CHS initiative gets attention of Ohio educators, Google

CHILLICOTHE — Chillicothe High School Principal Jeff Fisher and Technology Coordinator Josh Montgomery stood in front of a slide on a screen Thursday morning pointing up at a pair of runners who were in the process of tumbling face first over track hurdles in what appeared to be a decidedly painful fashion.

The tumble, Fisher told an assembled group of educators from across the state gathered in the Chillicothe High School auditorium, is what they have to be prepared to endure if they want to build a system that effectively utilizes technology in the classroom.

"I can tell you this, that was Josh and I numerous times throughout this initiative," Fisher said of the battered hurdlers. "I would challenge you to get bloodied, to get beat up, get in the mix.

"Those two individuals (the fallen hurdlers) are not the individuals I fear in education. The individual I fear in education and that I challenge you not to be is the individual who stopped at the first hurdle, he saw the issues, he saw the challenges and he said, 'You know what? My staff just won't buy in. My community won't support this. We can't find the money. My kids can't be trusted.' If you're that guy, the entity that's going to be hurt most is your students."

The initiative to which Fisher was referring is Chillicothe's 1-to-1 Chromebook Initiative that has now placed the laptop-style devices into the hands of every high school student with the intent to expand the program into the middle school grades. The district's success caught the attention of representatives of Google for Education, which asked Chillicothe to host a Google for Education day-long workshop demonstrating to other districts how they can roll out similar programs for their students.

The presentation was titled "Overcoming the Hurdles" because Fisher and Montgomery stated that the first step to launching a successful technology initiative is getting teachers, parents and the community to set aside all of the "what ifs" that create negative thinking. That, they said, is done by making sure a solid financial plan is in place to ensure long-term stability for the intiative. It's done by making sure a strong technology infrastructure is in place to be able to handle the demands on the system when an entire school full of students is trying to access it at the same time. It's done by choosing the right devices to use and it's done by making sure ample training is provided to teachers and students to make them comfortable using those devices.

Even more important than all those things, however, is trust. Perhaps the biggest leap of faith in that regard -- and one that was the focus of the greatest amount of discussion during the planning process -- was the decision to allow students to take their Chromebooks home with them each night. A series of site visits to other districts experimenting with 1-to-1 initiatives convinced district officials that allowing students to take their devices home so their learning and exploration could extend beyond the limits of the school day was essential for the program's success.

"The people that had the most success trusted their kids," Fisher said.

That trust has been justified, Montgomery said. The technology coordinator had planned on seeing about 25 Chromebooks damaged beyond repair each semester, but since the entire high school student body received their devices in late January, there have only been three that could not be repaired. District officials are also noticing a sense of ownership over the devices from students.

Also needed is buy-in from the teachers and a commitment to fully utilize the technology to supplement their instruction. Through aggressive teacher training not only before a plan's rollout but continuing once the devices are distributed, Fisher noted that educators begin to see the excitement of students as they become engaged with it, and that tends to overcome all doubts teachers may have had.

In addition to the morning overview presentation, the visiting educators had the opportunity to see a rundown of the latest Google for Education products and services, see how Chillicothe teachers are utilizing the Chromebook initiative and hear from students about why they have embraced it so well.