The Chromebooks are Coming...

The Spring Semester pilot of the D128 Digital Learning Strategy is a whole lot closer to reality today. We received a majority of the pilot Chromebooks this week. The plan is to get them into the hands of students on Monday (the day we return from Spring Break).

I think, however, the pilot has already started because we are already learning. We have learned lessons about product acquisition. We have learned lessons about communicating about going 1:1 with parents, students, and staff. We have learned that as excited as we are to get going on this the Chromebook agreements were not ALL returned the day after they were received at home. We are learning about getting a large shipment of Chromebooks ready as quickly as possible.

The picture above is the room where this is happening. It is very cool to see our amazing IT staff work collaboratively and efficiently to get these things out of the boxes and ready to hand over to students. Monday will, no doubt, be very exciting. I want to take a few lines during this acquisition phase to gush about our Information Technology team at VHHS.

I will start by saying that every question I ask that starts with "What if..." gets answered. They play scenarios out with the best of them. This has been hugely helpful as we have planned this larger Spring pilot. They never put up roadblocks or say no. They troubleshoot which, I suppose, is in their nature. It is through their efforts that we are ready. From ordering to managing the mailing, collecting and charting agreements, to deploying the machines, it has been them.

We have shared sheets,docs,forms,ideas,emails and many conversations about this process. This group is as excited as any about the pilot. This is true, even though this will, without a doubt, put more on their plate. They get it!

While I am gushing on them I would be remiss to not mention that during this process they also carried us on the technology side of implementing online PARCC assessments in March! I am certain that my writing focus will shift to the experiences of students and teachers in the pilot. So, I wanted to take this moment to thank some people just getting it done!

Mick, Kate, Diane, Bob, Ben, Peter, Bo, Dave, ( you too Temple, Eli, Will) - THANK YOU! You are the best!