District 1 iTeam Kids program uses tech to teach
iPads aren’t an after-school gaming device for Yuma School District One students. Instead, they are catalysts for learning about digital citizenship and cultivating useful skills.
Through District One’s iTeam Kids program, third through eighth graders are getting handson leadership experience with software and hardware.
The program started in 2014 when District One was in the process of adopting the 1:1 Personalized Blended Learning model. It was a “big undertaking,” according to iTeam Kids Coordinator Janna Perez, as many of the students and teachers were brandnew to iPads at the time and navigating troubleshooting together.
But that’s the beauty of iTeam Kids.
“The teachers aren’t a certified ‘tech person,’ they’re just someone who’s willing to learn technology with their students,” Perez said. “Every year it changes a little bit…so they really are learning it side-by-side.”
The program meets three times a week in all 18 District One schools; depending on the site and schedule of the teachers (called “iInstructors”), programming is either before school or after.
With the help of a curriculum produced by educational technology nonprofit GenYES, the program has moved beyond the simple things like how to use AppleTVs and navigating apps to onthe-spot troubleshooting, coding and robotics.
Now when classrooms have technical difficulties, the teachers don’t call IT guy — they call on their own students, who are trained and skilled to address the issues and keep the class rolling.
“It’s giving them the responsibility of being able to work with a teacher … they’re happening to try to be a mentor or a teacher to a teacher. They’re working on their respect, their leadership and their communication skills.”
According to Perez, iTeam Kids
has especially opened doors for students who don’t have a sport or band instrument to pour into.
“Some of (the students) are not sports kids, so this is an encouragement for them that they can be a leader at their school in something other than a sports activity,” Perez said. “It doesn’t matter what your ability is, anybody can use technology and develop communication skills.”
Through the program, students are also getting an early start on fostering professionalism.
Often times, the students go into different classrooms and give presentations on tech how-to’s to their peers.
iTeam Kids isn’t just for the kids, though; the students regularly share
their tools and knowledge with the district’s teachers through professional development sessions that are exclusively student-led. Each session has its own topic and teachers sign-up for the ones that interest them and hear from the students about technological tips and tricks.
The next professional development day is planned for Feb. 14 at Castle Dome Middle School.
“The vision behind iTeam kids is to develop leaders using technology,” Perez said. “Technology is the tool but they’re also learning about communication, reading, writing, collaboration, leadership skills. It isn’t about just learning technology — it’s using that as a tool to develop these leadership skills in our students.”