DAVIE — Back to school preparations took on a high-tech theme for nearly 250 of the Broward County School District’s principals, teachers, media specialists and technology support staff, as they participated in a daylong kickoff event for the new Digital 5: Pathways to Personalized Learning (D5) pilot initiative.
“What is going to be taking place in your classrooms is amazing,” schools Superintendent Robert Runcie told participants during his keynote address.
“The D5 initiative fits into our core strategy for providing students with high-quality instruction and setting the stage for what the future of education is going to look like, not just in Broward County, but the world.” As part of D5, approximately 3,200 fifth-grade students from 27 elementary schools and their teachers across the district are each receiving laptops. Access to digital resources, online instructional materials and other learning tools are also included in the initiative.
Officials said the goal is to maximize student learning by allowing students to control the pace, place and path of their instruction, with students able to incorporate their real-world techniques for gathering web-based research and data into their classroom experience.
Schools selected to participate in the D5 initiative completed an application process through which they demonstrated a readiness to integrate digital content, online resources, digital tools, digital citizenship and student digital devices into daily classroom practice, officials said.
During the Aug. 14 kickoff event, which was held at Florida Atlantic University in Davie, school and district staff received professional learning on the digital resources being provided as part of the D5 program. In addition, experts shared best practices and strategies for transitioning classrooms to the new digital format, while focusing on delivering personalized instruction for students.
The 27 elementary schools participating in D5 are Bennett, Broadview, Broward Estates, Coral Cove, Coral Park Springs, Davie, Eagle Point, Harbordale, Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Park, James Hunt, Lauderhill, Paul Turner, Lloyd Estates, Maplewood, Nova Blanche Forman, Palm Cove, Pembroke Lakes, Beach, Quiet Waters, Sanders Park, Sea Castle, Silver Lakes, Tropical, Watkins, Westchester and Wilton Manor.
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