Cherry Hill
Education Foundation, Inc.
Grant Application
FOR CHEF USE ONLY:
CHEF APPROVED: ________
Date
BOE APPROVED: _________
Date
GRANT #: ______________
Name of Applicant:
Mike Dappolone
School: Cherry Hill High School East
Mailing Address:
Email Address: lockarm@gmail.com
Phone Number:
918 Deland Avenue
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
609.254.1617
Grant Title:
Paperless, Wireless, Limitless
Fax Number: 856.424.0637
Brief Description of Grant:
This grant provides a Kindle Fire Android tablet to each student in two sections
of physical science. This availability of these tablets will provide instant, always-on access (both in and outside
of class) to a large number of resources for the course, as well as creating a nearly-paperless environment.
Amount of funds requested:
$18,826.47
Total cost of the project (if different from funds requested):
Please attach the following information in the form of a descriptive narrative:
• Educational goals and objectives of this project/initiative
• Target population: number of students and schools being served by this project/initiative
• Way in which the project/initiative will be implemented
• Timetable for implementation, including beginning and ending dates
• If this is a pilot program
• Individuals designated to oversee the project/initiative
• Process for evaluating the project/initiative’s progress and success
• Once the proposal is initially implemented, are there any financial and/or human resources
that may be necessary to sustain the proposal successfully in subsequent years?
• Is permission required in any form by any entity/agency other than the Cherry Hill School District in order to
implement your proposal?
• What is the relationship between your proposal and one or more of the current district goals?
Please note the following if your grant requires a technical component:
To ensure compatibility with the district technology guidelines, please contact Don Bart at dbart@chclc.org for
district approval of the equipment requested.
Attach an itemized budget including all expenses for personnel, supplies, facilities, transportation, etc., with
written estimates from suppliers and vendors to support request.
Requests for recurring project funds will not be granted after the first year.
Please refer to the Foundation website for additional information on the grant application process:
www.CherryHillEducationFoundation.com. Submit ten copies of this application (include all attachments) to:
Cherry Hill Education Foundation, Inc., PO Box 3701, Cherry Hill, NJ 08034.
Applications will be reviewed beginning September.
Applications deadline due by: December 31. The individual signing this application hereby agrees to all
terms and conditions established by the Cherry Hill Education Foundation, Inc. including reporting requirements.
The undersigned hereby agrees to use any and all funds awarded only for those purposes set forth in this grant
application.
Signature of applicant: _________________________________ Date: ________________
Signature of principal: _________________________________
Date: ________________
Cherry Hill Education Foundation Grant Application
Mike Dappolone
Paperless, Wireless, Limitless
Goals & Objectives
Something has gone wrong.
If I walk into my classroom and ask my students to take out their calculators for an activity, invariably
one or two of my students will have arrived in class without one. If I ask them to take out a pen or
pencil, there will be one student who “lost it in the hallway” or “forgot it in my last class.” Students
forget their textbooks, their binders, their homework, and their lunch money. But ask any one of those
same students to produce their cell phone or their iPod, and *Presto!*, there it is. They don’t have their
house keys, or running shoes, or backpacks. They miss their buses and forget their guidance
appointments, but they always, always remember their phones and video games. They’re more likely to
remember to leave the house with a cell phone with a dead battery than with a calculator with a fresh set
of AAA’s.
Why? Why do students do this? The answer is very simple – teenagers have grown up with technology
all around them, with mobile devices in their hands. They have the ones and zeroes of machine
language in their bloodstreams. They communicate and collaborate and socialize by means of electronic
media in a way never before seen by the world. They have access to information on a scale and at a
speed unimaginable to us just a decade ago. They have a penchant for using mobile technology, a need
to use it, and yet, in our classrooms, we barely take advantage of these skills. In fact, in Cherry Hill, we
forbid them to use these devices most of the time. But my experience with students and their attitudes
about mobile computing has put me in a mindset that has clued me in to so many different ways to
create learning1.
Let’s face it – we’re missing a chance to revolutionize the classroom.
A huge number of technologies which have the potential to transform the modern classroom continue to
emerge each year. Cherry Hill Public Schools have made some effort to keep up, but, as is the case with
most publicly funded programs, the investment dollars required to remain on the leading edge of
technology simply do not exist, and large expenditures of this type are difficult to rationalize without
good data.
This proposal will fund the purchase of 65 Kindle Fire tablet devices, cases, screen protectors, and
warranty service, enough to serve two classes of students enrolled in the same course. Students will be
issued the devices for use for the entire school year.
This project will serve as an experiment to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a 1-to-1 tabletto-student classroom environment. The specific goals of the project are:
1
Dweck (2008), p. 62
1. Determine the effectiveness and feasibility of providing 1-to-1 mobile device availability for
students in the everyday classroom;
2. Foster an environment of technological transparency;
3. Make greater use of electronic resources;
4. Increase the opportunities for and the efficiency of communication between students, parents,
and teachers;
5. Create a classroom environment with minimal paper usage to decrease costs and reduce the
school’s carbon footprint, while simultaneously promoting and educating students about
sustainability as a daily requirement for conducting business;
6. Address the growing gap between the district’s current technology and the technology available
in the wider world.
NOTE: My plan for this project requires that the proposal be funded in time to purchase and prepare the
devices to be ready for use on the first day of the 2012-2013 school year.
Rationale & Project Details
Mobile computing, once thought to be a passing fad, has surpassed home computing as the standard for
internet connectivity, and is quickly overtaking desktop computers for the preferred platform for
productivity software. Teenagers have already begun to make mobile technology a part of their culture
– eighty-four percent of high school teens own or regularly carry a cell phone, and three-quarters of
those are smartphones or otherwise internet connected2. Huge numbers make use of social networking
sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, and most are savvy enough to write and submit a paper
electronically, search the internet for basic information, and download games and other applications.
Classrooms in Cherry Hill have begun to experience a technology upgrade of their own – desktop
computers have infiltrated most of them, and carts of laptops for student use are becoming increasingly
easier for teachers to access. SMARTBoards have appeared on the walls of classrooms throughout the
district, creating a huge new base of opportunity for students and teachers. The additions of eBoards
and ProgressBook have made access to grades, assignments, and class materials on the internet easier
than ever.
Despite these changes, students are still overwhelmed with paper on a daily basis. Most fundamentally,
they still carry textbooks. They are handed, on a daily basis, piles of worksheets, notes, rubrics, and
study guides. Students take exams on exams on paper, submit permission forms and acceptable use
agreements on paper, and, ironically, write most of their essays and projects on a computer and then
print it out onto paper. They carry stacks of paper with them everywhere, and even those best-organized
students lose track of something from time to time. Teachers frequently make much of this material
online, but generally with the expectation that students print those materials and carry hard copies. How
else, in all honesty, would students have on-demand access to such materials?
2
According to C+R Research, http://crresearch.com/blog
This project seeks to bridge the gap between the classic classroom practices and the proliferation of
mobile technology. If students have around-the-clock possession of mobile, internet-connected devices,
devices they can carry into the classroom and use as a part of their routine, then they can take advantage
of a huge number of options to which they would not otherwise have access.
For this project, individual students in two classes of the same course will be provided with a Kindle
Fire tablet. They will be expected to make use of this tablet on a daily basis in class – it will serve as a
notebook, web browser, calculator, response device, book reader, and research tool. They will also be
expected to use it outside of class to complete some assignments, submit their work, communicate with
peers, and conduct research.
As mentioned above, this project has several goals. Each is elaborated upon below:
1. Determine the effectiveness and feasibility of providing 1-to-1 mobile device availability for
students in the everyday classroom;
This project, above all, will serve as a pilot experiment to determine the feasibility of 1-to-1
mobile devices for students at High School East. All of the other goals for this project will be
considered when finishing the final report, and will include my recommendation on how the
district might proceed to expand this program.
2. Foster an environment of technological transparency;
One of the greatest criticisms of student possession of computers or handhelds in the classroom
is the distraction such devices create. Ask the average parent about their opinion on this, and
even advocates will mention the potential for distraction. The teacher cannot watch every screen
at all times – what if the students are playing a game, or browsing the internet, or (yikes!) using a
social network?
I agree that for a technology to be fully effective it must be as transparent as possible. It must
not be the focus of a lesson, but the medium through which the lesson is presented or enriched.
The technology cannot simply be used for its own sake – it has to be integrated into the lessons
and curriculum from the very start. That said, I also agree that the possession of a small, selfcontained computer is an obvious source of potential distraction – but managing the potential is
one of the hallmarks of an effective teacher.
Creating an environment where students will not be tempted to use their tablets for off-task
behavior is a near impossibility. Students unaccustomed to the omnipresence of such devices in
class will take some time to come to terms with the fact that the devices are tools for learning,
not just shiny new toys with which to play. Classic techniques like a busy in-class schedule
combined with opportunities for students to change tasks regularly, interact with each other, and
use the devices for directed activities are all sound strategies for preventing off-task use of the
devices. This will eventually (and, frankly, I cannot estimate a time frame) bring students into
the mindset that the tablets feel as though they were always a part of the classroom, and serve as
a supplement to rather than the focus of the lessons.
3. Make greater use of electronic resources;
Electronic resources are, and should remain, just that – electronic. Posting a document on a
website for students to access, download, and print rather than simply handing them a copy in
class completely defeats the purpose of the document’s electronic format. Many basic logistical
problems –students forgetting to print the document, hardware trouble, absence resulting in “not
knowing,” and so forth – can be avoided by simply handing each student a copy of the document
in class. Sending them home to do it for themselves needlessly complicates the matter. The
same goes for other resources – web sites, simulations, etc. – that students must access for one
reason or another. Sending them off to do this on their own creates complications that could
easily be avoided by accessing the resource in the classroom.
Until the introduction of ProgressBook to the district, students have not been exposed to the type
of environment which requires them to make use of electronic resources for school as a matter of
routine (I elaborated on this in Goal 2, above). Even with ProgressBook, students use it to check
grades and homework, and perhaps download the occasional document (which returns to the
problem above). If the district is to eventually move to a 1-to-1 tablet or laptop model for all
students in part to reduce paper usage, then student must be acclimated to such an environment
so that they understand their responsibilities.
Allowing students to use the Kindle Fire devices in class to access simulations, online tools, and
notes and other documents will allow them to work directly on or from the electronic copy. This
will greatly eliminate the need for paper and reduce the possibility of student quirks such as
forgetfulness or hardware problems such as broken printers to disrupt the learning environment.
4. Increase the opportunities for and the efficiency of communication between students, parents,
and teachers;
Students’ access to a mobile device with internet connectivity makes it simple and convenient to
use email and other services to communicate with other students, parents, and teachers. It is
already in my current practice to have students post their labors to the web and comment on each
other’s work; access to mobile devices will simplify this for students and open up the door for
greatly increased online collaboration.
Students work in pairs or groups or teams every day in my classrooms, and sometimes do so on
extended assignments or projects. Frequently, students work in groups created by me, which
means they are responsible for collaborating with students whom they do not necessarily see
socially outside of school. This means that most of their work together happens in class, and
collaboration beyond that involves a few scattered emails or text messages. The availability of
centralized applications for communication (see Implemenation, below) will greatly expand
students abilities to collaborate outside of the classroom.
5. Create a classroom environment with minimal paper usage to decrease costs and reduce the
school’s carbon footprint, while simultaneously promoting and educating students about
sustainability as a daily requirement for conducting business;
I have already touched on the logistical aspects of a reduced-paper environment, but the other
benefits of such a classroom cannot be ignored. In addition to directly reducing the carbon
footprint of my own classes, I can foster an awareness of sustainability and use that as a running
theme in my lessons.
Also, in this fiscally tenuous environment, the reduced cost associated from the use of less paper
(and fewer copy imprints from our media center) will result in a demonstrable savings for the
building.
It is my intention to develop a cross-disciplinary project for my students to analyze the
environmental and financial benefits of this scenario as a part of my course.
6. Address the growing gap between the district’s current technology and the technology available
in the wider world.
Tablets and other compact, high-speed, low-cost mobile devices have proliferated at an almost
unbelievable pace, but the financial and human constraints of our district (and many others, not
to put Cherry Hill on the spot) have resulted in an inability to stay on the leading edge.
Convincing the taxpayers to fund an initiative to put a tablet or netbook or laptop into the hands
of every student in the district is no small feat; I expect that the results of this project can be used
as evidence to support such a future technological expansion.
The bottom line is that mobile computing is a phenomenon that is not going away, and sooner or later
the many benefits of a move to 1-to-1 devices will be impossible to ignore (and, my opinion, will far
outweigh the difficulties). This project seeks to explore some of the possibilities, make some of the
mistakes, and reap some of the benefits – all at essentially neutral cost to Cherry Hill taxpayers.
Target Population
This project would target the students in two sections of the same science course. Ideally, this would not
exceed 54 students (27 per section); however, with the implementation of the new TONE schedule set
for September 2012, plus the clarity of past experience, this proposal seeks enough equipment for class
sections as large as 32 students each.
Alignment with District Goals
This project specifically addresses several district goals:
•
Continue to improve student achievement at all grade levels for all students and close achievement
gaps where they exist.
Student achievement can only be improved continuously if the system through which their education
is delivered is also improved continuously. The use of the Kindle Fire devices is intended, among
other things, to offer new options and opportunities to help to differentiate instruction in the science
classroom. The effects of these new tools on student achievement will be closely monitored as a
component of this project.
•
Achieve an increased level of consistency among all schools by applying an individualized datadriven approach to child study evaluations, IEP development and implementation of special
education programs.
As mentioned above, the Kindle Fire tablets will offer a variety of tools for differentiating
instruction. It is my expectation that these tools will offer special education students new
opportunities for learning, many of which I expect will emerge naturally as the year progresses.
•
Protect the quality of the district's educational program while minimizing the financial impact on the
local taxpayer, implementing greater fiscal and operational efficiency, providing increased
transparency and accountability, and pursuing alternative funding.
This pilot project can be conducted at essentially zero cost to the Cherry Hill taxpayer and serve as
an efficacy study that can, potentially, serve as a model for further implementation of 1-to-1 devices
in other classrooms or buildings.
Implementation Plan, Timetable, and Evaluation
This project is intended to serve as a pilot program to demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of 1to-1 mobile, web-connected devices in a typical classroom (the details and specific goals have been
discussed above). In order for this project to be effective, the equipment must be purchased and
prepared in time for use by students as of September 1, 2012, so that the students will begin and end the
year using the devices. This experiment will span the entire 2012-2013 school year.
Several applications and utilities will be installed to the Kindle Fire devices prior to the beginning of the
school year. In addition, students will be required to complete the following as a requirement for
participation in my classes (all of these services are free to sign up for and use):
1. Create an Amazon.com account to which to register their Kindle Fire (it will be deregistered and
reset to factory defaults at the end of the school year). Students will need this account to
download and install apps and books to the device.
2. Create a Google Gmail account so that students have access to a dedicated email account as well
as applications such as Google Chat, Google Docs, Google+, and Google Pages. Students will
make extensive use of these tools during the school year.
3. Create a Wordpress.com account for posting some of their work to the Digital Dappolone Project
Blog.
4. Create a Socrative Student Response System account for use during in-class activities.
It is my expectation that my implementation of this project can serve as a model for the rest of my
building (and, hopefully, the district). I will survey students regularly and incorporate their attitudes,
their words, their work, and my own observations into a detailed report by June 30, 2013. My report
will include an analysis of the Kindle Fire devices themselves, in terms of their functionality, ease of
setup, maintenance, and use, and the durability of the hardware.
The services of the school technologist will be required to initially set up the devices for use on the
district network.
No permission is required from external agencies or entities for completion of this project.
In line with my current practice, I will continue to survey students across the year about many aspects of
the class (including aspects beyond the use of the Kindle Fire devices).
Ongoing Support
There is no future financial support required for this project, except for the time of our technologist in
the event of hardware or software problems. However, as a result of my own experience with these
devices, plus the ease of maintenance and the availability of the warranty requested by this proposal, I
do not anticipate a substantial commitment on the part of the technology staff.
Equipment & Costs
Item
Kindle Fire
Kindle Fire Lightweight MicroShell Folio Cover by Marware, Graphite
AcaseView Screen Protector Film Anti-Fingerprint, Anti-Glare (Matte Finishing)
for Amazon Kindle Fire Wi-Fi (3-Pack)
Griffin GC16040 Stylus
SquareTrade 2 Year Warrantly w/ Accidental Damage
Qty.
65
65
Price
$ 199.00
$ 29.99
Subtotal
$ 12,935.00
$ 1,949.35
23
$ 15.99
$
65
65
$ 10.00
$ 44.99
Total:
$
650.00
$ 2,924.35
$ 18,826.47
367.77
Works Referenced
1. Kohn, A. (2006). The homework myth why our kids get too much of a bad thing. [Cambridge,
Mass.]: Da Capo Lifelong.
2. Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset: the new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine Books.
3. Gee, J. P. (2004). What video games have to teach us about learning and literacy. New York:
Palgrave Macmillan.
4. Johnson, S. (2006). Everything bad is good for you: how today's popular culture is actually
making us smarter. New York: Riverhead Books.
5. Johnson, S. (2006). Everything bad is good for you: how today's popular culture is actually
making us smarter. New York: Riverhead Books.
6. Shirky, C. (2011). Cognitive surplus: how technology makes consumers into collaborators. New
York: Penguin Books.