Reopening New Jersey: District gives every student Chromebook to make remote learning easier

ByDarla Miles WABC logo

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

NJ school district provides students with Chromebooks

Darla Miles reports the Paterson school district is providing a Chromebook to each of its students to make remote learning easier.

NEW JERSEY (WABC) -- The Paterson school district has provided a Chromebook for every student after falling short of devices in the spring.

Now one teacher is passing along the helpful advice on how he has learned to maximize the technology.

"With the Google, Google Chrome and all the free add-ons you can get, there are a lot of really great editing tools and video creation tools," International Baccalaureate teacher Matthew Caruso said. "Don't be afraid of the technology, it's there to help for sure."

Caruso has found ways to manage participation in large class sizes.

As more than a million kids prepare to head back to school in New York City, there are new concerns about whether those who are learning remotely will show up and engage in online

"Google breakout rooms is a great add-on for Google Meet that you can add your individual groups and you can actually pop in and you can actually talk to them like you're in the room next to them," he said.

Ensuring participation in the world of remote learning is just as important for parents as it is for students.

"We are providing 'parent university' to our parents to continue their knowledge of using Google Classroom," said Joanna Tsimpedes, the Asst. Superintendent of Academic Services & Special Programs.

Rising Junior Isabella Gonzalez said there is definitely a way to make remote learning work better than how it did at the end of the last school year.

She now has dedicated classroom space created by her mom and had some advice for teachers to make her experience in the virtual platform more effective.

"I think if we bring in more kids in more group discussions where we're pushing students to talk, the class will be more active even with it being online," she said.

MORE NEWS: Moving companies turn customers away as people leave Tri-State in record numbers