Education Reboot
Butler Catholic School began integrating Chromebooks into its education program for seventh and eighth grade students in 2014, but the school purchased new units for most students and iPads for preschool students for remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Students in the preschool program for children ages 3 and 4 were given iPads after the Christmas break so they could participate in virtual learning before in-person classes resumed Jan. 11.
Teachers and parents said they are pleasantly surprised about how students engaged in their lessons using the iPads.Preschool teacher Tonya Briggs said her remote classes started out with two 20-minute sessions separated by a break livestreamed over Zoom.“My class liked it so much, we went for 40-minute sessions,” Briggs said. “The kids were really engaged, so we started extending the time. If it's too much, they can leave any time after 20 minutes, but they all seem to stay. They really enjoyed it.”Sitting in front of their iPads at home, the nine children in her class can watch her working on a worksheet and join her in watching YouTube video lessons about letters, numbers and other subjects.The students press a key to signify they raised their hands to answer or ask a question.The iPads provided the medium to allow some socialization, which is one of the main objectives of preschool, but a difficult one to achieve through distance learning, Briggs said.In one activity, the students were asked to find objects in their homes that begin with a certain letter of the alphabet and show them to the rest of the class using the iPads.
To add some fun to classwork, Briggs uploads games such as Letter Bubble that students can access through their devices. The game helps children learn the alphabet by challenging them to pop bubbles to find letters that make the correct sounds, and is among the class favorites, even though they don't play against each other.“They feel like they are playing a game together, even though they are socially distanced and not playing (physically) together,” Briggs said. “They feel like they're interacting when they're not.”Another learning app she uploaded is ABC Mouse, which helps children learn letters, numbers and problem-solving at their own pace.The children quickly learned to use the iPads and became savvy users.“They picked it up so quickly,” Briggs said. “It's amazing what they can do at 4, 5 years old. Sometimes I forget how to do something and they remind me. They're teaching us teachers, too.”
Preschool students are now bringing their iPads with them to school and use them in class.“They feel like it's theirs,” Briggs said. “They feel like big kids. They have their own device to use.”One of her students, 5-year-old Kylie Gapinski of Butler Township, quickly learned to use her iPad and enjoys using it, said her mother, Ashley Gapinski.“I am amazed at how well she can use it,” Ashley said. “The iPad is a lot easier to use than a computer. I think she enjoyed seeing her classmates, even remotely, and engaging with her teacher.”The school gave her third-grade daughter, Kaelyn, a Chromebook when remote learning began last year.
Butler Catholic uses the Google Classroom web service as the platform for all grades. Teachers make assignments that students access through a link and print at home. Zoom is also accessed through Google Classroom.Shannan Dorcy, who teaches 3- and 4-year-olds, said teachers screen apps to review their programs and make sure content is appropriate before letting the preschoolers access them.Kiddopia, an app that combines education and entertainment, is used in all curricula, she said.“They think they're playing, but they're actually learning,” Dorcy said.Using a stylus to operate the an iPad also benefits students.“They use a stylus to help them learn to use a pencil and to develop hand muscles,” she said. “I can still work on the pencil-paper part of it, too.”Students in kindergarten through eighth grade, who used their Chromebooks at home during remote instruction, began their days by logging into their homerooms and then Google Classroom where they access Zoom for their classes, said Kristen Singleton, who runs the school's technology program.Each class is presented through separate Zoom sessions. When classes end, students go to the next class sessions that become open.Zoom has a waiting room that allows teachers to make sure people entering classrooms are Butler Catholic students before admitting them, she said.Preschool students use their iPads to log in to Google Classroom and then use the Zoom link for classes.“It's almost a paperless classroom,” Singleton said.
