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The trap too many of us fall in to with technology is that we’re just doing the same things we’ve always done, except now there’s a computer involved. Sure, there are some “21st Century Skills” that students achieve (often times we falsely assume through osmosis), but at the end of the day, showing video clips on Youtube is no different than popping a video in the old VCR.

With the proliferation of mobile devices, many wonder if it is possible to permit students to bring their own technology to school, rather than the school purchasing a device for everyone. Our experiences with 1-to-1 technology suggest that this day indeed will come; however, we are not yet prepared to realize BYOT. There are several issues with BYOT; although, in our estimation the greatest concern is ubiquity of use. When schools have multiple platforms, it is increasingly difficult to shift the educational culture. More time will be spent normalizing technology than teaching students. If, and when, this ubiquity issue is addressed, either through improved technology or an elevated technological IQ, BYOT will become an attractive and necessary option.

After a pilot, Salisbury found iPads didn't support the kind of content creation, such as making movies or presentations, the district wanted in its classrooms. The five-year overhaul strives to move away from lectures to student-driven content creation, Ziegenfuss said. “Tablets have not quite evolved to the point of easily creating content,” he said, adding that might be totally different in a few years.

McCrea: What were the hard parts of this initiative? Smith: Staff development was a big issue. Before the 1:1 rollout we spent at least six months on staff development. Going from 30 kids in a room opening textbooks to 30 kids opening computers is a significant shift. We wound up with a number of early adopters who bought into the change and a bunch of others in the middle who were saying, "Give me time and we will get there." Then there were staff members who refused to participate and threatened to retire. We stuck to our guns and told everyone that we were moving in this direction and that everyone had to be on board. Four years later we're still not there yet but we've definitely made progress. Getting to 100 percent is going to take a while.