Elmhurst teachers enhance student learning with Google Chromebooks

ELMHURST – It's about 7:45 in the morning, and a group of York Community High School's English, foreign languages and art teachers head over to the Ellis Room, a small space that rests in the center of the school's library. Long tables trace the outline of the room, and the teachers sit accordingly.

Instructional technology coaches Katie Diebold and Jill Heaton hand each teacher a Google Chromebook, and Heaton begins the lesson – Google Classroom, an online site that offers a different perspective of distributing information between students and teachers.

The site allows teachers to share and edit handouts, post links to lectures, start a discussion and submit assignments.

Heaton said while Google Classroom allows teachers to do more, it is up to them to keep one question in mind: What is the best way for students to learn – to take today’s lesson and turn it up a notch?

Effey Nassis’ seventh-grade English class at Bryan Middle School answers that question. Nassis starts the class period by playing a couple “screencasts,” short student-made videos that make an oral presentation of a book report or a PowerPoint slideshow look “old school.”

Soon after, the students grab their Google Chromebooks from a gray cart at the back of the classroom and take the rest of the period to work on their final project – a digital poem analysis.

“It’s all about learning,” said David Smith, director of technology at Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205. “What’s behind all of this is preparing students for college and ultimately, their careers.”

Following a unanimous decision by the Board of Education on May 12, the district will take the next step to require high school students to purchase Google Chromebooks beginning next fall in addition to buying textbooks for their classes. As for middle school students, District 205 is working on supplying Google Chromebooks for them to use during class.

Michelle Fitzgerald, assistant superintendent for Learning and Teaching, and Cathy Baker, instructional technology coordinator, said they also have discussed ways to improve the schools’ technology-based classes.

Fitzgerald and Baker would like to introduce basic coding in middle school computer classes. They also are developing an internship program for high school students to help repair issues with Google Chromebooks and continue their learning in other technology-based classes.

Fitzgerald recognizes this is a shift for all teachers and students, and in an effort to ease the transition, the district assigned instructional coaches to provide support for them.

Diebold said she and Heaton often host training sessions and one-on-one meetings to help teachers.

Over the summer, the instructional technology coaches will offer more classes for teachers as they find a rhythm that will help fuse traditional methods with their devices, Heaton said.

Classroom policies also will need to be changed to address issues that may arise when using the devices in class.

When Nassis first was handed a Google Chromebook, she admits she felt overwhelmed, but over time, she constructed rules and set the tone for her students on how and when to use the devices appropriately.

“You have to completely rethink your way of teaching,” Nassis said. “The devices are not meant as a substitute for pencils or for learning, but they are meant as an enhancement.”