HP Office of Global Social Innovation
HP EdTech Innovators Award Program
Proposal form
Grant recipient details
1. Project name - The Malton Technology Initiative (MTi).2. Project key contact-
Barry Carolan, Head of Science and Technology,
Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School.
7640 Anaka Dr., Mississauga, ON, Canada.
L4T 3H7.
905 676 1287
fax 905 678 7177
3. Username on award website: barry carolan
4. Project executive summary –
We are using HP Technology from the HP Innovations in Education Grant to integrate effective pedagogical strategies with technology and support to transform teaching and learning in the community of Malton. This community has the lowest scores in the district in standardized tests in Math and faces additional challenges with poverty and crime. The technology provided by the Grant has been used by teachers to ensure a seamless transition for the Grade 8 students as they move into Grade 9. The primary objective is to significantly improve student motivation and achievement at Ascension of our Lord Secondary School in Math and Science. Preliminary results are impressive. After one year, student scores in Math and Science have increased by 6% and 8% respectively, and student referrals to the office from math and science classes for discipline has decreased.
5. Institution legal name
Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School.
7640 Anaka Dr., Mississauga, ON, Canada.
L4T 3H7.
905 676 1287
fax 905 678 7177
Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board
40 Matheson Blvd,
Mississauga, ON
7. Country: CANADA
8. Type of institution – Secondary School
9. Institutional purpose or mission
The Mission of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, in partnership with the family and church, is to provide, in a responsible manner, a Catholic education which develops spiritual, intellectual, aesthetic, emotional, social, and physical capabilities of each individual to live fully today and to meet the challenges of the future, thus enriching the community.
10. Students served – 800 students, grades 9-12, at Ascension of Our Lord SS, 150 Grade 8 Students at Holy Cross and St. Raphael Elementary school.
11. Institution tax ID number: N/A
12. Tax exempt?
X No. If not tax exempt, HP may request additional documentation.
Description of the project
13. History of the projectThis project involved integrating effective pedagogical strategies with technology and support to transform teaching and learning in the District’s poorest achieving community, Malton. The District augmented the Grant technology to ensure that HP products and services were available to additional Ascension of our Lord Secondary School staff and students, the three intermediate level classes at Ascension’s two feeder schools ( Holy Cross and St. Raphael Elementary Schools). The District also installed interactive white boards in all science, math and grade 8 classrooms.
The primary objective was to improve student engagement and achievement in Mathematics and Science and to assist in developing digital age technological literacy skills. All of Ascension’s Mathematics and Science Teachers and the Grade 8 Teachers working in Ascension’s two DPCDSB feeder schools were provided with technology, professional development, and training. Some teachers were directly mentored by ISTE while others were indirectly mentored through their colleagues. While the Grade 8 feeder schools were provided with the technology, the impact of this project was measured only with students at Ascension Secondary School.
The educational environment at Ascension is not reflective of the Province of Ontario. In Malton, about half of the students study at the Applied level (destined for Community College or workplace experiences) while half of the students work at the Academic level (destined for University). The Province at large has a much larger proportion of the students working at the Academic level, with roughly only one-third studying at the Applied level. Additionally, the students at the school scored the lowest in the district in the Provincial Standardized Math test. The HP Innovations Initiative was used to address the specific challenges of this community, with the hope that learning for our students would be transformed into one that was rich in collaboration and interdisciplinary project‐based activities that reflect our students’ real‐world experiences.
The preliminary results have been impressive. Student achievement in Academic Science and Math improved after first semester, and after second semester, grades in Math and Science have improved by 6% and 8%, respectively. Student referrals to the office for discipline from math and science classes has decreased, student referrals to Academic Resource has decreased, and changes have been noted to teacher instruction in increased frequency of student-centred learning, greater facility in developing or customizing resources and an increase in modelling and facilitating current and emerging digital tools.
The MTi project progress has been documented on a wiki created by the participating team members. That wiki can accessed at http://dpcdsb-mti.wikispaces.com/. A video detailing the project was received well recently at the ISTE conference in Denver and can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXd0UHMB8Vw .
14. Students impacted –
Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School has approximately 800 students in attendance while Holy Cross Elementary School and St. Raphael Elementary School has about 500 and 400 students, respectively. These students live in the area of Malton, which is the poorest neighbourhood in the city of Mississauga. These schools currently receive NGO funding for breakfast and lunch programs in an effort to improve achievement. Most of the students do not have digital age tools at home, and thus the HP Innovations Grant has provided them with tools to help them grow and compete in a digital world.
15. Area(s) impacted –
Students in Math and Science at Ascension of Our Lord will be using the technology. While the “blue sky” goal would be to have all students in the school using an HP Mini-note in every classroom, the scope of the project is currently restricted to Math and Science. Students will monitored for credit accumulation, grade scores, referrals to Academic Resource, referrals to the office for discipline, and attendance,
16. Describe the innovations your project proposes to expand-
As the MTi team moves into its second year, it would like to expand its use of HP Mini-note computers in the classrooms. Currently, the math and science teachers at Ascension and the Grade 8 teachers at the feeder schools have an HP Tablet PC. Ascension has 4 carts of 15 Mini-notes and each feeder school each has a cart of 15 Mini-notes. The team is challenged by having consistent access to enough computers for the students. Class sizes are typically in the mid to high twenties and as such, students must share HP Mini-notes. Additionally, the team would like to expand its use of DyKnow software. This software (recommended by ISTE) works best with students having access to an HP Tablet PC. Currently, only teachers have a Tablet PC. For student-centred activities and class-collaboration to work effectively, every student in the class needs a computer and a stylus is required to easily post group progress to the interactive white board. Thus, it is a goal of the team to use the technology in combination with DyKnow software more frequently than last year.
With more computers available through this grant, it will also lessen the need for sharing the HP Mini-notes, resulting in better and more learning for each student. As it is, student engagement is limited to pre-technology levels because lack of availability, which is really a result of too great a demand for usage by all the teachers.
Since the team goal is to improve student learning with more student-centred activities, use of a combination of HP Mini-notes, HP Tablets, DyKnow and interactive whiteboards is essential for success. Use of DyKnow software will be monitored and measured in the next year. Additionally, measures in the first year of the HP Innovations grant will be replicated.
The initial MTi 2009 Action Plan and the June 2010 update can be viewed at
http://dpcdsb-mti.wikispaces.com/.
17. How are you going to measure the results of this project?
For students:
The goal is to continue to improve student achievement in math and science by improving student engagement. This will be measured by tracking improvements in:
v report card scores for grade 9 and 10 Math and Science
v Grade 9 applied EQAO Mathematics scores (the Provincial Standardized Test)
v Credit accumulation in Grades 9 and 10
v attendance and punctuality
v referrals to the office and academic resource
For Teachers:
The goal is to continue to support teachers as they implement technology to augment effective pedagogical strategies. This will be measured using:
· increased frequency of use of DyKnow software
· continued contributions to the MTi wiki and the ISTE online community
· increased frequency of student centered learning, greater facility in developing or customizing resources, an increase in modeling and facilitating current and emerging digital tools, and utilizing the tools to participate in local and global learning communities.
Student success and learning will be measured using statistics available from the District and the Province in June 2010, January 2011, and June 2011. In-school statistics can be accessed during the same time frames for student referrals.
Teacher success can be measured by measuring the contribution frequency to the MTi wiki, by using the ISTE survey monkeys for the NETS-T metrics, and contributions to the ISTE moodle during the time frames of June 2010, January 2011, and June 2011.
18. Provide a timeline for project completion with periodic milestones and celebration dates identified.
Fall 2010: Continued use of the current HP Innovations Grant technology with Professional learning activities for the teachers during the summer of 2010. The team will meet twice in the fall semester to improve DyKnow usage.
Statistics will be gathered in the fall (PRE-statistics) using District and Provincial data for students and NETS surveys of teachers and students.
Christmas 2010: Receipt of the Ed-Tech Award Technology and implementation into the classroom. Teachers will continue with Professional Learning through ISTE.
Spring 2011: Use of the HP Tablet PCs in conjunction with the HP Mini-Notes for student learning in student-centred activities in Math and Science. Teacher collaboration will continue and sharing of best practices will be posted on the MTi wiki and ISTE moodle.
June 2011: Student metrics and NETS data will be collected and analyzed for goal-setting for the 2012 year.
June 2011: MTi Video – Year II will be produced by the students at Ascension.
June 2011: Proposal submitted to HP for expansion of the project into the Geography and English Departments of the school!
Other information
19. Assurance of eligibilityYes
20. Assurance of commitment:
Yes
21. Approval of HP Grant Terms and Conditions
Yes, Herman Viloria, Principal at Ascension of Our Lord SS as an authorized administrator has read, understood and agrees with the HP Grant Terms and Conditions for our country/region.
22. Approval of HP Privacy Policy Please confirm that you understand HP’s data privacy policy (http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/privacy/masterpolicy.html), and agree that the information your institution has provided may be used by HP to send you information related to this grant application and other HP Social Innovation related programs.
Yes
23. Special offers Would you like to receive information from HP and our Partners about free or discounted products, services or events for educators? If you check Yes, we will share only the e-mail address of the primary contact indicated in your proposal.
Yes
24. Shipping instructions-
Barry Carolan
Ascension of Our Lord Secondary School.
7640 Anaka Dr., Mississauga, ON, Canada.
L4T 3H7.
905 676 1287
fax 905 678 7177
25. HP reference-
Two of our team members were at the ISTE Conference sponsored in Denver in June, 2010. The representatives were Carlo Jeffery and Andriy Kulyasa, and an HP representative encouraged the team to apply for this Ed-Tech award. However, the HP representative who asked them to apply for this grant is not known at this time (the delegates are still in Denver). The HP representative on the MTi project has been Joan Rocha ().
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