Only two schools in the entire state were named last week Apple Distinguished Schools, honoring innovation, leadership and educational excellence using technology.
Roosevelt Middle School in River Forest was one of them.
Apple has three pillars for the award: Inspire, Imagine and Impact with technology.
Roosevelt staff spent the better part of two school years honing its entry, which culminated in a three-minute video that showcased the school’s intentional use of technology in the classroom.
“When I got the news the other day, it was the validation of technology,” Roosevelt principal Tina Steketee said. “There is a big lens on technology. You can be purposeful about technology in the learning space.
“It’s not an extra. It has value in learning.”
It was the second year in a row that a River Forest School District 90 school was named an Apple Distinguished School. Last year, Willard Elementary School was one of 32 winners.
All District 90 students from pre-K through eighth grade use Apple iPads, while all teachers use iPads and laptops. But that is in no way the whole story.
In STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, students use different technological tools and coding to bring physical prototypes of their ideas alive for engineering design challenges. It’s also used as an inclusive tool to support home language learning.
In the area of humanities, students explore key themes in literature and non-fiction texts using digital tools. They’ll prepare scripts and create iMovies of scenes from books as complex as J.R.R. Tolkein’s “The Lord of the Rings.”
You’ll also find technology a big part of world languages, where students will create and watch audio/visual messages from their pen pals in France, thus bridging the physical and language gap between the two countries. Art classes use tech to create avant-garde images of everything from self-portraits to stills.
“In a nutshell, the theme for our video was to be intentional, know what your goal is,” Steketee said. “We talk about tight goals and how do you get there, and technology is a vehicle to get there. You need to know that purposeful learning first.”
But it’s important to note that in each of those areas, tech is merely a tool that complements traditional learning approaches.
Kevin Martin, director of technology for District 90, said the district focuses on “a purposeful use of tech,” not passive.
“We purposefully decide,” he said. “We don’t want kids to passively look at iPads all day. There is executive functioning, kids checking assignments. It’s more about how they are interactive.”
Katie Brennan, an instructional technology specialist at Roosevelt, said technology can also show the value of other methods of learning.
“When we think about technology, we look at students as lifelong learners … how they learn,” she said. “(They) engage in coding and recognize that they can do those things outside of the iPad. What are those skills they need, and that includes face-to-face (communication).”
Another aspect to consider is the fact that the video emphasizes balance between tech and non-tech pursuits. Martin said that last year Roosevelt instituted no-screen lunch and recess.
“That’s true during other times of the day,” he said. “PE is screen-free. It’s time to move your body.”
Next month, Apple will release a directory with all the schools nationwide that were named Apple Distinguished Schools, and each school’s video.
“We become a great network of local, national and international schools, like-minded schools and districts that are using similar tools,” Martin said.