What is Your One-to-One Vision?

"What if...?" and "Why?" are inquiry sparks that ignite my curiosity. This week, during our freshmen iPad orientation, I presented the students with the following challenge;

"What if your only graduation requirement was to make a significant learning contribution to our school, what would your project be, what tools and resources would you need?"

After giving a confused look that said, "really"? The students shared some of their ideas following small group discussions. Creating a coding club, leading a green campus effort, running technology workshops for area seniors, decorating the hallways with photography, their responses were varied and ambitious.

Then, we discussed tools and resources that would be needed to turn their concepts into reality. The conversation revealed the common theme of students needing something to connect them to information and experts. That conversation pattern provided the perfect transition towards our next prompt;

"Why should each student have a device connecting them to the Internet? Why are we 1:1 at our school?"

After churning through some language, we came up with two essential themes that could support a one-to-one vision statement.

This conversation is important because there are times when it is difficult to articulate the reasons why districts purchase iPads, Chromebooks, or laptops for all of their students. A vision statement created through the conversations of all stakeholders, particularly students, is essential to guiding student learning, clarifying learner expectations, and justifying spending choices.

Through our conversation, students came to the conclusion that the connected device, regardless of what it is, helps put their inquiry into action. Students have increased capacity to learn whatever they want, whenever they want, with whomever they want. Furthermore, students have increased capacity to produce, document, and share artifacts from their learning.

A vision statement helps channel the "what if..." questions, and also help answer the prevailing "why" question. Here is an example of a 1-to-1 vision statement shared transparently by Killingly High School;

"Schools are challenged to prepare students for the complex demands of the 21st century. As digital citizens, people communicate, gather information, collaborate, and problem solve in a global virtual environment. One to one technology allows the KHS community the opportunity to enhance the skills necessary to compete and thrive in an ever-changing world The Killingly Professional Learning Community embraces one to one technology to engage students and practice the principals of the KHS Mission Statement: Responsibility, Excellence, and Dedication."

Because these "what if..." and "why" questions continue to occupy my thinking tells me there is more work to be done with our one-to-one vision. Our freshmen students did a terrific job of starting the conversation by sharing the types of learning experiences they would find empowering. Even though I find the ISTE-S standards helpful, I would still like more clarity on creating a 1:1 technology vision statement.

Are you at a school that has a one-to-one, or BYOD supported learning environment? Does your school or district have a technology vision statement that is clearly understood by all stakeholders? I am interested in learning more about this. Your examples and insights are appreciated. Please complete this short form if you would like to share your technology vision statement. Thank you.

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