2012 Honorees
Exemplary Program
Little Falls Community Schools, 2012 Award Recipient
Project REAL
Little Falls Community Schools put iPads in the hands of 1,450 students last year, marking the largest known one-time roll-out for full-time student use in the state of Minnesota. The district first launched a pilot for Project REAL in 2010 by providing an iPad to each fifth grade student before fully launching it last year.
Project REAL has gained the attention of school administrators and teachers statewide and led the district leaders to share how they did it and what the results have been. Much of the project’s success stems from the district’s focus on providing teachers high quality professional development as they worked to incorporate the devices into instruction in the most meaningful ways.
Project REAL aims to:
- Increase student engagement in school
- Provide student and family access to digital content
- Provide access for students to pursue individual interests
- Create opportunities for the student to extend the learning day
- Better prepare students to meet the expectations of higher learning and their future employers