Schools

FCPS Expands Use of Online Textbooks

Social studies pilot deemed a success, will roll out to all students in grades 7 through 12

Fairfax County Public Schools announced Friday its plan to expand the pilot program for online social studies textbooks to all students in middle and high school this academic year.

FCPS staff will present the plan to the School Board at a work session at 1:30 p.m. Monday.

FCPS will pay for the textbook license up front and make up for the costs by reducing per-pupil textbook funding for middle and high school students by $10.93 for the next six years. The funding is projected to be replenished by 2017.

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For every 100 online subscriptions, FCPS will receive 30 hard copies of the textbook.

Online textbooks in core social studies courses — Advanced Placement and elective courses will use printed textbooks until online versions become available — were tested through a pilot program in the 2010-11 school year. Eighteen schools — eight middle, eight high and two alternative schools — participated in the pilot.

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"If the teachers were enthused about it, the kids were enthused about it. If the teachers weren't, the kids weren't," said Alice Reilly, FCPS social studies coordinator, who deemed the pilot a success overall. "It really identified a need for professional development for the teachers so they could become more comfortable with the technology as well as helping them shift their pedagogy to best instruction, so that's what we're going to do."

A professional development day on the topic has been scheduled for Aug. 31.

Peter Noonan, assistant superintendent for instructional services, said a switch to online textbooks is inevitable as schools must respond to students being "digital natives" who are more and more infrequently gaining information from traditional books.

FCPS will begin to encourage students to bring their own laptops and technology to school. Currently, FCPS does not have a policy against it, but it is often discouraged.

For students who do not have their own laptops, the school will provide them with one. There is no set plan on how providing technology will work. FCPS is looking at other checkout systems in place — for musical instruments or calculators — as a model.

FCPS is confident 100 percent of students will have access to technology and the Internet during the school day. As for access away from school, FCPS is still working on a solution that would reach every student.

"Those students who don't have the access, we'll work very closely with their families privately to ensure they have the access necessary to get to a level playing field."

FCPS is looking at different types of broadband systems, wireless cards and allowing students to use computer labs before and after school.

FCPS discovered through the pilot that 92 percent of middle school students have computer access at home, .3 percent have no access and 73 percent say they can have access whenever they want it. For high school, the results are 88 percent with access at home, 1.5 percent have no access and 82 percent have access whenever they want it.

"That digital divide is not as great as we might think," Noonan said. "In that pilot, we had a very wide swath. We had alternative schools to schools in high poverty to some of our most affluent schools, and surprisingly the access didn't change."

As for worrying about whether students will be distracted by Facebook or other social networking sites during class, Noonan said FCPS is beyond that argument.

"It goes back to ... expectations," Noonan said. "Having been a classroom teacher myself, you say to kids, 'Here's the expectation. I'm going to trust but I'm also going to verify. So I'm going to be walking around.'"

Students sign an Acceptable Use Policy that addresses what they can and cannot do with the technology, and students will also be behind the FCPS firewall.

"Certainly the opportunity is there for distraction. I think it's not dissimilar to students writing notes," Noonan said. "I think the medium has changed, so there might be some notes written electronically instead of passing them through the rows."

While the technology itself may not currently allow for students to send virtual notes, it does provide several ways to take notes. Students have their own logins and can mark up the pages using highlighting and notes tools. They can zoom in on a map and calculate the distance between cities through a few clicks of the mouse. They can use an audio function to have the book read to them, or click on a keyword to pull up its definition.

The online textbook also provides ancillary materials that have typically been available to teachers only.

"I know many of our students when we've talked to them ... will say, 'When I have a textbook in front of me, and I have a question about what's in the textbook, my first stop is Google,'" Noonan said. "And [these extra resources] eliminate the need to go from a flat, hard textbook to a Google [document] that may or may not be accurate."

Because the online textbooks will be centrally purchased, which has not been the case with hard copies, every student will have access to the same materials. In the past, schools have been able to use their own discretion in deciding when to update to newer textbooks.

 

FCPS started the adoption process for online textbooks in mathematics this month. Adoption occurs every six years for one subject.

Schools that participated in online textbook pilot program

Middle schools: Glasgow, Hayfield, Hughes, Lake Braddock, Longfellow, Rocky Run, South County, Thoreau

High schools: McLean, Madison, Stuart, Hayfield, South County, Lake Braddock, Chantilly, South Lakes

Alternative schools: Bryant, Mountain View

7,937 students and 113 teachers participated


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