Higher fees, Chromebooks coming to Dist. 204 middle schools
All good things come with a price, and school board members in Indian Prairie Unit District 204 say Chromebooks are definitely a good thing.
The district aims to provide a Chromebook or similar laptop device to all students in third through twelfth grade by the 2018-19 school year.
So part of the cost of distributing the devices will fall to parents, beginning next school year when the district raises the middle school student fee by $40.
"We could not solely take on the responsibility through our budgeting," said Stan Gorbatkin, assistant superintendent for technology services.
"The $40 fee will allow the students use of the Chromebooks during the school year both at school and at home."
The district decided to expand use of Chromebooks for each student after testing the idea at schools including Fischer Middle School.
English teacher Lanna Himes said having Chromebooks for all students has allowed her to give real-time feedback as they're writing so she can teach editing skills and make sure kids are on the right track.
"We're always looking for new, creative and exciting ways to engage our students in the classroom and enhance our teaching," Himes said. "For me personally, the Chromebook pilot has done just that."
In surveys, the devices got strong reviews, said Allan Davenport, director of instructional technology. Ninety-six percent of students said having a Chromebook benefitted their learning; 95 percent of parents said their child was able to apply learning in new ways when using a Chromebook; and 100 percent of teachers said it's been easier to plan for instruction knowing all students had the same device.
"For the kids this has been a Godsend because we're all on the same level playing field because they all have the same device," Himes said.
Board member Maria Curry said she saw in a visit to a participating school how well students in a science class paid attention when using their Chromebooks. She encouraged administrators to offer more ways for taxpayers to experience the new ways students use technology to learn.
"I've probably never seen that many kids that engaged and excited about some of the subject matter that I saw firsthand when I went in," Curry said.
Gorbatkin said availability of one Chromebook for each student won't end the district's Bring Your Own Technology program. Kids still will be allowed to bring their own smartphones, laptops or tablets in addition to the school-provided ones they'll start receiving next year.
While the fee increase will begin with middle school, the high school student fee could be raised by between $40 and $75 before the 2017-18 school year, and the fee for students entering third through fifth grade could be increased by $40 before the 2018-19 year.