Room 10 Digital
Lyndon Cooney

This e.Portfolio is to help explain the learning benefits of 'Room 10 Digital'. The success and enjoyment of the students in the class is something we like to share.

An open evening is to be held on Thursday the 9th September for parents interested in inrolling their child in the digital class for 2011.

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Learning in a Digital Environment

In 2009 we decided to work towards setting up a digital classroom at Levin Intermediate in 2010. From the outset we discussed the desired outcomes and the reasons behind making this available. These were...

To provide an opportunity for students to use computers to enhance their current level of attainment regardless of their current level.
To make the most of electronic resource opportunities currently available within the school.
To remove some of the boundaries to learning that some students encounter on a daily basis due to their learning styles/preferences.

With these in mind we started to plan for the establishment of a laptop based learning environment. Trevor Jeffries-principal, Sharon Blackburn-parent and Lyndon Cooney-teacher worked together to meet the needs of the project.

At present we have 1 class of 32 students working with a Lenovo x100e laptop each. In most curriculum areas information is stored, in digital format, on our school network.

The students are actively engaged in their learning and have shown very good assessment results in all curriculum areas. The classroom is open from 8am each day and it is not uncommon to see 2/3 of the class already engaged in schoolwork by 8:30am. The bell rings at 9am and in many cases active learning actually needs to stop at this stage to do admin tasks like calling the roll.

To date the establishment of the class has been a real success story for our school.

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F.A.Q.

Is this an i.class?

The students input to what we called ourselves was interesting. They very quickly adapted to the idea that their learning was no different from other students around the school and that the only difference would be their increased access to a computer. For this reason, they decided that they wanted to be called 'Room 10' and that we would only refer to ourselves as 'Room 10 Digital' when we were discussing the use of the technology within the class.

What is different about this class to 'Computer classes' in other schools?

Although we get to use computers a lot, we only use them to enhance a normal class environment. The computers don't dictate what we do - we use the computers as a way to store, find and share information in a digital format.

Unlike many other schools with a 'computer class / i.Class environment the students/whanau don't pay to be in the class - they pay for the computer which becomes theirs to keep upon graduation from school.

What are the benefits?

Some of the students who have come in to the class have done so because they are finding it difficult to engage in learning or they have learning difficulties. This is seen as a way to remove some of the barriers to their learning (such as handwriting, spelling etc). So far the results with these students has been great.

How could I get my child involved?

Current year 6 students will have an application form in their enrolment pack which can be filled out and submitted with enrolment to the school. Current year 7 students will receive a notice later in the year with details. Application forms will also be available from the school office and via the website.

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Student & Parent Comments

What people think

Comment by Courtney B on 22 July 2010 - 9:20 PM:
It is pretty cool in Room 10. I have gone up 4 levels for e asttle reading this year.

Comment by Tessa B on 22 July 2010 - 9:19 PM:
I have really enjoyed this year so far and have improved heaps in my math!

Comment by Samantha O on 22 July 2010 - 9:18 PM:
i think this class has taught me more stuff than I knew before

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Assessment Results

Mid year e.asTTle results for Room 10

Movement - Sub levels

up 1	14	42%
up 2	7	21%
up 3+	6	18%
No move	6	18%
	Total Improved	82%

N.B. Movement of one sub level in a year is considered good progress (based on the NZ Curriculum guidelines.)

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Lenovo Video

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Whats going on

Whats happening in R10

Term 4

Posted on 30 August 2010 - 7:42 PM

Miss Samantha McLean has been employed to take over the digital classroom in Term 4. She is currently working with Mr Cooney and Room 10 to find out how the class operates and to get to know everyone before the end of the term.

No comments have been approved for this comment area yet.

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Whats it look like?

Here are a few pics showing what we get up to each day.

Below are six random images in Whats it look like?.

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Succesful use of applications

School Web Site applications provided by 'spike@school':

Students have daily access to learning caves where they can store information and collaborate with learning. This is especially beneficial in inquiry learning. Students also have access to this out of school time, via the internet, meaning that they can continue to learn out of school time.

Recently e.portfolios (like this one) have meant that students can share their learning, via the internet, with any one. Providing an audience for the students gives real purpose to activities.

MS Outlook - E.mail & Calendar:

The teacher can e.mail work and electronic reminders can be set for deadlines etc. Students are able to e.mail each other work for peer editing. This has provided a positive way for students to help their classmates and enhance each others learning. In addition to this students e.mail their parents (as well as others) once a week letting them know what they have learnt about during the week.

Mathletics:

Using Mathletics on a daily basis has boosted the engagement of students in matematics which has been reflected in their assessment. Students, parents and the teacher can all monitor progress and plan for the next steps in learning.

Google Earth / Wikipedia:

Using applications such as Google Earth and Wikipedia, provides links to text. Students now see this as an appropriate thing to do to extend their learning when they are 'finished' their work. An example of this was a reading group that had read an article, in a school journal, about a hydro dam. The students were given the text needed in the search bar of Google Earth and they were able to see the real dam in relation to the rest of New Zealand. They then were able to search for dams such as the Hoover Dam and make the link to this type of energy being used in many parts of the world. The students were able to point out things they had learnt from their reading activities such as 'spillways' and 'turbine stations', from the image in front of them.

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Related Web sites

Lenovo x100e review
A review of the thinkpads we use
Mathletics
R10 Digital access mathletics most days. The maths progress as a result has been very pleasing

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Samples of our Learning

There are currently no files in this file set.

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Room 10 DigitalLyndon Cooney

Learning in a Digital Environment

F.A.Q.

Student & Parent Comments

Assessment Results

Lenovo Video

Whats going on

Term 4

Whats it look like?

Succesful use of applications

Related Web sites

Samples of our Learning

Room 10 Digital
Lyndon Cooney