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Technology and 1:1 Program
Overview
Technology at Pingry seeks to both provide the community with technology resources, as well as teach the community the technology skills necessary for success. To accomplish the former, both campuses have fast and reliable WiFi networks, as well as programs in place to provide all faculty, staff, and students with the hardware and software they need. As for teaching technology skills, Pingry believes that people best cultivate these skills within the context of their work. Consequently, Pingry's technology program provides access and support for a variety of technologies and expects that students, faculty, and staff will use the best tool for the task. The Technology Team has 7 full-time employees in grades K-12 to help support this mission.
By Campus
Short Hills Lower School
- Makerspace and STEAM Initiative. The Pingry Lower School art classroom contains a makerspace where students can conduct hands on, problem based work. The space contains a variety of materials for students to use for design projects, including Littlebits, snap circuits, iPads, and equipment for doing stop motion animation. Additionally, the lower school has a faculty "STEAM Team" that helps coordinate projects involving design thinking and interdisciplinary work. In recent years, students have, after reading Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day, built containers to keep snowballs from melting; worked virtually with students from other countries via the LevelUp Village program; and designed, built, and tested kites.
- 1:1 Device Program. The Lower School is 1:1 with iPads for grades K-3 and with Chromebooks for grades 4 and 5. Additionally, there are iPads available for grade 4 and Chromebooks available for grade 3, to help as students transition from using tablets to using laptops.
- Google Apps. Students begin using Google Apps, in particular Google Drive, starting in 2nd grade. Students are given access to e-mail via Google Mail in 5th grade.
- Coding. Each year, every Lower School class participates in the Hour of Code initiative. Additionally, after school enrichment courses are offered in robotics and coding.
- Educational Technology Specialist. The Lower School has a full-time Educational Technology Specialist who works with teachers and students both in and out of the classroom.
Basking Ridge Middle and Upper Schools
- Google Apps. Every student at Pingry has a Google Apps account and access to Google Mail, Google Drive, and other Google services.
- Robotics. There is an Upper School robotics team that competes annually. In the Middle School, every student in grade 6 takes a robotics co-curricular class for 8-weeks that introduces robotics via Lego Mindstorms.
- 1:1 Laptop Program. In grades 6-12, Pingry has a 1:1 laptop program. All students must bring a laptop to school each day that meets certain requirements necessary for doing school work.
- Computer Science. Pingry offers a wide range of Computer Science courses. In the Middle school there is an elective course for Form II students (read more here). In the Upper School, more than 100 students are enrolled in Computer Science courses. Courses range from introductory level to post-AP offerings (read more here).
Student Technology Committee
In the Upper School, students may apply to be part of the Student Technology Committee (STC). STC students are involved in many aspects of school life, offering helpdesk support for faculty, staff, and students, as well as being a part of a variety of technology initiatives. STC students help with faculty training, act as beta testers for potential new hardware and software purchases, help update the website, create various media for distribution through social media (including an occasional drone flight!), and more.
1:1 Learning
In the Pingry School’s 1-to-1 learning environment, all faculty and students have access to a device.
As charged by our Curriculum Review, creating a 1-to-1 learning environment allows all members of the community “to resourcefully meet the challenges of an evolving academic, social, and technological world …” by
- Promoting development of collaboration, communication and information literacy skills
- Supporting more individualized student learning
- Creating opportunities for “just in time learning” through spontaneous access to information
- Extending the classroom beyond four walls
Google Apps for Education
Pingry is a Google Apps for Education school. All Faculty, Staff, and Students (5th grade and above) use Google Mail for email and use Google Drive for collaborating on work.