Teachers in the Math, Science, and English departments are collaborating with the school’s Instructional Technology staff to deliver new courses through such contemporary digital platforms as the iPad, the Kindle, and laptops.
In Mathematics: Veteran mathematics teacher Paul Chiment is conducting a two-part course for juniors and seniors on Calculus and Statistics using the iPad. Chiment feels that the digital textbooks available for the iPad in these subjects offer his students the best combination of quality, value, and innovation available.
In Biology: Biology teacher Staci Richard looks forward to the multimedia digital courseware that she will be implementing with Laguna’s ninth grade this fall because of the way that it embeds interactive illustrations, short films, and audio within the context of a traditional biology text.
In English: English teacher and journalist Charles Donelan has presented the 11th and 12th grades’ seminars on “Digital Nonfiction” through a variety of platforms, including but not limited to the iPad. “Many of our students enjoy reading on digital tablets now, and in college their assignments will definitely require them to create work that can be shared and displayed digitally. The Digital Nonfiction seminar allows me to meet student demand for more and better digital resources, and to train those students to write for the publishing platforms that they are most likely to encounter both in college and in their careers.”
So far, the students have enthusiastically embraced the Digital Curriculum and love using the new iPads in their classrooms. “It took me a little while to get used to it, but, with the help from a pen-like stylus, I am now able to take notes even faster on my iPad than with pen and paper and they prove even more helpful when looking back at my notes at home,” said senior Elijah Bittleston, who is the co-editor of the school’s student paper website, The Fourth Estate. “I definitely believe that iPads, other tablets, and computers will be making a greater appearance in classrooms in the future, and Laguna is wise to embrace the technology sooner rather than later.”