At STEM School Chattanooga our primary focus is on moving education from a teacher directed and disseminated environment to a student owned and centered learning experience. In order to make this transition, it is vital for students to own the technology and information. So we have flipped the paradigm of the classroom so that the student is in control of the knowledge and information, as opposed to the teacher.

STEM School Chattanooga has a 1-to-1 structure in our school. A 1-to-1 structure is where there is one personal computer or computing device for every student. At STEM School Chattanooga, every student has a Chromebook that the student uses 24/7. This provides each student with individual access to the Internet, content applications, educational apps and programs, social media, and other information sources or applications.

Advantages of 1-to-1 technology access include:

• Permits the student to have control over his or her own education. Students can get information themselves, rather than waiting for the teacher to access or dispense information.
• Puts the teacher in a facilitator role. This frees classroom time up from the traditional "sit and get" structure. Teachers are able to focus on guiding students through information and students are active workers. Students ultimately learn how to interpret and then use the information they have gathered. Students also can spend time figuring out how to utilize the information, take time to process the information, and finally apply the information.
• Promotes collaboration. Despite concerns that a personal computing device will isolate students from each other, the technology actually encourages collaboration. Students share information, find helpful resources that multiple students can use, and practice taking varying pieces of research from multiple students and combining the research into a singular group document.

We want students to be self-reliant in gathering information, to be skilled in accessing even greater information, to be able to comprehend and process the information, and then to utilize the information in new and innovative ways. 1-to-1 technology is the lever for providing the avenue to make this change a reality in every classroom, every day.

Below is a brief list of some apps our students use on a daily basis. It is important to note that the goal is to move from dependence of a teacher for individual and group success to student's owning their learning and being in control of that learning. In traditional settings, students are reliant on teachers to provide whole class instruction to supply the students with the content information at hopefully the right time. In a 1-to-1 setting used appropriately, students are no longer dependent on the one person standing in front of the classroom nor limited to a finite piece of time, but can access, use, and apply information collaboratively and have real control over their learning. Teachers teach students critical thinking and students become critical thinkers, readers, writers, and presenters throughout their school day.

Apps used daily in our high school:

• Book Creator: The simple way to create beautiful ebooks
• Camera: Quickly captures audio and video recordings
• GeoGebra: A graphing caculator for functions, geometry, Algebra, Calculas and Statistics.
• Google Calendar: Sync dates, alerts, and reminders across all platforms
• Google Classroom: Provides a safe and easy way to connect and collaborate, share content, access homework, and share school notices
• Google Docs: Word Processing for papers, letters, and all documents
• Google Drive: Cloud-based app used for archiving and sharing documents across platforms
• Google Slides: Create multimedia presentations
• Khan Academy: Allows you to learn almost anything for free.
• OverDrive: Borrow eBooks and audiobooks from your local public library
• PowerSchool: Easy access to grades, comments, and progress from teachers to students
• Prezi: Create online multimedia timelines and presentations
• YouTube: Access to content and instructional videos

Comments from students on the most useful apps:

• Google Calendar is a calendar app the ties in to all of the other Google apps. When a teacher posts assignments or work in one Google app, it appears in the Google Calendar. This is a helpful app because it helps with student organization.
• Google Classroom is useful because it is where we get the bulk of our assignments. They are posted there weekly, even daily, and it is an easy way to see what is due for a teacher and when it is due. This helps us keep all of our assignments organized by date and when to turn them in. It also reminds us when assignments are late. It is also an easy way to communicate with your teachers.
• Google Docs is an app that allows you to work on projects with another student. All students can edit the document at the same time and in real time. I like it because it allows you to do group work and allows you to see what everyone is working on at the same time.
• Google Drive is an easy accessible way to share documents, pictures, and classwork with other classmates and our teachers. You can use Drive in a multitude of ways, but the most helpful way to use it is for groups to create folders and to share it with other group members.
• Khan Academy is a tool to learn a new subject without having to solely rely on the teacher to teach it. It helps you if you don't understand a subject because you can watch the videos as many times as you want, as compared to only hearing content once in class.
• PowerSchool allows students to check their grades, monitor their progress and see what work they are missing. Students use this app to help see grades they need to remediate.
• YouTube is an app where you can go on and search videos and tutorials to help in class with just about anything: coding, programming, math, science, history, etc. We use the app to look up tutorials, get help or research new ideas.