks and is an easy and efficient way to distribute and turn in assignments without printing. It also saves on paper, ink and toner use, thereby saving the school money. There are ways to print from the Chromebooks, but it’s not encouraged or particularly easy. Students will not have access to printers while at school. If a student needs a document, assignment, etc printed they must share it with a teacher and that teacher will have the ability to print it for them. However, we are encouraging staff to try and limit printing of assignments going forward.

At this time student access to the web store is limited. We are investigating putting a curated web store in place for student use.

If we have not answered your question in this FAQ please feel free to email the Tech Team directly. We will do our best to provide you with an answer. We may even add your question to this FAQ.