TABLET PROGRAM
From Wish List to Reality
BY REMY GUENIN, ‘86
IN THE FALL OF 2010, a mandate was given to build a strategic plan for Kingsway College that would help give direction and guidance to the school. The idea of a tablet program
was presented, but knowing the financial situation of the
school, it was easy to see that this would go on the “wish list.”
It was a “nice to have” but not a “must have,” as we were facing
the challenge of digging out of a budget shortfall. God has
led the school in miraculous ways over the last several years,
and continues to do so day-by-day. He had a plan, and it was
to be developed over a four year period. It wasn’t going to
be easy, but with a lot of hard work, sweat, and maybe a few
tears, we made it!
In the 2012-2013 school year after several specific blessings from the Lord and an active financial reduction plan,
the school found itself in a better financial position and the
tablet program was moved from the wish list. The Computer
committee was commissioned to perform a feasibility study.
They were anxious to implement the program, but there was
a huge hurdle to jump over first – Kingsway did not have an IT
Director to lead the project. In the summer of 2013, the Lord
provided for our needs by connecting us with a young man
named Chris Mortenson. Chris is the husband of Erin Weststrate, class of 1998, and they have two wonderful children,
Jay and Elisabeth. The computer committee, which is made
up of Jeremy O’Dell, Margaret Russnell, Edgar Pilapil, Miguel
Han, and Chris Mortenson, worked tirelessly to find the hardware and software to make the tablet program a reality.
In the fall of 2013, testing began and by the spring of 2014
the decision was made to go with Dell as the tablet and technical support provider. The new Dell Venue 11 Pro became
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KC Contact Fall 2014
the tablet of choice for this new endeavour. The following six
months were a blur as Chris and his team worked tirelessly to
set up the server and prepare the tablets. Edgar Pilapil, Mario
Coulombe and Blake Nickol worked together to install the
wireless system necessary for the tablets to work in the dorm
and school buildings. Behind the scenes there was a lot of
leg work done by several teachers. Margaret Russnell led the
charge to contact the book companies and request e-books
to replace the old hard copy text books we used to teach
the classes. In addition, Margaret became knowledgeable
with the Schoology software and was able to train the other
teachers on how to use it with the new tablets. Schoology is
a learning management system for K-12 schools and higher
education institutions focused on collaboration that allows
users to create, manage, and share academic content.
The security and monitoring software also had to be
chosen and tested along with a written usage policy that the
students and parents needed to have in hand at the start of
the program. Several schools who had already implemented
this program were contacted to learn best use practices and
help us develop our own program. Several training sessions
were held for the teachers prior to the school year starting. At
the beginning of the school year, several tablet boot camps
were held by Dell personnel for the students. It is through
hard work and the providential hand of God that this project
was implemented and we ask that you continue pray on our
behalf for continued success and direction.