EF nominated for technology honor

By CHRISTINE HAINES

chaines@yourmvi.com

Elizabeth Forward has been recognized as one of the top three school districts in the country for using technology in the classroom.

The district is one of three finalists for Modern Teacher’s Digital Ecosystem of the Year. Modern Teacher is a national organization that partners with school districts to support the transition from traditional classrooms to modern learning environments. 

Elizabeth Forward Superintendent Dr. Todd Keruskin said a digital ecosystem is all the hardware and software used by the school district to educate its students. Keruskin said being at the forefront of technology use didn’t happen overnight.

“Districts trying to flip a switch is very difficult,” Keruskin said. “We’ve been 1:1 with kids having iPads for nine years and we’ve trained our teachers for over nine years. When a kid logs on to our learning management system, everything is there for them.”

The digital ecosystem includes many tools, most notably Elizabeth Forward’s participation in being an Apple Distinguished School and leveraging the Canvas Learning Management System.

Keruskin said it’s the same learning management platform that is used at universities such as Carnegie Mellon, Penn State and Harvard. Students and parents don’t need to juggle log-ins to different systems to navigate the academic day.

“We weren’t preparing for a global pandemic. We just felt it was the future of education,” Keruskin said. “Modern Teacher has recognized Elizabeth Forward as an early adopter.

“This digital convergence in our classrooms has enabled our faculty and staff to embrace technology into their instruction making learning more personalized and meaningful for students.”

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