Waukesha One emphasizes the personalization of learning that enables every student (K-12) to choose his/her own learning path, pace and product to meet and demonstrate the established learning goals. Staff creates the conditions for learning, providing students with an environment that values a growth model, embracing both failure and the learning process, and a loosely defined series of pathways for achieving growth and demonstrating learning. Technology is used to enhance learning and to provide access to vast resources and methods of demonstrating student learning. Technology, as a transformative element in the instructional process, is the component that makes the mass personalization of learning possible and manageable. As we aim at allowing students greater flexibility in their education, access to educational content, and to creativity and productivity tools, needs to reflect and respect that flexibility. In a self-managed model, students experience that flexibility with their assigned device while similarly accepting responsibility for maintaining that device and staying educationally focused. In a self-managed model, one device is provided to each student by the School District of Waukesha. That device is the property of the School District of Waukesha and must be returned at the end of a refresh cycle. In a self-managed model, the student (and his/her parent(s)/guardian(s)) can utilize the iPad as if it is their own. That means that the student has permission to update the apps and the device, to add new apps to it of their own choosing from the Self Service app store, to utilize a district provided email address on the device, to maintain a calendar on the device, and to utilize the iPad to maximize his/her own productivity and efficiency for educational purposes. Additionally, students will need to develop a meaningful “workflow” for getting content on the device, for editing and working with content while it is on the device, for sharing content with others, and for clearing content/apps from the device. Natural Transition Period Education is presently in a state of transition as we learn to embrace tools that will allow us to better prepare students for a rapidly changing world. This is a dramatic shift from the experience that most adults had in an educational setting. This includes our educational staff. As a result, the selection as a Waukesha One school, or the arrival of devices does not signal an immediate change in practice. There will be a natural transition period in which staff members learn to use and embrace devices to achieve a personalized learning environment. |
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