Technology in Roaring Fork Schools

In order to fulfill our mission to ensure that every student develops the enduring knowledge, skills, and character to thrive in a changing world, we provide equitable access to technology in our schools. Our main focus is our 1:1 Chromebook Initiative in 3rd-12th grades, with limited use of age-appropriate technology in earlier grades.

Technology in schools & Screen Time

The Roaring Fork School District’s 1:1 Chromebook initiative gives all students in grades 4-12 a Chromebook for school use. We want our students to think critically, collaborate in an authentic environment, communicate effectively, and be responsible consumers of information. The recent technology infusion into our schools helps allow our students to accomplish these things and be better prepared.

While a 1:1 technology initiative does equate to an increase of technology in our schools, there is not an expectation that students' faces be buried behind a screen for every minute of every day. Teachers use technology at appropriate times and with appropriate intervals to ensure that the learning experience of all students and is relevant and well rounded.

While there is not a universal stance on screen time, at the end of the day, we do know that our teachers are using these tools to help ensure that every student develops the enduring knowledge, skills and character to thrive in a changing world.

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Digital Citizenship at Roaring Fork Schools

At Roaring Fork Schools we are working hard to ensure our students have the technology knowledge and skills they will need to thrive in a changing world. In a rapidly evolving connected culture this means exposure to skills like keyboarding and coding but also awareness of the social effects of life online. Issues like data privacy and cybercrime, Internet addiction, sexting, cyberbullying, digital footprints, and the effects of digital media on attention and brain function are just some of the issues that students need to be prepared to navigate both during their careers at Roaring Fork Schools and after.

To protect students from accessing inappropriate material while they are they are learning about the dangers of the Internet, filters are employed, with the most restrictive settings at the elementary level and access to more content expanding as students mature. While filters help prevent some inadvertent access, it is essential for students to learn how to avoid problems in the unfiltered online interactions that they will experience outside of school, at college and beyond.

Students learn about how to build positive online relationships and habits through direct instruction about digital citizenship, using curriculum from Common Sense Media and Netsmartz. By helping students understand the nuances of online interaction we hope to transition from being reactive to situations that arise to being proactive, helping students build healthy and balanced digital lifestyles where they are capitalizing on the benefits of Internet use.