A little glimpse: Nanwalek school reports on first quarter with iPads

  • By Kelly Sullivan
  • Monday, December 14, 2015 9:57pm
  • News

Nanwalek School staff and students are well into the first year of using their Apple Inc. gadgets, acquired through the ConnectED initiative and aimed at bridging the technology gap.

Principal Nancy Kleine pieced together a video presentation summarizing successes from the first quarter, which was presented before the Board of Education during a worksession Dec. 7, using — of course — the school’s various new devices.

At the start of the school year, “students and teachers immediately dug in and began the hard work of learning how to effectively use our iPads for learning,” Kleine said in the video.

Nanwalek School and school district administration developed measurable goals to be achieved through the three-year, one-time grant. Apple’s partnership with the White House was created to help schools that have minimal access to Internet and up-to-date technology, according to the Nanwalek ConnectED Charter, which was also presented during the worksession.

Kleine said making the video gave everyone at the school a chance to reflect on the many positive changes already popping up after only one quarter of implementation.

She highlighted the ways the 80 iPads — coupled with the fast Internet brought to the village in 2014 — expand access to information for students.

Before this year, students would write down questions to look up later, Kleine said.

“Students would miss those spur-of-the-moment learning opportunities because we didn’t have reliable access to the Internet,” Kleine said.

Teachers are more often implementing varied instruction in their classrooms by being able to supplementing physical with electronic resources and platforms, and kids can more easily record their daily lessons, Kleine said.

“Teachers are adding tools to their tool box to help students,” Kleine said.

Nanwalek teacher Glendon Fraser said his students are using applications to learn about product creation, improve geography skills and stay organized. He has been able to spruce up his website to include lesson plans and assignments for students who may have missed class and outlines of daily objectives.

“Right now there are a lot of great things that our iPads are providing for our students, in my classroom I think the best thing right now is that my classroom website gives them a vehicle through their iPads,” Fraser said.

Each of the strides made in the classroom are reflective of the ConnectED Project goals through utilization of the new technologies, including teachers being better able to personalize instruction, collaboration of staff, providing equity and access to the web. In the long-term, on-site goals will translate into increased digital literacy throughout the community, according to the document.

Kleine finished by saying she was thankful for the chance to give the wider school district a “little glimpse” into how things were going at the school.

Reach Kelly Sullivan at kelly.sullivan@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Bruce Jaffa, of Jaffa Construction, speaks to a group of students at Seward High School’s Career Day on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at Seward High School in Seward, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward students talk careers at fair

More than 50 businesses were represented

Alaska state Sen. Bert Stedman, center, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, listens to a presentation on the major North Slope oil project known as the Willow project on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. The committee heard an update on the project from the state Department of Natural Resources and the state Department of Revenue. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer)
Official: Willow oil project holds promise, faces obstacles

State tax officials on Thursday provided lawmakers an analysis of potential revenue impacts and benefits from the project

Jerry Burnett, chair of the Board of Game, speaks during their Southcentral meeting on Friday, March 17, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Board of Game decides on local proposals

Trapping setbacks, archery hunts and duck restrictions were up for consideration

Audre Hickey testifies in opposition to an ordinance that would implement a citywide lewdness prohibition in Soldotna during a city council meeting on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna council kills citywide lewdness ordinance

The decision followed lengthy public comment

Samantha Springer, left, and Michelle Walker stand in the lobby of the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Springer named new head of Kenai chamber

Springer, who was raised in Anchorage, said she’s lived on the Kenai Peninsula since 2021

Forever Dance performers rehearse “Storytellers” on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, at the Renee C. Henderson Auditorium in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Storytellers’ weave tales with their feet

Dance and literature intersect in latest Forever Dance showcase

Soldotna City Hall is photographed on Wednesday, June 24, 2021, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna OKs donation of portable shower, restroom facilities to homelessness coalition

The city purchased the portable restroom and shower trailer for about $182,000 in October 2020

The Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation building is seen in Juneau, Alaska, in March 2022. The deadline for the permanent fund dividend is coming up fast, landing on March 31, 2023. (Michael S. Lockett / Juneau Empire)
PFD application deadline is next week; state revenue forecasts lower than expected

Alaska North Slope crude oil was estimated to be about $71.62 per barrel on Monday

COVID-19. (Image courtesy CDC)
COVID-19: Cases jump in Kenai Peninsula Borough

No hospitalizations were reported in the Gulf Coast region

Most Read