“The Chromebooks are personal learning devices. If you think about it, our students can access the most current, the most recent information, encyclopedias. The Chromebook is a calculator. The Chromebook is a dictionary. The Chromebook is a thesaurus. They can access newspapers from around the globe,” Merritt said.
The grant also made it possible for the district to purchase Chromebooks for all second- through 12th-graders and tablets for kindergarten and first-grade students.
“There are students that are gathered around collaboration stations called Mediascapes,” Merritt explained, pointing to students sitting at tables with monitors displayed above them. “They are working. They are collaborating together. They are putting their work up on the monitor and working together, collaborating, communicating, doing the type of things — the 21st century skills that we want them to hone and become experts at.”
Sixth- through 12th-graders are able to take their Chromebooks home with them to complete their web-based assignments.
“Our students, from the very earliest grades, are preparing. They’re using the tools that they will use when they get into college and then into work and beyond,” Merritt said.
Two other districts in the area received Straight A grants in fiscal year 2015. Beavercreek City Schools received a $995,000 grant to train teachers how to use a new teaching model. It previously received a $3.866 million grant to purchase iPads and cases for K-8 students. Milton-Union Exempted Village also received $2.1 million for one-to-one technology.
Ross said the Straight A grant was conceived in an effort to make decisions on improving education go down to the local level. “Too often, those decisions are made in Washington or Columbus,” he said.
The Straight A Fund has provided $250 million in grants since its was first included in Gov. John Kasich’s 2014-2015 budget.
“It’s been overwhelmingly positive. The fact that we’re asking teachers, communities, superintendents, board members to come up with ideas that are not dictated to them, but they’re conceiving themselves, is really appreciated,” Ross said.
Kettering’s Director of Instructional Services Druann Miller said the district took its time formulating its plan to upgrade technology, which included updating its WiFi infrastructure, as well as installing high-definition teleconferencing systems that have allowed students to experience education opportunities across the globe.
“I can honestly say that the Straight A grant has transformed the whole culture of our district,” she said. “We went from a culture of some teachers didn’t even know how to access their Google Gmail account to now they’re using the technology daily in their classroom for kids to access all kinds of resources.”
Soon, sixth- through 12th-graders will have access to a Dayton Metro Library eCard, which will give them access to more than 50 online databases available on the library’s website.
“They’ll also be able to download any of the thousands of OverDrive eBooks and audiobooks that were available to them and they’ll be able to have them on their device,” Merritt explained.
Kettering City Schools partnered with Montgomery County Educational Service Center and the University of Dayton to make the same technology available to its students learning in other facilities.
“We wanted to make sure that our students — it reached the students no matter where they are being educated,” Miller explained.
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