Kindergarten students code a robot bee to move it across a game board. A couple more write their names on a flat screen at the front of the classroom, while others design games on their individual iPad.

Technologies like Bee-Bots, Smart Boards and devices stocked with apps have increasingly popped up in Wisconsin classrooms in recent years, as the state rolled out computer science and technology literacy standards for K-12 curricula.

Door County's rural schools were no exception — nearly every public and private school along the peninsula has 1:1 devices, meaning schools provide each student their own laptop or tablet.

In classrooms, teachers no longer coach traditional fundamentals like handwriting, reading and math using only pen and paper. Their instruction mirrors the technology-driven, digitally evolving world, where the majority of people have a device with them and at least a basic understanding of technology. These tools are now essential for career preparation, and instructors realize laying the foundation early allows students to function amid shifting technology and economy.

St. John Bosco Catholic School Kindergarten Teacher Nicole Aderholdt started teaching about four years ago in a Milwaukee private school, where she was given outdated equipment, including a clunky transparency projector. She's now entering her second year teaching in Sturgeon Bay, equipped with a Smart Board, Bee-Bot and iPads stocked with educational apps for her 13 students. 

Aderholdt completed STEM training this summer through Project Lead the Way, in which St. John Bosco participates. The national project provides students with hands-on learning in computer science, engineering and biomedical science areas, from kindergarten through 12th grade. The goal? To acclimate young learners to today's technology and innovation-focused world. 

"It's rethinking teaching," Aderholdt said. "With traditional teaching and thinking, you say 'here's a table' and give a definition of what a table is. Here you give them something, they touch it, they figure out what it is, what are the structures of it, what does it do. It makes them connected (and) invested, especially if you give them problems." 

Dialing up technology-focused academic standards

To teach the next generation of learners, educators had to catch up to speed with new teaching tools and STEM topics. 

In June 2017, then-State Superintendent Tony Evers adopted computer science academic standards to serve as teaching guidelines, making Wisconsin the ninth state to do so.

While optional for schools to implement, the standards ensure students learn what you see out in communities and the workforce, according to John Johnson, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction director for literacy and mathematics. He said those foundations are still in print materials, and similar to those there's a "progression in experiences" for young learners.

Johnson said teachers weave technology use into all subject areas when it enhances learning.

"In K-2, it’s pretty foundational experiences," he said. "It's not that a kid is learning how to even Google something, but they might be collecting data on something and that’s a tool to move forward."

Computer science education focuses on algorithmic processes, problem solving and data collection. The first building block comes in kindergarten, when the standards advise students develop skills to construct and execute tasks when given sets of step-by-step instructions. This is where Bee-Bots come in, and the idea of teaching kids in a way that feels like play, another draw of using technology in classrooms. 

A set of buttons indicating directions perch on Bee-Bots backs. Young students are given tasks, like getting their bee to the apple picture on a board of images. They must count the squares, then tell their bee where to go by pushing the buttons in a pattern.

The iPad app Aderholdt and another teachers frequently use, Scratch Jr., teach similar basic coding skills using a cartoon character students must program. 

Aderholdt said using hands-on techniques with technology assistance is a way for students to get away with guessing on multiple choice questions, to gauge their understanding of concepts. 

"It transfers all that information a lot easier, instead of just a normal test," Aderholdt said. "You can't guess and get it right. Sometimes you might forget what the name is, but if you know the function of it it's a lot easier to explain."

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Giving all students technology use guidelines

Parents everywhere worry about their kids staring at screens too long, and the potential for dwindling attention spans in the off-screen world. Many wonder why their kids need devices in school when they're already glued to them at home. 

Responsible technology use is part of what students learn with devices in school, including how to use devices safely and sparingly.

Janice Mertes, assistant director of teaching and learning for digital learning in the public instruction department, said they provide parents guidance for managing kids and technology, like creating family media plans that include device-free time and co-viewing certain media. She said the DPI still encourages daily technology use and physical activity recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"As we see devices going to younger grades we want to provide best practice suggestions," Mertes said. "(The) exercises defined are really enhancing what the students are doing."

Aderholdt stressed the kids are not on their iPads frequently. She directs them through different rotations, including building with Legos and reading books, and only one activity uses iPads.

Gibraltar School District also participates in Project Lead the Way and has 1:1 devices for students. The district's Director of Technology Andrew Moore said there's a general fear that devices will be used to waste time, but he does not see that happening at Gibraltar. Devices are accessed at prescribed times by teachers and only hold educational apps, he said. 

"I look at iPads as a tool," Moore said. "I think it’s the district's responsibility to teach kids how to use those tools appropriately, responsibly and in a mature fashion."

Not all children are pre-exposed to technology, or given rules related to responsible electronic use at home. By bringing devices into classrooms, schools catch students in this gap and teach them how to use tools that may not be otherwise accessible.

According to Johnson, that's why it's important to look at the quality of technology use in classrooms rather than the quantity.

"There is an issue around equity of access to digital platforms," he said. "Not every child comes from a home that has internet or even cell phone access or different digital literacy experiences, so that’s a place that schools ... (are) high speed centers for digital literacy for any age."

Expanding diversity in STEM careers

By exposing kids to STEM, educators and administrators hope more students will consider entering those career fields. Doug Waterman, dean of Information Technologies and Learning Innovations at Fox Valley Technical College, hopes computer science standards diversify who pursues these careers.

He said the image of a computer scientist is a "nerdy guy," a narrative that needs to be shifted to attract larger, diverse employees.

"Getting women into computer science is huge right now," Waterman said. "Anything we can do to change that pipeline and get them into that area is going to help our companies."

Waterman, who was part of the computer science standards writing committee, wants more students taking their first steps to get into STEM fields in the classroom. By educating students early on about computer science and technology literacy, he hopes that awareness garners more people pursuing STEM degrees.

Before getting information to kids, teachers need to get up to speed. Waterman trains instructors on the new technologies and advises how to integrate them into curricula. Many educators, like Aderholdt, do not have a computer science or information technology background. Project Lead the Way provides training as well.

As the computer science academic standards enter year three of implementation, it's the hope schools fully incorporate standard recommendations into the 2019-20 curricula, according to DPI's roll-out plan.

"We’re looking at what it is going to take for these students to function and integrate into an economy once they do graduate," Waterman said. "I don't care what job you're going to do, you have to have computer skills."


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