Kuno 3 tablets become learning tools at Cardinal

ELDON ? Cardinal middle and high school students and teachers got their hands on a new learning tool Thursday.

Each student now has a Kuno 3 tablet, replacing MacBooks that were used in the district. An educational program, CurriculumLoft Cloud, will deliver content and teachers can create their own lessons in CurriculumLoft and send directly to students. Teachers also can share lessons with one another.

?Kuno had the management and curriculum we were looking for integrated with using this tablet,? said Cameron Chamberlin, technology director. ?Students will have an office application installed and other applications as needed for classes.

?Teachers will use the Kuno to request applications for classes. Teachers will have the ability to control their laptop from the tablet while walking around the room.?

Videos, PDFs and other software will enhance lesson content plus ensure students and teachers are using cutting edge technology.

The Kuno tablets also have the ability to print.

All grades 6-12 students have a Cardinal email attached to their Kuno tablet, said Chamberlin.

?We are discussing social media for at home, Twitter will be available on Kuno,? he said.

Kuno is equipped with a mobile web filter embedded at the root level, making it Child Internet Protection Act compliant whether on or off school property.

?The decision to go with a Kuno tablet instead of other technology options was based in part on the program Curriculum Loft that allows teachers to push material and content to students through their tablet device and have access to it at home without an Internet connection,? according remarks on the school?s website.

?Middle school and high school teachers have spent several professional development days this fall preparing for the rollout of the Kuno tablet and are prepared to start implementing them in their classrooms as soon as students receive their devices.?

Kuno uses the open-architecture Android 4.0 ? known as ice cream sandwich ? operating system, which provides multitasking, rich notifications, customizable home screens, resizable widgets and deep interactivity.

It features a 9.7-inch touch screen and weighs a little more than 1 pound. Kuno 3 incorporates a full-size keyboard and a mouse pad.

The school district spent $321,872 out of its one-cent sales tax revenue on technology this year, for:

? Five-year lease on 530 Kuno tablets for students grades 6-12 to take home daily; grades 3-5 will have a classroom set per grade.

? K-2 will have a classroom set of iPads.

? Purchase 10 Promethean boards ? white boards that project image of computer screen and is interactive like a computer screen, can be written on with a stylus. This now equips every room in the district with a Promethean board.

? Pre-K ? K Promethean tables.

On the Cardinal school website, www.comet.com, a note from the district says, ?Remember that this new tablet program will be a process that will be changing every day. Please support the school during the initial stages of implementation. We are excited, but know that this will be new learning for all of us. More updates to follow.?

This same website page includes a Kuno form and tablet use agreement that parents and students have read and signed.

?We are moving to a digital text book environment, the tablet gives us the ability to push information to the students by class, grade or individual,? said Chamberlin. ?The tablet will allow students a more dynamic learning environment.?