“Backpack Initiative” brings education to forefront in Charles City

Sophomores respond through the text application on Kuno tablets to a question posed by high school English Teacher Jamila Mack during the device's demonstration last Friday to county and school leaders.

Andre' Jones photos

“We’re going to see a transformation in learning that is very exciting.”

Those words were spoken by Charles City superintendent of schools David Gaston as he barely held his enthusiasm in during last Friday’s demonstration of a 1-to-1 KUNO launch, better known as the “Backpack Initiative.”

Supported by Virginia’s Department of Education (DOE), the initiative provides KUNO educational tablets (small, touchscreen computers) to each student in the county’s school system. In Charles City, 60 sophomore students are the first to use the devices.

“Learning the way we have has changed,” added the superintendent. “We now have opportunities to use technology far and wide. Our students are receiving the tools they need to become even more successful in the real world.”

KUNO tablets were provided to the school district through a DOE grant of $400 per student with the locality providing a 20 percent match ($80). In total, the initiative is valued at $28,800, something that Gaston said is worth the price.

“These devices are much more personalized and individualized to a student’s needs,” Gaston said. “Students will have 24/7 textbook access and curriculum access.”

Through prepackaged software called CurriculumLoft, cloud technology is used to distribute content to students. Teachers can send assignments, notes, assessments, and research materials to students through a variety of applications. Teachers also have the capability to send the aforementioned materials to individual tablets or a select group of students.

In turn, students can send responses to the teacher, sometimes anonymously if the instructor gives them the option. Students can also indicate their confidence in an answer through a scale provided by one of the tablet’s applications. Those instructors can track the data of individual students through their responses.

Based on that information, teachers are able to identify which students may need additional tutoring or which students understand the concept and can proceed to another portion of the lesson. That data is tracked only by the instructor, giving him/her the ability to send different concepts to students without other pupils knowing.

During an all-day tour, county supervisors, officials, and school board members visited classrooms to view the devices in action. Demonstrations included science classes having the ability to click and drag items from the tablet and send them back to the teacher to using a text message feature to answer questions in an English class.

Tablets have been in place for only three weeks, but school board chairwoman Helen Payne-Jones was pleased with early feedback and positive responses from both teachers and students.

“I’m very excited for the students,” said the chairwoman. “The 24/7 aspect to me is a big step, and this device will provide that type of learning.

“This is one of the most innovative things that has happened to our school system,” she concluded.

KUNO tablets also have other benefits for students in the system. Each tablet is embedded with a filter that makes it safe for the child to use under the Child Internet Protection Act (CIPA), both on and off school property.

After touring classrooms and seeing a variety of uses for the tables, county leaders received a hands-on experience from a group of sophomores. Under the instruction of Promethean Education consultant Penny Izquierdo, county officials used the items to view a video lesson on fractions, take pictures of candy to demonstrate the concept, and send them to the consultant. In turn, Izquierdo chose a couple of responses and inserted them into her lesson plan through CurriculumLoft.

KUNO also isn’t limited to the pre-installed software. ClassFlow and ActiveInspire are also compatible with the device, giving teachers a number of ways to create and manipulate lesson plans for pupils.

Promethean territory sales manager Chad Snell said using the devices and working with Charles City schools only creates additional opportunities in the future.

“This is the main talk in Virginia now,” Snell said. “This is not a stand-alone effort, but a collaborative effort to provide education to students.”

Promethean donated an additional five tablets to the school system, bringing the total to 65. While the high school sophomores are the only group using the devices currently, Gaston expects a majority of students to have them next year.

“This is going to be something special for the Charles City school system,” the superintendent concluded.

District 2 supervisor Bill Coada (right) asks a question to student guide Keonna Motley to solve a problem using the tablet.