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Woodland schools giving Chromebooks to 4th- and 5th-graders

After equipping about 2,180 middle school students with laptop computers for the first time last year, the Woodland Elementary District 50 board voted Tuesday night to expand the program for the upcoming school year to the roughly 1,300 fourth- and fifth-grade students at Woodland Intermediate School.

The school board voted 6-0 in favor of the plan to lease Google Chromebook laptops for three years at a cost of $338,727.

Steve Thomas, the Gurnee-based district's assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said the Chromebooks have been well-received by students, parents and staff.

The district ran a successful pilot program called Woodland Inspires last year for about 300 fourth- and fifth- grade students, Thomas said.

"The technology allows teachers and students to enhance their collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity in their learning," he said.

The district has worked hard to implement the new technology. When the school board voted in September 2015 to lease Chromebooks for middle school students, Superintendent Joy Swoboda said the decision culminated about 1½ years of work.

Woodland wants to wind up with what's becoming known as "tradigital" learning, a mix of traditional and digital methods.

"Each teacher can choose when it is best to use traditional print tools like books and written tasks and when it is more appropriate to use the Chromebook for virtual or digital tasks," Thomas said.

Even kindergarten through third-grade students will benefit from the effort, Thomas said. Desktop computers previously in fourth- through eighth-grade classrooms are being sent to the earlier grades.

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