Practice Grant Proposal

MCCSC
Shannon Krebs
Autum Roberts
Madison Treser

I.

Abstract
A. In MCCSC, there are three middle schools: Tri-North Middle School, Lora L Batchelor Middle School,
and Jackson Creek Middle School. Tri-North Middle School has 569 while Jackson Creek Middle School
has 552 students, and Lora L Batchelor Middle School has 535 students. The students in the middle
schools have iPads, but they do not have keyboards for writing assignments when labs are filled. iPads
can be really useful for the classroom, but they are hard to write extensive projects on. With extra
accessibility to iPad keyboards, teachers can have students write more for projects and papers in class.
B. Demographics:
1. Tri-north Middle School has 569 students in their school. Tri-north Middle School is a Title 1 School. The
students that make up the demographics include following: 435 out of the 569 students in the school are
White. While 24/569 are Hispanic, 39/569 are black, 33/569 are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 3/569 are
American Indian/Alaskan. Male students account for 277/569 of the students while female students
account for 292/560 students. 212/569 of the students are eligible for free and reduced lunch.
2. Lora L Batchelor Middle School has 535 total students: 286 in seventh grade and 249 in eighth grade.
437/569 of the student make up consists of White students. While 27/535 are Hispanic. 22/535 are Black,
12/535 are Asian/Pacific Islander, and 3/535 of the students are American/Indian Alaskan. Male students
make up 269 and 266 of the students are female. 231/535 of the students are on free and reduced lunch.
3. Jack Creek Middle School has 552 students: 280 of the students in seventh grade while 272 are in eighth
grade. 453/552 of the students are white. While 26/552 are Hispanic, 12/552 are Black, 37/552 are
Asian/Pacific Islander, and 1/552 is American Indian/Alaskan. 286 of the students are male while 266 of
the students are female. 134/552 are eligible for free and reduced lunch.

II.

Need for the Project

A. The main reason that we believe these students need keyboards is because they make writing much more
efficient for the students in the classroom. Efficiency is key on such limited time for lessons. Below are
three research articles and how they justify our need for keyboards.
1. Out of Touch with Typing
a) According to this article the need for keyboards is that students need to be able to type to be more
efficient in the classroom. If students do not learn how to type, then they will be less efficient with their
writing and this can affect them throughout their lives (Trubek, p.1)
2. Why Average Typing Speed is Important
a) This article highlights how important it is to have a high typing speed to be more efficient. If students
have keyboards then they will able to practice more and get their typing speed up, and thus be more
efficient (Why Average Typing Speed is Important, p.1).
3. Why Touch Screens Will Not Take Over
a) This article discusses how touch screens will not take over when it comes to typing because laptops are
usually held away from the student, so it would be much more difficult for the students to be able to only
have touch screen devices and to not have keyboards with them and that will also cause them to be less
efficient (Pogue, p.1).

III.

Goals and Outcomes

A. Goal: Each middle school will receive 85 iPad keyboards. The keyboards we will be using are Belkin
Secure Wired Keyboard for iPad (30 Pin-Dock connector). Instead of using Bluetooth, the keyboards
have a cable that connects to the iPad. This will cause less confusion for the teachers and students as well
as less glitches that Bluetooth can have.
B. Outcome: Teachers will be able to check out a classroom set of keyboards for their students to use.
Students and teachers will have more time to spend on work when they are not travelling to the lab to
work. Also, hoping that middle schools will continue to use iPads for educational purposes. Students will
now have more versatility with the iPads by using tools that require a keyboard. For example if students
are collaborating on google docs, they can now use the keyboards to type and easier instead of using the
touch screen.
IV.
1.
2.
3.
4.
V.
A.

VI.
A.
1.

B.
1.

C.
1.

VII.

Activities and Timeline

May 2016 - Order and receive iPads
June 2016 - Distribute iPads to schools (full week)
July 2016 - Professional Development for Teachers
August 2016 - Schools can begin using iPads
Purpose of the Project
Our goal is to buy 85 iPad keyboards for each middle school that teachers can check out based on needs.
With this, we hope to limit time of leaving the classroom to attend labs. The keyboards will enable the
students to do typing related projects and collaborate more easily.
Partnerships
Belkin
We are going to continue working on our partnership with Belkin. We hope that Belkin will send out a
representative on how to work the keyboards and iPads. We will be working with them to create
collaborative blog posts to demonstrate how we are using them in the classroom.
PTA
We want to get the parents on board with this transition. We understand that it is a big step to go from
using iPads and the following year, using keyboards. We hope that parents will help support the faculty
and their children. We want to work with parents by preparing parents for the expectations of using the
keyboards.
Administrators
We are going to partner with the administrators in providing teachers with professional development. The
administrators will help with holding the professional development.

Impact
A. The iPad keyboards will enable the students to be more efficient in their projects, promotes collaboration,
and allows for a more engaged classroom. The keyboards are also a great way to teach typing skills.
These skills can aid students in writing assignments and reduce time spent on projects instead of
handwriting. By having the keyboards, this enables all the middle schools to have the same access to
technology and makes sure no students is missing out on any opportunities.

VIII.
1.
a)
b)
c)
2.

Evaluation and Assessment of the Project

Questions for teachers
How has the efficiency of the classroom changed with the keyboards?
What kind of assignments do you do with the keyboards?
How often do you use the keyboards?
Questions for stakeholders

a) How has your child felt about the iPad keyboards?

b) How is the student adjusting to the iPad keyboards?
c) Does your child feel that the keyboards are more efficient?
IX.
Sustainability
A. To continue this program we will need to keep up the maintenance of the keyboards. To do this we would
have the students pay a small technology fee in the beginning of the year to go towards any keyboards
that may break throughout the year.

X.
A.
B.
C.
D.

Budget Narrative
$45.00 for each iPad keyboard
85 for each middle school; three middle schools in MCCSC
45.00 x 85 = 3,825 dollars
3,825 x 3(schools) = 11,475 dollars