The Lab is Open!

The Lab in Room 505 is finally open! The Lab is open to 7th and 8th grade students who will be enrolled in Broadcast Journalism or the Project Lead the Way Innovative Tech class!

THE POPULATION: Students enrolled in the school are part of Title I with over 75% on Free or Reduced Lunch. The district is 1 to 1 where ChromeBooks are provided for each student enrolled. Providing ChromeBooks brings "more equitable access to technology" (Kirkpatrick et al., 2017, p. 27) and involves inclusion of technology into the curriculum!

Broadcast Journalism: 'Runner TV is a television and media class where anyone can watch weekly video announcements at runnertv.net! Students film, edit, anchor, and produce the weekly video announcements for the community to watch. Students work with donated iPads and portable green screens, however there is not enough for each group. Students edit film using their ChromeBook by using web-based software called WeVideo. The finished product is uploaded to YouTube.

Project Lead the Way: Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Innovative Tech is a computer science and coding class! Students use Microsoft Micro:bit to work with block-based coding for designs and projects. Completed codes can be downloaded and viewed on a Micro:bit hardware.

Goal of the Lab: The goal of the lab is to provide students with upgraded devices to code or edit film with. Francom (2016) conducted a survey that found K-12 public school teachers in North Midwestern state's "access to technology tools and resources is increasing" (p. 2). It is essential for students to have devices that are upgraded and work properly.

The Devices: Two devices will be used in the lab! 18 Dell Inspire 15 3000 laptops with a 15.6" screen, 11th Gen Intel Core i5 (8 MB cache, 4 cores, 8 threads, up to 4.20 GHz Turbo), and Windows 10 Pro license included (Dell Technologies, n.d.). The video card for the device will be Intel UHD Graphics with a memory of 8GB and a Hard Drive of 256 GB. 18 Macbook Air with 13.3" screen and LED-backlit display. An Apple M1 chip with 8GB of memory and 256 GB of storage is included (Apple, n.d.).

Hardware: 2 Wireless HP DeskJet 2755e printers, 36 HP wireless mice, a PowerEdge T150 Tower Server, 18 electric heigh adjustable standing desks.

Software: Software programs needed for class include: class set of WeVideo, instructor license for GoGuardian, class set of Canva, and Google Chrome.

Why a Lab?! As technology is exponentially increasing in the classroom, it is essential for students to have equitable access to tools they will need beyond the classroom! The lab will also be a safe haven for students to create, communicate, and collaborate.

Reference:

Apple. (n.d.). Macbook Air. Apple. https://www.apple.com/macbook-air-m1/specs/

Dell Technologies. (n.d.). Inspiron 15 3000 Laptop. Dell Technologies. https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/dell-laptops-and-notebooks/inspiron-15-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-3511-laptop/cai153w11p2c122?gacd=9646510-1030-5761040-0-0&dgc=st&ds_k=PRODUCT_GROUP&ds_rl=1282786&gclid=CjwKCAjw5s6WBhA4EiwACGncZZ1onXC6m6CGIK3c_lzpeEsXn7cz_RrUVTpdHaYC_4ttgPA7H6pl8xoCfsEQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&nclid=WiyV06ot57UjYGkj6Ak1uTbPSw_fb4krepRaOsthbX_rRpqDXN0Ky8Z-6hzPew1_

Francom, G. M. (2016). Educational technology use among K-12 teachers: What technologies are available and what barriers are present? Online Submission.

Kirkpatrick, L. C., Brown, H. M., Searle, M. J., Sauder, A. E., & Smiley, E. (2017). The impact of a school board’s one-to-one iPad initiative on equity and inclusion. Exceptionality Education International, 27(2), 26–53.

Unknown. (2014). Macbook [Photograph]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/macbook-laptop-google-display-459196/